Tuesday 5^th June 2012

We decided the best way for James to see as much of the island as he could in a short time was by booking an island tour.  So this morning we met Raoul of Henry’s Safari Tours at 0900 in the marina car park and set off in his 12-seater air-conditioned mini-bus which we had all to ourselves.  He was a very informative guide, stopping frequently to point out places of interest and fill us in on a bit of history.

Looking down on the Carenage from the hill above St George’s

Concord waterfalls…                                                                                      …a refreshing swim!

Next we stopped at a nutmeg processing station in Guoyave, one of the few remaining.  Hurricane Ivan destroyed the majority of the nutmeg trees in Grenada and cut its nutmeg production by 60%.  Although they have replanted, it takes something like 20 years for a tree to reach full maturity.  Even here at this station, they were not working at anything like full capacity.

Nutmegs dry in huge racks..                                                                                                       ..then are sized and sorted by hand.

As we drove along the coast we saw locals helping the fishermen to pull in their seine nets.  The big fish go to the fishermen who sell them at the fishmarket, but the smaller ones are given to the locals who have given a hand to get them in.  Hard work for tonight’s supper.

It’s hard work pulling in the fishing nets.

We then drove to the northern coast of the island and visited Leapers’ Hill.  This is where forty or so native Kalinago or Caribs elected to throw themselves of the precipice rather than face death by the French settlers.  Those who managed to escape the island settled on Dominica, where there still have a part of the island.

 Leapers’ Hill memorial- unfortunately Ivan took away the viewing platform.           Carriacou from Leaper’s Hill.

Next stop was the Belmont Estate where they grow a number of things, the most interesting being cocoa….