Island Explorers

We have now been in Grenada for a week and a half and yesterday decided that it was time enough that we put on our explorer hats and found out all the beauty that the island had to offer.

We decided the best way would be to get a hire car and go for a day out in the north of the island. We picked up our car at Maitland Rentals in Grand Anse bay bright and early piled in our camping gear for the night and headed north. First stop on the agenda was the Dougleston Estate, an old spice plantation, to see how the famous Nutmeg and Mace are produced. However as you can see, it didn't appear to be in quite the working order that the tourist map would have you believe...

The old Mill Wheel @ Dougleton Estate

Yet with vines and rusty old machines to investigate we had a whale of a time and enjoyed being able to walk around all the old buildings with no one around. From here we hopped back in the car and headed east to drive through the island. At first it went all good; however then the roads became extremely steep and gravel based and then new 'roads' appeared out of nowhere that were not on the map and completely threw us off. Luckily for us it only took a moments stop and a puzzled look before someone would come to our rescue and point us back in the right direction. It has to be said; the people in Grenada are some of the nicest and friendliest in the world.

'Walking the coco' as it is called

Onwards to the Belmont Estate to check out the Chocolate Factory, num num, and a real working plantation. They grow such a variety of fruits, herbs and other products there as well as the abundance of coco, and we met a super happy local guy who told us all about the same original old fashioned process they use to make the Chocolate. They still sort and turn the coco beans on trays in the sun by walking through them and I even got to have a go.

A few bar of chocolate later and it was onwards to the Rivers Rum distillery. It was a big disappointment. Run down and badly managed. Although it was interesting to see a still working distillery the place was dirty and the rum was dripped in its bottles through an old grimy drainpipe. Unsurprisingly the rum tasted very unpleasant and made you do the *cringe* face. Not sure if the thought of the sewage around the plant was a factor in that? Hummm

Jarvis checking out the distiller

Grenville street market

We passed through the lovely harbour town of Grenville and had a great lunch with all the locals at a food kitchen watching the waves crash onto the rocks and then spent the afternoon around the huge volcanic crater of Lake Antoine before heading to the most northern tip of Bathway Beach to find a place to set up our tent for the night.

Now in theory the place was perfect and very sheltered, but the wind was gusting and getting our tent to stay pitched in the sand was a challenge. We got as far as the final peg before we saw a group of guys with huge machetes slowly pacing up and down the beach at about 10:00pm, spotting us and then heading our way. I don't think either of us have ever moved so fast, not since the hash anyways, and quickly grabbed everything, jumped in the card and zoomed off into the night before we had even shut the boot. I don't know that they were going to do anything more than say hi - but alone, at night, in the middle of nowhere and seeing men with knifes??? Well i don't think I'll take any chances.

Ironically we had the best drive back down to Clarks Court bay Marina, singing to music and trying to make the final litre of petrol we had in the car last  ~ there was an awful lot of coasting involved ~ and ended up safely tucked up in our beds by Midnight. Great adventures had all round.. the only sucky part was that one day to explore was not nearly enough.

Tia and Jarvis, Over and Out!