Grenada
We are now about to leave Grenada again after three wonderful weeks here.
Hazel’s parents came out for a week and with them we did a couple of island tours. Everywhere we drove was surrounded by amazing greenery – we saw nutmeg trees, cocoa trees full of hanging cocoa pods, waterfalls, exotic colourful flowers such as the ginger lily, lots of coconut palms and a variety of trees, most of which were covered in vines and creepers.
The high part of the island was rainforest but the damage from Hurricane Ivan was very visible – huge chunks of the forest were destroyed.
Hurricane damage was most visible in the towns, where 75% of houses lost their roof. Most roofs have now been replaced (still with corrugated steel) or in extreme cases a whole new house has been built, concrete now replacing the old wooden houses.
All the big churches and cathedrals in the main town of St George’s are still lacking a roof.
We visited (and sampled) the Grenada Chocolate Factory – no bigger than a house but producing organic dark chocolate with 71% cocoa solids, all powered by solar panels. Also the Rivers Antoine rum factory where the sugar cane is still ground by water mill (on a 17th century British made water wheel!) and the end product is a lethal 73% proof and tastes like firewater but we still bought a bottle!
We also visited a nutmeg factory where technology hasn’t yet arrived - thirty-odd workers sort through the sackfuls of nutmeg by hand, although a ‘cracking’ machine now saves them having to crack the shell of each nut with a hammer.
The saddest part of the trip was ‘Carib’s Leap’, where the last of the native (and cannibalistic) Caribs were rounded up into one end of the island and rather than being captured, they all jumped over the cliffs to their deaths.
With Hazel’s parents we also motored up to Carriacou. There we met up with a friend from England who had recently brought a fishing boat out here from the Exeter Shipping Canal. His family gave us a warm welcome - his uncle gave us a tour around the island, his mother cooked us a delicious meal and along with her husband showed us around their home and garden where they grew everything – coconuts, bananas, oranges, limes, sweet potatoes, peppers, pigeon peas, even a cotton plant.
Junior himself took us to one of the best swimming and snorkelling spots, Sandy Island, where the sea is a stunning turquoise colour. Sadly this too got hit by the hurricane. Most of the coral reef got destroyed, huge piles of broken bits lay along the windward side of the island and tiny palm trees had been planted in the sand to try and replace what was blown away.
After our visitors returned to colder climates we set to work turning our Trinidad-bought teak into deck storage boxes. We have made these in the shape of treasure chests and are just waiting for Dave’s brother to visit again so he can bring us out vinyl lettering to label each box GOLD and SILVER.
Hazel’s parents came out for a week and with them we did a couple of island tours. Everywhere we drove was surrounded by amazing greenery – we saw nutmeg trees, cocoa trees full of hanging cocoa pods, waterfalls, exotic colourful flowers such as the ginger lily, lots of coconut palms and a variety of trees, most of which were covered in vines and creepers.
The high part of the island was rainforest but the damage from Hurricane Ivan was very visible – huge chunks of the forest were destroyed.
Hurricane damage was most visible in the towns, where 75% of houses lost their roof. Most roofs have now been replaced (still with corrugated steel) or in extreme cases a whole new house has been built, concrete now replacing the old wooden houses.
All the big churches and cathedrals in the main town of St George’s are still lacking a roof.
We visited (and sampled) the Grenada Chocolate Factory – no bigger than a house but producing organic dark chocolate with 71% cocoa solids, all powered by solar panels. Also the Rivers Antoine rum factory where the sugar cane is still ground by water mill (on a 17th century British made water wheel!) and the end product is a lethal 73% proof and tastes like firewater but we still bought a bottle!
We also visited a nutmeg factory where technology hasn’t yet arrived - thirty-odd workers sort through the sackfuls of nutmeg by hand, although a ‘cracking’ machine now saves them having to crack the shell of each nut with a hammer.
The saddest part of the trip was ‘Carib’s Leap’, where the last of the native (and cannibalistic) Caribs were rounded up into one end of the island and rather than being captured, they all jumped over the cliffs to their deaths.
With Hazel’s parents we also motored up to Carriacou. There we met up with a friend from England who had recently brought a fishing boat out here from the Exeter Shipping Canal. His family gave us a warm welcome - his uncle gave us a tour around the island, his mother cooked us a delicious meal and along with her husband showed us around their home and garden where they grew everything – coconuts, bananas, oranges, limes, sweet potatoes, peppers, pigeon peas, even a cotton plant.
Junior himself took us to one of the best swimming and snorkelling spots, Sandy Island, where the sea is a stunning turquoise colour. Sadly this too got hit by the hurricane. Most of the coral reef got destroyed, huge piles of broken bits lay along the windward side of the island and tiny palm trees had been planted in the sand to try and replace what was blown away.
After our visitors returned to colder climates we set to work turning our Trinidad-bought teak into deck storage boxes. We have made these in the shape of treasure chests and are just waiting for Dave’s brother to visit again so he can bring us out vinyl lettering to label each box GOLD and SILVER.
posted by Katie at 6:53 PM
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