75) Grenada

St. George’s Harbour, Grenada

12° 02.727 N 61° 44.942 W

BBQ corn

The tunnel built by the French in 1894.

  

The four of us met Felix a little after 9 in the parking lot in the rain.  Rain.  Ugh.  A driving tour of the island in the rain.  We have had a lot of regular rain since we’ve been here.  While on the boat we have to run around and shut all the windows and then it gets hot because the breeze is closed off.  Every time we leave the boat we have to close it up and then come back to a hot and stuffy boat.  We piled in and Alan took the best seat in the front.  During the ride Nancy made a comment to Alan that he was reading and not looking out the window at the sights.  Believe it or not he sat there and took no pictures and proceeded to read a tourist book.  After about a half hour of that the driver stopped at a little snack store and I told Alan that I wanted that seat since he was not taking pictures.  He proceeded to tell me that the rain comes in the window and it is not the best place to take pictures.  I had already been sitting in the rear trying to take pictures and watched him pass up all the beautiful coastal shots.  I got the front seat for the rest of the day.

  

We tend to see so much more of an area when we go by car and this was no different.  He took us through downtown, of which we were familiar and then up the west coast.  The damage from hurricane Ivan was immediately apparent.  Roofs had been ripped off buildings as well as buildings were completely destroyed.  Due to the lack of wealth here many buildings have since been left abandoned.  But, the bright side of all this is that some new construction was happening as well as there were many new homes already built.  If you look real close into the landscape you can see debris that is lodged in there and taken over by plant life.  We are so naïve to think that we can control this planet when if you leave it alone it goes right back to its purest state.

     

  

The Chinese have moved in and made their presence known.  They brought a workforce to rebuild the sports stadium on the island.  As expected, Chinese restaurants are here too.  According to Felix, the Chinese want oil rights in the territory between Grenada and Trinidad.  This area has not been well advertised in the media as an oil hot spot but I bet we can expect something to happen in the next few years.  The Japanese and USA have also made contributions to help rebuild the island after the hurricane and are well documented with the signs they put up.  I guess nothing is immune to politics and oil.  

The stadium

 

 

 

The spice factory

  

No matter where you go on this island you always hear about the spices that are grown here.  We wanted to see one of the spice factories and were taken to one that was well past its prime.  The buildings are still standing, barely, and they put a few spices on some tables and make a brief presentation.  I am sure this is all volunteer work.  It doesn’t look like this place is operating anymore but they assured us that it produces something.  The relics are interesting and in its heyday it probably was a bustling place.  In one area I saw old documents and handmade metal stencils for cities from all over the world.  This place also had its share of dogs.  We learned that dogs are everywhere and that they are owned.  They aren’t wild.  During the day they are polite and don’t bark but at night if you go near their home they go wild.

     

  

Gouyave

 

 

 

 

 

We drove into a town called Gouyave on the west coast.  Felix said we were going to stop for lunch somewhere along the way and we thought this was the place.  But, that wasn’t really the case.  He wanted to take us to a restaurant but it was closed.  Instead, while we were at the spice plantation he called a food order to this little place and we stopped there and got it to go.  We then drove up into the hills and ended up at another plantation that offers meals but it too was closed.  Felix had arranged for us to eat there and it was surreal.  We sat in the large room watching a game show on TV and drinking a fresh squeezed citrus drink.  The plantation and building has a couple hundred-year-old history and the location was very tropical up in the hills surrounded by jungle.  

...restaurant at a plantation.

  

One of the highlights of the tour was driving through the rainforest.  Unfortunately, for the first half it was raining with a heavy mist and the visibility was very low.  Go figure, it was raining in the rainforest.  After a while it cleared up enough for us to see in the distance the majesty of the area.  We saw a lot of the damage caused to the tall trees and the nutmeg trees.  The devastation was very widespread and thorough.

  

  

The very highlight was the chance to see the monkeys in The Grand Etang National Park and Forest Reserve.  We were lucky enough to be at the rainforest cultural center when one of them came cruising through.  This guy was so acclimated to people he controlled the crowd.  We all just wanted to look at him and take pictures and he just wanted bananas and candy.  It was really neat seeing this in the wild. 

We timed the return so that we would be able to weigh anchor and move to the fuel dock to take on diesel and water.  While tied to the dock I took the opportunity to walk ashore and take a yacht club shower.  Nothing fancy.  No hot water; just ambient which was in the 80s and very comfortable.  The best part of a land shower is that it can be almost as long as you want.  I also had the bright idea to do some laundry while I was in there and I’m not sure it worked.  I first sprinkled some powdered soap into the plastic bag they were in and tried to fill it with water.  Then I gave up and just threw them on the shower floor.  Unfortunately I had to close the deal and try to wash them and then rinse and wring them.  I’m not sure it was very effective this way but they did actually not smell when they were done.  I guess that was good enough.  In this boat world ya kinda accept things you would never do in real life.

Out driver's machete.