Well another month has passed and we are still enjoying life in Grenada . Some of the cruisers who have spent the hurricane season in Trinidad are starting to move north and the anchorage has seen some change of boats. Although the season does not end until 30 th November some cruisers were getting a little fed up as boat security has been an issue in Trinidad this year and they are pleased to get out.

The nice thing has been seeing people we haven't seen since the Bahamas and we've also had people we haven't met before come to visit as they know of us through mutual friends. So the social life hasn't lessened. In fact we have had to turn down invites as boat painting has slowed down!

We've continued to explore Grenada and have had two trips out. The first was the Friday night ‘Fish Fry' at Gouave on the west coast. This was started a couple of years ago after hurricane Ivan and has proved a great success, increasing revenue to the town. Gouave is a fishing village with many families cooking their own special recipes. It was suggested that other islanders might enjoy these dishes as well. So every Friday night one of the side roads is closed and lined with stalls.

The range of fish dishes served is amazing.

We have seen (& Andrew has eaten ) fish pizza, quiche, kebabs, rissoles, stir fried, curried, fried, baked, battered, steaked and various fish cakes. As well as just grilled whole. One stand was doing quite good sales of whole lobster. A lot of food, particularly the side dishes, is prepared in advance and arrives in huge coolers while on the whole the fish is freshly cooked. All the family help, from mothers who do the cooking, fathers who haul and serve drinks and children who take the money. And hygiene is paramount with everyone in bright white aprons and chefs hats. It is a favourite Friday night outing for local Grenadians who dress up and parade the street. Local entertainment is provided by traditional drummers.  

Our next trip was another round island tour but to different sites, again organised by Inga. Inga is a lovely lady originally from Germany but very well travelled. She arrived by sail boat a few years ago but now lives on land. She is of great help to cruisers and organises various trips. This itinerary was a first for her and ten of us acted as guinea pigs! First was a drive around some of the remote villages where people live on what they grow and barter. This was followed by a walk through the woods to the Concord Falls where many of us took advantage of the cold, fresh water to refresh our feet.

 

At Grenville we took a tour of the nutmeg factory. This was fascinating but quite sad. Before Ivan , Grenada supplied 30% of the world's nutmeg but the hurricane destroyed 90% of the nutmeg trees. As you can imagine there is huge under capacity at the factory (there are now only two left working on the island) with hundreds of empty racks and sacks. It takes seven years for a new tree to produce and full production will not be up and running for fifteen years. Of course during this time the hole in the market will be filled by other producers.

After leaving the hurly burly of Grenville we went up into the rainforest. Cutty our driver took us up to some sulphur springs which he had last visited two years ago.

Unfortunately the road (or track) had deteriorated some what since then and there were times we had to get out and walk to avoid damaging the taxi in the potholes!

After parking (pulled it to one side of the one way track) we disappeared into the rainforest. It had just rained and the path was as deep as it was wide. We declined a swim in the sulphur ponds and instead admired the stunning views from the top of the rainforest.   Finally we made our descent and finished the tour at the north of the island at the picturesque Bathway Beach .

We still use the local buses for shopping trips and had the ‘coolest' one in town the other day. Not only were there video screens in the two seats furthest forward, the conductor (a.k.a. the packer) had a remote control to change the radio and finally instead of banging the side of the bus to indicate a stop he did three quick snaps of his fingers. His ‘uniform' included cool shades and a large diamond ear stud!

Wednesday 25th October was Thanksgiving Day in Grenada and a national holiday. The reason for commemoration depends on the person you talk to. It started in 1984, a year after the U.S. invaded/intervened to evacuate U.S. medical students after the imprisonment of revolutionary Prime Minister Maurice Bishop. He and his wife were presumed killed but the bodies were never found. The American led invasion was on the pretext of rescuing the students but is felt by some to have more to do with   fear of   the increasing Soviet influence in the Caribbean . Fortunately fatalities were low, but the U.S. military did target the psychiatric hospital in error, killing several patients. They did later undertake a rebuild programme. But now Thanksgiving is seen as a day off and the excuse to party. Rogers bar was leaping from noon ‘til midnight !

 

Sharon is still continuing art classes but now Lucy, her teacher, has initiated pay back! Having discovered that Sharon used to compete in ballroom and Latin American dancing she twisted Sharon 's arm who now teaches at Whisper Cove twice a week!

 

Warm regards

Sharon & Andrew