Thursday afternoon hot and bothered we went to the pool and found out that this is where the cruisers congregate for happy hour! Met loads of old faces like Jim and Sharon from ShaSha and Pollie and Maurice from Motivator along with some new ones too – including Nick and Pam from Knot Yet who have offered to lend us a transformer they had on board so that we could plug into shore power (as 110 volt is not available on our dock). Lovely time had by all…..
Friday morning we headed round to see Nick and Pam and had the official handing over of the transformer…. Then it was shopping time and we headed off on the local bus to the supermarket and the hardware stores as we have a huge list of products we need to purchase to ‘winterise’ Morphie when we leave her on the hard here in Grenada at the end of August. Quiet night on board.
Saturday morning up bright and early and Martin (our taxi driver) – looking like Ronald McDonald in his garish yellow outfit – picked us up and we headed off to True Blue to collect Carolyn and Ron. We first went to St George’s to visit the spice market – something Carolyn was really keen to see. Well – it was interesting – but definitely not the assault on the senses that she had been led to believe by a recent UK press article!! Spices purchased and we drove through the busy streets and admiring Carenage, the harbour and the sights of this capital city.
Moving on we went to the Arrandale Water Falls and were met by a travelling minstrel who made up songs and names for us …. all really flattering, but of course that is what you do when you want a tip!!! The falls were nothing special really but enjoyed the show of the local lads who jump into the shallow water to entertain the public.
Heading across the island we visited the botanical gardens where Martin showed his significant knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, the spices, flora and fauna of the island. Really interesting time…. Then we had a quick pit stop at Mark’s bar where we enjoyed some cold caribs while Ron and Richard enjoyed rum tasters…. with them both buying a small bottle of Mark’s spiced rum to take away with them. Lovely place…. with a great bar sign too.
We then moved on and driving along steep roads and hair pin bends entered the Grand Etang National Park and looked out for monkeys but didn’t see any – but enjoyed the views of the rainforest as we drove into the volcanic crater to admire the lake… The viewing platform was taken over by a family – with the young woman doing yoga on a mat in the middle. They were not impressed that we turned up and invaded their space – er…. hello – this is a public platform not a private one! Oh well….. didn’t detract from the beauty of the place and we enjoyed watching the huge koi carp moving under the water.
We then drove down to Grenville for lunch and ate a hearty meal in a local restaurant called Good Food – yes, seriously! Not a place we would have chosen but it was good wholesome grub although the plastic covered seats were a bit uncomfortable in the heat of the day! After lunch we drove up the Atlantic coast – continuing to enjoy the lush vegetation and beautiful scenery – to see the old airport which is where the Americans invaded Grenada and saw the remnants of the Cuban and the Russian aircraft. Oh yes – did I tell you – that Ron and Martin talked cricket so we visited pretty much every cricket ground in the country during our tour!
Driving back down the Atlantic side we travelled through many villages and towns. There are huge contrasts here in Grenada – from very large substantial brick-built properties through to shanty shacks with no amenities and people bathing and doing their washing in the river. Very poor and very rich co-exist side by side…. along with remnants of destroyed properties from the devastating hurricane that came through here many years ago. We particularly enjoyed the lush landscape and the continuous display of flowers everywhere. Last stop a view across a spectacular beach on the southern side of the island and then we started back towards True Blue. Great day – really informative – although all of us were flagging with the heat by this stage…. Dropped Carolyn and Ron off and we returned to the marina.
After a restorative shower we headed back out again to True Blue where we had our final farewell dinner with Carolyn and Ron. We had a lovely meal at the Dodgy Dock restaurant and enjoyed their company for the last time this trip. Carolyn and Ron have been great boat guests – we have seen some beautiful sights – and have had many laughs along the way. They have also been very generous to us by bringing us gifts from home and treating us to dinner a couple of times. Saying goodbye was difficult and I was pretty tearful on the way back to the marina….
Sunday morning and back to boat chores…. and compiling lists…. and finally getting some blog published. Hurrah! Sunday night we went aboard ShaSha for a wonderful roast lamb dinner. Lovely time had by all.
Monday and we ploughed into boat jobs … I scrubbed topsides, cleaned the wood, and then scrubbed away all the rust and polished the stainless…. Richard was down below in the bilges compiling more spares lists…. and then came out and scrubbed down Morphie’s hull. Phew – hot bothered and shattered! Went to the bar for happy hour; visited cruisers in the pool and said hi to Linda and Chris from Troubadour who are home from their visit home; and had a quiet night on board having enjoyed a spectacular sunset here at Port Louis.
Bye for now
Jan