Checking out Grenada - the planned tour...

Five cruising couples in one van!! Sometimes we listened to the guide and driver...the rest of the time was spend with talk of sailboats...the "where have you been"...then the question "what did you enjoy there", next was "where are you going", and of course most important "where are you spending hurricane season"? The van was seldom quiet! Cuddy, our tour guide and driver had a microphone so that facilitated those who wanted to hear him speak of the Grenada area. He picked eight of us up at the Prickly Bay dingy dock (near Budget Marine) the south end of the island... and the other two over at the Grenada Yacht Club in St George's Parish. One German flagged boat...two British flagged boats (one was of course P&J the other a British/Dutch couple)...two American flagged boats (one of course being Paul and I)...First stop was the view spot of the largest city in Grenada...and the capital...St George's. It just so happens this view spot is also where the prison is...the prisoners have about the best view in Grenada! These are typical houses built on the hills around St George's...well pretty much all over Grenada on the hills...except you will notice these are bigger houses (closer to town) than the ones from Friday's unexpected tour (farther up in the hills). Cuddy would stop all along the way to show us different fruits, vegetables, Bread Fruit trees, more Lemon Grass...Nutmeg trees...(did you know that 90% of the Nutmeg trees were damaged by hurricane Ivan), Cashew trees and would explain how they grow...(did you know that the shell surrounding the cashew nut is poisonious?? It needs to be roasted off for the toxins to be neutralized...then the cashew nut itself can be roasted and eaten). Our first stop was Annandale Falls...and yes, there was water close enough for me to get into...and a falls to have spashed over my head...so in I went! I was the only one of our group who either was brave enough to get in...or brave (stupid) enough to get wet...and as you can see...if you look closely...it seems I somewhat interrupted a local man's shower....
From there we went up to the Grand Etang Forest Reserve...and Grand Etang Lake - what was explained to us by Cuddy as a crater lake. The highest mountain on Grenada is 2,757 ft...Mt St. Catherine (the north side of the island), and the road we were on went between Mt Granby (2,240 ft) and South East Mt (2,348 ft) and then on the east coast side of the island. The monkey's here are called Mona monkey's...at least that is what Cuddy called them...and he stated that they came from Africa. Lot's of beautiful flowers... If you look closely you will see a lot of the rainforest still has trees that were destroyed by Ivan...three hours of daylight devastation. Cuddy explained that after hurricane Janet (1955)...Venezula donated wood one room homes, built them in Venezula and shipped them over...(he also explained that of course there was a "price" politically to be paid later)...so they are now called Janet houses. This is a Janet house. Somehow a majority of these small Janet homes survived hurricane Ivan. Newer cement block houses sustained more damage...including loss of roofs. So, now they have Ivan houses (hurricane Ivan 2004). Cement block houses China has built...the Chinese came over here and built them (again for a political "price")...does anyone else see the irony here?? There is still a lot that has not been cleaned up from Ivan...most of the churches have their roofs back...but there are destroyed buildings and debris everywhere on the island. Slow but sure in their restoration. Cuddy did point out the remains of a distillery that no one knew was there was actually uncovered by hurricane Ivan...so there was some good that came of it??
Since it was a Saturday tour the Nutmeg factory was closed (darn)...and the rum distillery was not operating but we still had lunch at the River Antoine Rum Distillery Resturant and then a tour. This is located in the north east part of the island, St Patrick Parish.This view is looking north from Lake Antoine to Carriacou. Lake Antoine...it was a short drive then back to the restaurant.Looking at the rum distillery from the restaurant.And this is looking at the view from the restaurant... Lunch was very good...I had fish...Paul had chicken. The highlight was cauliflower with cheese...VERY good! Oh, and then I can't forget...the homemade nutmeg ice cream!! All for $70.00 e.c. ($26.00 u.s.d.) The tour was interesting...This is one side of the waterwheel...This is the other side of the water wheel... where the crushing takes place.they really use sugar cane here...not many operations do anymore. What is left of the sugar cane after crushing...good ole fashioned mulch!! And where the juices are allowed to let sediment settle out...they actually use the pan to scoop the juice on the top over to the next container...to the next container...and then to...where they let the juices ferment...To these containers....And then the area where the alcohol is heated...It all is a little "greek" to me! After tasting the Rum, however, Paul was content to still have his Jack-A-Dan...and be headed to Venezuela.
On our way back we went through the town on Grenville...the second largest city in Grenada...in St Andrews Parish. So here is the explaination of parishes that I promised on the previous blog...at least as much as I could gather. This island is divided up into 6 parishes, of which we visited four. The parishes are divided by the rivers that flow all the way to the ocean. The only parish with no city is St David Parish. This is also the parish where all three of the Grenada revolts have historically come from....all on the same day (the 13th)...in the same month (March)...I don't remember the years...but the latest was 1978. It was also apparent from our travels today that Saturday is laundry day...this is just south of Grenville...my "alley" shot...and an up on the hill type of alley shot...again...everywhere we went there was laundry hanging... if not on a line...on the bushes...Our final stop was a beach that I would say was one of the nicest beaches on the island. Of course, I haven't been to Grand Anse Beach yet...hope to next week when we go to the Grenada Yacht Club for a few days.
By the time we got back to the dingy dock...Paul had invited the British/Dutch couple from the boat Dutch Link over for happy hour as they were leaving Grenada in the morning, north, with final destination the Chesapeake Bay for the hurricane season. They have been around the world twice so they were a wealth of knowledge of places that Paul would like to think about...and, Paul was willing to share his wealth of knowledge from years of sailing the Chesapeake with them...but they was only a short time. We had a wonderful chat with them, Mike and Jeannette, and do wish them fair winds and a calm sea on their travels.
If it seems I have been "hogging" the blog lately..it is true I am. While Paul is enjoying where we are...he is getting more and more frustrated with the news from what use to be the U.S.A. and just can't yet put all of his thoughts in print. So my note is: Perhaps Americans that still believe in the Constitution and the principles upon which this country were founded...well, we should have a Tea Party of our own. Think about it...the U.S. would look mighty different if there were only the corrupt arrogant politicians (they didn't even READ the bill they signed - they should all be fired and loose their pensions)...and those to whom they have made dependant upon the government. What if the truly productive ones in society left...I remember a book my dad and mom urged me to read many many years ago (I was maybe 20?)...Atlas Shrugged by Ann Rand...maybe it is a valid read again for all those who need a wake up call...