Monkey Hill, LaPompe, Bequia

My mother took this photo during one of her recent trips to the LaPompe section of Bequia where her parents lived where I spent the first two years of my life; before there were siblings; I had my grandparents attention all to myself. The house is located at the top middle level of one of the highest hills on the island. The locals have nicknamed the area Monkey Hill. There are no monkeys on the island. I am uncertain as to the origin of the name.

Maternal grandmother, Mary Ollivierre (né McClaren) at Monkey Hill home | August 1998 | Noritsu Koki EZ Controller | APS Film NORITSU KOKI Scan

The house has no sewage, no running water, and no electricity. But it has lots of memories. Memories of a carefree childhood spent under the doting and watchful eye of my grandparents, Louis and "Celina" Ollivierre. Some of the memories are not pleasant to Americans used to municipal running water etc. Still, the experience is no more rustic or strange than living in the bayou of Louisianna.

Left to right: Louis George Ollivierre, Mary Marguerite Ollivierre (né McClaren)

I remember needing to complete a bowel movement while sitting in an outhouse in the high heat of summer. Ugh! Stinky. However, I enjoyed taking outdoor showers after helping my grandfather fill the tank atop the outdoor shower. Outhouse or not, I love my grandparents, and I would not have traded my early childhood with them for anything in the world.

My grandparents kept a few chickens, goats and sheep on the property behind the house. I often helped my grandmother move the sheep and goats, staked to a feeding spot with a long rope and a metal spike. Sometimes I would help her milk a goat or sheep. Have you ever drank fresh goat milk straight from the animal? It's so rich and creamy.

Grand Parents Home, La Pompe, Monkey Hill, Bequia
Helpoing move the goats, Monkey Hill, Bequia | August 1998 | Noritsu Koki EZ Controller | APS Film NORITSU KOKI Scan

The house looks a bit worse for wear in this photo. The wood has probably rotted, and critters have most likely taken up residence. The upstairs area has three bedrooms and a living room. I remember lazy evenings with my grandfather sitting on the steps looking out and over at the Caribbean Sea. The bottom of the house is where my grandparents kept their ground provisions and other foodstuff including cured whale meat, fish, farine etc.

I spent a lot of time with my grandparents during the summer days of my youth. My father once held a position as branch manager at Barclays Bank in the Port Elizabeth area on Bequia. We lived on the building's top floor for a few years when I was about five years old. Every weekend was an opportunity to hang out with my grandparents.

Me, Monkey Hill, Bequia | August 1998 | Noritsu Koki EZ Controller | APS Film NORITSU KOKI Scan
The house looks a lot smaller than I remember, but it has three bedrooms and a living room. The home is cooled by the constant but gentle Windward Caribbean breezes that blow salty-sweet air over the hills.

The building to the left in the photo is the original kitchen. It had no gas and no electricity. It had a coal-fired stove and oven. Yes, coal-fired. My grandmother cooked fish and fungi for breakfast and sometimes "bakes". Sometimes she would bake bread. This was my treat—freshly baked bread with generous amounts of salted butter. And to wash it all down, a large white enamel mug filled with coffee and mostly milk or maybe a mug of bush tea. I guess my grandmother impressed me early in childhood with the delicious flavours of a homemade cafe-au-lait.

My grandparent passed away decades ago. I miss them.

Image from Kevin Downes on Facebook.

Author: Khürt Williams

A human who works in information security and enjoys photography, Formula 1 and craft ale. #nobridge

10 thoughts on “Monkey Hill, LaPompe, Bequia”

  1. I remember your parents, grands, also your home. Mt Pleasant is my original home. How the island has changed. Not sure if for the better. But 'that's life' might be the only consolation. LaPompe is my favourite area....my sister and I spent some vacation days there @ homes of Coziers' and Olliverres'.....great folks, kind, gentle, hospitable. The sea was a skip, hop....so unlike the Ravine route! I've climbed Monkey Hill many times!

    Thanks for posting. Beautiful!

    Bye,

    Clarion, ....aka Rosie Davis.

  2. Nice post, Papi. While I never got to meet your grandparents (my great-grandparents), I understand more about how and where they lived because of this. It's really interesting (your writing style could use a tad more personality on this post though. LOL).

  3. I too remember that house and family. Your grand father was my Dad's first cousin and so we were frequent visitors when I was a child. We lived just under Monkey Hill in La Pompe. Like your grandparents my parents house looks quite sad too but the happy memories of those carefree days growing up there will always remain.
    I now live on island of your grand mother's birth ( Carriacou) after living in the UK for many years. I visit Bequia as often as I can and its always so good to be home. I roam around the "Old house" and revel in my memories reliving those happy days. Oh how simple and carefree life was back then.

    Thanks for taking me back brown memory lane. If. Only those old walls could speak, they will tell their own stories.

    1. Hi Aunt Hilda, I know where you lived!! I do miss Bequia and cou-cou and sapodilla and sugar apple and cashew and plumose and Bequia plums. But mostly I miss the friendly people. Sometimes I see photos of the Grenadines online and I wonder what I am doing here in New Jersey. At least my wife got to meet my grandmother.

      I have never been to Carriacou but my mum speaks of it and I think she lived there for a while in her youth. My brother, Shane, visited a few years ago and got to meet our maternal Grand Aunt. From the photos, she looks just like my grandmother.

      I hope to visit as soon as the International Airport is complete or when I win the lottery so I can afford to fly into Bequia directly.

Comments are closed.