Grenada - the Spice Island

A BRIEF HISTORY
Grenada is known as the Spice Island for the abundance of nutmeg, and like many islands in the Caribbean it has a rich and bloody history. Originally inhabited by the Arawaks, then the Caribs, the fate of the island was determined in large part to the third voyage to the free world of Columbus in 1498. The first British colonists arrived about 100 years later but with little success and it wasn't until the French 'purchased' the island and established tobacco, coffee, sugar and cocoa plantations and imported slaves from Africa that the economy started to take shape. The French and the British fought for control of the island repeatedly but the Treaty of Paris in 1783 ceded Grenada to the British. That didn't stop the animosity between the French and the British and the French briefly held Grenada again before the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 when the British prevailed. For the best part of 200 years Grenada belonged to the British. It wasn't until 1974 when Independence was achieved and Eric Gairy became the first Prime Minister. He was more concerned with UFO's and the Bermuda Triangle to govern effectively and Maurice Bishop, whom the airport is named after, took over in 1979. Bishop was a communist with strong ties to Cuba and Russia but he was overthrown four years later by childhood friend Bernard Coard (whom the airport is not named after), and executed by firing squad at Fort George in the nations capital. That's when Reagan decided to join the action and invaded Grenada in late 1983 citing the risk to American students at St George's University. The American's pulled out before the end of the year, citing a lack of fast-food restaurants and not enough TV game shows, and since then the political situation has been relatively stable.

St George's Grenada from Fort George

St George's from the Carenage, which runs around the waterfront

EASTERN CARIBBEAN

Seb and I have come down to the Caribbean a few weeks ahead of Sara and Lily to fill in a few gaps. We meet the girls in St Kitts on my birthday (March 15th) but not before visiting all of the islands between Trinidad and Antigua that I'm missing from my collection. In all, the next three weeks will see us visit nine Caribbean nations including St Lucia, Guadeloupe and the volcanic island of Montserrat which was almost blown off the map in 1995. Most of the places we are to visit use the East Caribbean Dollar - a useful currency because there's a map of all the nations that use it on each note. First stop is four days in the peaceful Morne Rouge Bay at the Kalinago Beach Resort, not far from the airport in Grenada.

We rented a car for our stay on Grenada, a 4-door Suzuki Vitara with a bazillion miles on the clock and windows that went down but not up. When we did the car check at the airport the lady from J&B car rentals was enthusiastic about pointing out all the dings, dents, scratches, scrapes, masking tape etc... after 10 minutes I was losing interest until she finally said "..and remember we drive on the left here." My response was something like "Alright, Alright, Alright. Which way is out?". She gave me directions to our hotel and purely by chance we made it without a wrong turn, in the dark, with no signs, in about seven minutes.

Our accommodation at Kalinago in Morne Rouge Bay - beautifully quiet

Same, same, but different

Grenada's capital, St George's, is a wonderful little town on a sheltered harbor surrounded by hills that used to form the rim of a volcano - and I love volcanoes. The feature of the city is the Fort George perched atop the western hills overlooking the harbor. The Carenage, also called Wharf Road, is the main thoroughfare that takes you around the harbor and through the Sendall tunnel to the cruise ship terminal, fish market and most importantly, the cricket stadium. Seb and I spent an afternoon wandering the city on foot and getting lost in the side streets and alleys. Lunch was beside the harbor at the Nutmeg Restaurant - roti for me and chips for my companion since he didn't like the look of anything else on the kids menu.

Sebastian at Fort George - ticking off Grenada, his 15th different country

Four phone booths, all broken. Only one is a time machine.

Grenada is small enough to drive around in a day so we set off after breakfast for Concord waterfalls about mid-way up the western coast. It's about 40 minutes to Concord then from the main road about ten minutes up a one-lane road but the lower falls are right next to the parking lot which was perfect for Seb. After sitting in the car for an hour he was keen for a swim and we were the only tourists there so he had the whole place to himself.

Sebastian at Concord Falls

Sebastian at the brightly colored Happy Hill

Heading further north we drove through Gouyave, past the fort and on through Victoria and past the petroglyphs where the road heads inland and gets confusing. There are some junctions where the road forks but it's not obvious which is the main road and which one leads to certain death. Twice we took the path of certain death only to be redirected by bearded men with machete's who pointed us in the right direction. The road to certain death is often the road less traveled but Seb needed a juice box and I needed to find Sauteurs on the northern coast. 

One of the few road signs in Grenada - this one in Sauteurs shows only 8.5 miles to Paradise
We missed the turn and never found it!

Our friend Lacey had recommended the River Antoine Rum Distillery and that was our next destination. We headed south past Lavera Hill, River Sallee, Lake Antione and finally the distillery. The tour was really interesting because the rum is made completely from fermented and distilled sugar cane. Unbelievably strong, the 69% alcohol, 138% proof variety was the best of the lot so I bought a bottle for Seb and headed to the Belmont Estate for some chocolate tasting before making tracks for home.

Sebastian at the River Antione Rum Distillery

Heading south through Grenville the road was windy and bumpy and Seb was car-sick all over himself. The poor lad couldn't keep the juice-box or his breakfast down but was gracious enough to put up with the hour long drive back to Morne Rouge Bay where he went straight into the ocean to 'clean-up' and then to the shower to really 'clean-up'.

Seb and I looking over Grand Anse, Grenada

I'm glad we had the chance to drive around the island but the road signs could do with some improvement. A number of times I wasn't really sure if I was on the right road but it was refreshing to be driving on the left hand side of the road again. The side I grew up with and the side I will always feel more comfortable on.

Sunset from Morne Rouge Bay

Tomorrow we take a short flight to the next stop on our destination - St Vincent & the Grenadines. We're going to stay on one of the Grenadines - Bequia.

GRENADA QUICK GUIDE
Capital: St George's
Currency: East Caribbean Dollar (US$1:EC$2.6)
Language: British English
Drive on the Left
Beer of choice: Carib