Well known for the USA led invasion in 1983, spice
production and bananas, Grenada is another mountainous island where the driving
is better left to professionals. Horns
are used to notify other drivers that you are coming around a curve, often “hairpin”,
since you frequently cannot see the oncoming traffic and roads are often not
wide enough for two. Over 35% of the
island’s land is dedicated to the production of bananas and spices.
Europeans first discovered what is now Grenada when
Christopher Columbus noted it in his travels and named it Conception. Although it was deemed to belong to Spain,
there is no evidence that any Spaniards every landed on the island. Both England and French attempted to settle
the island, were driven off by the local inhabitants, the Caribs. Great Britain was ceded the island in the
Treaty of Paris in 1762 and it was under English rule until it was granted
independence in 1967. Hurricane Ivan devastated
the island in 2004; 90% of the buildings lost their roofs including many of the
downtown churches and government buildings.
The weather was overcast and generally dreary as we arrived
in the capital city of St George. Grenada
is divided into parishes much like Louisiana, with each parish delineated by
the rivers that run throughout Grenada creating natural borders. As we made our way to our tour bus, there was
a brief rain shower - so brief that it stopped as we climbed aboard the bus.
The first stop on our tour today was the Annandale
Waterfall. The fairly small waterfall was
surrounded by lush vegetation. A few men,
dressed in bright yellow with red and green highlights (the colors of the
nation’s flag) put on a show by climbing up to the top of the waterfall and
jumping/diving into the waters below the falls.
As we drove along, our driver/tour guide identified many of
the trees along the roadside. Most are
used in the production of spices or are included in diets of the local
citizens. The middle portion of the tour
focused primarily on spice production, including the processing of cocoa,
nutmeg/mace, cinnamon and other less common spices. First we visited Dougaldston Spice
Estate. Used mostly to education tourist
regarding spice production, it does produce a limited amount of cocoa. After hearing about the labor intensive
process used to harvest and process spices, it was easy to understand why they
are so expensive! We also visited the
Nutmeg Processing Plant. Here we learned
how the nutmeg is dried, then the outer shell is removed (a manual process),
and each nutmeg is sorted according to a strict grading system. Grenada produces 30% of the world’s nutmeg.
Our final stop was to the Grand Etang, the lake that is the
main fresh water source for the island.
The Grand Etang is actually a crater that was formed from the volcano
that was responsible for the formation of the island of Grenada. As the volcano erupted over time, the peak collapsed
in on itself leaving a crater that filled with rainwater. This same volcanic activity is the reason
Grenada has mostly black sand beaches.
The drive included views of the island’s highest peak, Mount St.
Catherine. We also noted that many homes
have goats in the yard. Our driver explained
that they are frequently pets for children, help with landscaping (eating the
ever growing grass), but mostly they become part of the island’s national dish!
One good thing about the intermittent cloud cover is it can
contribute to a great sunset. Tonight we
enjoyed our balcony as we contemplated what we wanted to do later while watching
the sun go down. Dinner tonight was the Regent
special Grand Bar-B-Que. Unfortunately,
the frequent rain showers hampered the set up and many were forced to eat
inside rather than around the pool area.
The food was great and included a roasted pig.
Link to Grenada photos:
5/28/17 Grenada photos
No comments:
Post a Comment