Then the French seized brief control before the Treaty of Versailles restored the island to Britain in 1783 – a move that saw the Caribs finally subdued. Today, the islands enjoy a harmonious existence amidst a sizable number of ancient Carib artefacts. An era of sugarcane cultivation has created a rich fusion of ethnicity across St Vincent and the Grenadines with African, Portuguese and East Indian cultures interfused with a Hispanic–Caribbean mix. In culinary terms, the region is a rich source of old West Indian recipes featuring red snapper, kingfi sh, lobster, lambi (a sea shellfi sh), calaloo soup and souse (a sauce made from pigs’ trotters), all served with plenty of island-grown fresh fruit and vegetables.

Vincentian beer is made in conjunction with one of Germany’s most famous breweries while the localrum is omnipresent in every cocktail concoction and tropical punch. Fresh water, gathered from rain catchments in the hills, is usually potable and is considered an aid to longevity by many elders across the isles. Located in the southeastern Caribbean about 90 miles west of Barbados, the 32 isles and innumerable cays of the St Vincent and the Grenadines form a languid 75km string that gently curves south towards the Venezuelan mainland. St Vincent, the largest island by far, dominates the region.