Prickly Bay, Grenada
MALARKEY
Jo & Trevor Bush
Fri 6 Jul 2007 18:03
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Ahhh, Prickly Bay, Grenada, almost like coming
home. Oh and by-the-way, for those who weren't paying attention when reading my
last blog and particularly for Neil's Mum, June, my biggest critic, I completely
missed out an entire island. Not really a small one either, it
was called Martinique.....well they all look the same to me and I get a
little confused nowadays. I think 'cruiseheimers' (cruisers Alzheimer's disease)
is creeping on faster than I first thought. Now where was I... forgotten
already, see what I mean, there's no hope.
Now I remember, (4 weeks later), the thing we like
about Grenada the most is the relaxed and friendly atmosphere. It is difficult
to put a handle on exactly but one feels completely safe during the day &
night (a rare quality anywhere in the world nowadays) and the Grenadians are
genuinely very friendly and happy people. It is a refreshing sight to see school
kids nicely turned out in school uniforms going to & from school
unchaparoned and singing & dancing about along the way (crikey, I sound
like Great Uncle Orinoco from the Wombles). These impressions were mostly gained
from our time in Prickly Bay and the capital St Georges, so we figured to
get a more rounded view we'd better have a gander at the rest of the
island.
We did the island tour thing and scooted around the
island in a minibus, having the important sights pointed out &
explained by 'Cutty', our guide. The tour
coincided with Tracy's birthday and consequently the main event seemed to be the
lunch time stop at a restaurant in Grenville, the home of the 'Nutmeg
Factories'. Some good local nosh was had and of course Tracy's birthday
cake was scoffed by us all.
   The B'day girl & her cake Lookout! light
fingers even in
Grenada But
even the road workers are happy
The trip proved to be a bit of a giggle but there
wasnt enough time spent in the chocolate or rum factories for my liking.
However, the best trip by far was to Gouyave, the fish capital of Grenada. It
was an evening do where fish of all types were cooked in the local manner
in the streets and typical Caribbean street entertainment laid on. Copious
amounts of the goodies on offer were consumed, including local beer & rum.
The evening was then finished off with a sing song on the bus back, much to
the annoyance of those who wanted to sleep.
We have been in Prickly Bay for over a month now.
It is an ideal place to get things sorted. We needed to get our knackered
batteries replaced and a flexible/affordable boat insurance plan in place. Both
issues are absolutely essential......good batteries are needed to keep my beer
and Jo's wine cool, and the insurance is needed to facilitate our exotic
cruising plans. We think we have got them both sorted now but only time will
tell. The only downside with staying in Prickly Bay for so long is that the
boats bottom gets totally encrusted with all sorts of marine nasties. And yours
truly is the only one daft enough to dive down and get them cleaned off. It took
me the best part of three days to get the boat clean enough to go sailing.
On the face of it, diving in the Caribbean sea doesn't sound too bad, even if it
is only on a boats scabby bottom. But unbeknown to me, when the weed &
barnacles are scraped off, literally thousands of sea-lice are freed and seem to
home in on all your personal nooks & crannies, if you know what I mean. They
really made me squirm and I was still picking them out of unmentionable places
for several days after.....uuuurgh!
We are now officially in the hurricane season and
we are late leaving the Caribbean. Several tropical waves have passed
through without developing into anything but the warning signs are there......
So off we go to Venezuela where the food, booze and fuel are almost free and all
the women look like Jennifer Lopez.....yippee!
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