Natures Island - Grenada 12:02N 61:48W
Seaflute
Fri 24 Feb 2017 02:47
our friends Wendy & Ian again who have been living here on their boat the
Silver Slipper for the past two years. They suggested we take Ali & Julian
to a fabulous restaurant on the beach just near the airport before they left
us to fly home. What a little gem that was, and only a few tears were shed
when we said farewell. We only had four days here so wanted to make the most
of it. Unfortunately there is always something to clean or fix on boats, so
after completing our jobs for the day Tom & Rachael went to watch the local
work boats racing each other at Grand Anse bay while Dave & I went hiking up
a river valley to a waterfall with our Oyster friends James & Tiggy. The
Island is so green and verdant and Bell, a local farmer and our guide for
the day was so knowledgeable about all the native flora & fauna giving us
tastes of the many spices grown here as we walked/clambered over the rocks,
backwards and forwards across the river. He pointed out fruits and
vegetables grown on the hills and in the valleys, in dense tropical
rainforest. Grenada is the second largest producer of nutmeg, (my favourite
spice) we tasted cinnamon, clove, lemon thyme, mace and saw cashews growing.
Needless to say by the time we reached the waterfall we were all very hot
and sticky. We quickly changed into our bathers and jumped in. The water in
the pool was crystal clear and absolutely freezing but absolutely glorious
with just the four of us and in the middle of nowhere! To end the perfect
day Bell took us to his small holding for tomatoes and herbs to take back to
the boat, delicious!
Dave had ordered a Parasailor (fancy sail for downwind sailing) from England
originally to be delivered to Antigua but as the time marched on we realised
that it was not going to arrive before our planned departure date.
Fortunately the guy organising the delivery decided to bring it out to
Grenada and deliver it to us himself, which he duly did, and had a little
holiday to boot! He used the cost of the delivery to buy a return flight,
the added benefit was supposed to be showing Dave and Tom how best to use
it. Unfortunately because we ran out of time, we only got the chance to pack
the sail in its snuffer, ready for deployment, so Dave and Tom will have to
make the rest up as we go along.
We visited St George castle nestled on the hill top with a commanding view
of the harbour and saw the bullet holes in the wall where Morris Bishop, the
prime minister and half of his cabinet, were executed in the communist
rebellion in 1983. This is now old history and Grenada as an independent
country has experienced the best most democratic, and most productive years
since it was colonized. Grenadians are a warm and hospitable people
especially once you get off the main tourist route.
Chocolate is my favourite thing and Grenada has its own chocolate factory,
unfortunately we didn't have time to visit but fortunately found one of the
many shops where it is sold. Very delicious is all I will say on that
subject.
Our next stop after a three day sail, is the Island of Bonaire in the Dutch
Antilles, just off the coast of Venezuela, so we will catch up with you
there, bye for now Lindy xxx
