Prickly Bay, Grenada

Wind Charger
Bob and Elizabeth Frearson
Tue 21 May 2013 21:49
Last night proved a very tasty choice indeed.  The cocktails made us extremely jolly and the ambience, the service and the food even more so.  Bob had a bit of a disagreement with Gary about the inclusion of green beans with his lobster tail opting for a green salad instead but the dish still came with the beans which were smartly set aside, much to the jolly waiter’s amusement.  According to the friendly manager, business has been very slow which accounted for the lack of people in the dining room.  There were only the pair of Palestinians (long complicated story which is difficult to retell) when we arrived and when they left another couple took up residence alongside.  We ended up chatting to them and had one of those rambling cheery conversations that take place after cocktails, a good meal and a bottle of wine.  We slept well.
We are exhausted today having just completed a marathon tour of Grenada.  It was beautiful and fascinating, the lush greenery, abundant trees and the brightly coloured flowering shrubs, and we thoroughly enjoyed: the beautiful Concord falls with a man making bracelets from coral that looked like wood, the fascinating nutmeg factory, the volcano crater lake, the rum factory including sampling the 150 degree proof rum (very fiery indeed),  the chocolate factory where I was required to practice moving the beans about with my feet a key part of the process apparently and a drive to the highest point of the island which was pleasantly cool after a day of misty humidity.  We saw endless little plots each farmed separately with a collection of banana trees, nutmegs, mangoes and cashews.  Apparently the Geest boat still visits once a week to whisk away the collective produce. 
Our guide, Charles known as Lollipop as well as Ickle Mousey to his family, which was ironic owing to his size and his huge belly, was a not very forthcoming sort of chap but pleasant enough. He had never set foot off Grenada which explains why everything that he was showing us was his norm.  It is obviously perfectly normal to use up all the old tyres by painting and using them as decorations all about the place.   Lollipop had recently been fired from the police after ignoring five letters telling him that he was spending too much time on taxi tours during police hours.  He sounded so surprised and most indignant that they would actually sack him.  He joined us for lunch, it seems to be the norm in the Caribbean, and had booked us into a local place where yet again we had a heap of rice and peas, spicy chicken, plantains and yams (no macaroni cheese today) followed by ice cream.  Lollipop decided that we shouldn’t have beer for lunch because in his opinion alcohol was the leading cause of domestic violence, the most common crime in Grenada.  Bob and I obviously looked dodgy as if we were itching for a fight.