St Vincent, the northernmost island, is the country's commercial and political center, accounting for 90% of both the land area and population. The volcanic island is lush and green, its deep valleys cultivated with bananas, coconuts and arrowroot. The northern third of the island is dominated by a mountainous interior peaking at La Soufriè, a 4000ft (1200m) active volcano. Nearly year-round, the sharp peaks of northern St Vincent are shrouded by clouds formed by cool southwesterly tradewinds blowing moisture in from the Atlantic. Little of this rain gets past the mountains, keeping the southern two-thirds of the island much drier than the north. The Grenadines range from rocky volcanic headlands to tiny cays that barely break the surface of the water. The largest, Bequia, is only 7 sq miles (18 sq km); the smallest, the Tobago Cays, are a few acres each. Many are dry and scrub-covered, and few have any fresh water other than rainfall.

Most of the interior of St Vincent is tropical rainforest. The lowlands are thick with coconut trees and banana estates. The Mesopotamia Valley, northeast of Kingstown, has some of the island's most fertile farmland and luxuriant landscapes.

The national bird is the endangered St Vincent parrot, a multicolored Amazon parrot bird about 18in (45cm) long that lives in St Vincent's rainforests, as do numerous other tropical birds. The forest also provides a habitat for opossum (locally called

You can travel comfortably in St Vincent & the Grenadines for around US$200 a day, unless you take a fancy to model boats and banana sculpture. A moderate budget should fall between US$75 and $150, depending on how many of the Grenadines you choose to visit. A minimal budget should range from US$30 to $60.

Major credit cards are not as widely used here as they are on other Caribbean islands, but they're accepted at most hotels, car rental agencies and dive shops. A 10% service charge is added onto most restaurant bills, in which case no further tipping is necessary.

The temperature on balmy St Vincent hardly changes. The average daily high varies about 1°F from January to July. Rainfall is a different matter. July is the wettest month, when there's measurable rainfall an average of 26 days, while April, the driest month, averages six days of rain. January to May are the driest months and thus the best time to go, but they're also the peak tourist season. Generally, the Grenadines tend to be drier than St Vincent.