Last time we talked, we were exploring Grenada. Now having been here in this beautiful place for well over a month, we feel like we are well settled in to Grenadian life! It really is a very relaxed and easy going place. So lets give you a taste of what we have been up to for the last few weeks….
We had been anchored in Prickly Bay in the south of Grenada for a couple of weeks and were taking the dinghy in to shore when we happened to pass our friends on Water Music, Ken, Caroline and their dog Mitsy who had arrived a couple of days earlier. These were the guys we had previously met in Tobago Cays. We decided to set off to see some of Grenada together. We planned a trip on the bus to travel to the North of Grenada to see a chocolate plantation and visit Concord Falls, another popular waterfall.
After a long bus journey along the west coast of Grenada to the little town of Victoria, we took a walk up a winding road through the rain forest until we came upon the Jouvay chocolate plantation and factory. Ailsa was immediately in her element! Many years of chocolate eating had fully prepared her for this immersive experience. The brief tour of the plantation and the factory to see the making process was very interesting. The culmination was the factory shop where Ailsa was able to fully indulge her passion complete with tasting session.
We wondered back down to Victoria and met many of the locals on the way who came out to say hello. In the town there was some sort of small local festival going on, and we had lunch from a street stall with free beers! Everyone was very welcoming, and we even got to chat with a local politician who had just returned from a trip to the UK. We had a long wait for the bus for the next leg of our journey to Concord Falls
We arrived at the road to Concord Falls and were lucky enough to get a Taxi to take us up the 2 mile road. Another stunningly beautiful place, and really tastefully developed. You climb down some stone steps from the road to get to the falls. We all took the chance to go for a swim (including Mitsy!) which was really refreshingly cool in the heat of the afternoon. Some other steps led to a bar with views over the falls where the rum punch had to be sampled. The 2 mile walk back to the main road to catch the bus back to St Georges was down a windy track in a steep river gorge surrounded by magnificent rain forest clinging to impossibly steep cliffs. A couple more buses got us back to Prickly Bay via St Georges after a lovely day out.
On the days we are not out exploring (most days really!) we pretty much like to relax. Of course there always jobs to do on the boat. See the picture of me above. I have no idea how I managed to squeeze in to that space! Its not all sunshine either here in the Caribbean. Now its rainy season and the squalls and rain showers roll through pretty much every day.
Ken and Caroline were having their boat lifted out at the Spice Island boat yard in prickly bay and heading back to the UK to end their sailing adventure for a few months. Before they left, they wanted to explore some more of the little bays on the South end of Grenada. We decided to go along and join them. First stop was the next bay along where we dropped the hook in Petit Calvigny.
As well as numerous evenings on each others boats for the obligatory rum punches, we had a great night out in a very cool place called whisper cove.
A few days later we both moved round the corner to the lovely anchorage called Egmont Cove. This was the first non rolly anchorage we have had in Grenada, a very narrow entrance completely protects it from the sea. The trip round the corner was eventful when we got hit by 30 knot winds and torrential rain. All over in about 5 minutes though!
After a few more days in Egmont Cove we said a sad goodbye to Ken, Caroline and Mitsy on Water Music as they headed back to Prickly Bay to prepare to be lifted. All the best to them for their trip back to the UK and i’m sure we shall meet again, probably somewhere in the Pacific?!
Since then, we have stayed in Egmont Cove. We took a walk over the headland and visited Phare Bleu Marina and had lunch at their excellent restaurant
After lunch we decided to walk off the burgers and visited this unusual light ship moored in the marina
Then we stepped out on a long walk around the Egmont headland where there is a huge amount of building going on of some very impressive millionaires homes. Huge plots of land with bespoke houses, some of them with their own waterfronts and docks.
On another day, we decided to walk back to Whisper cove for lunch. It was a really hot day and we had to walk up and down some really big hills and cut through fields and forest. After all this effort, we found that the place was shut! Luckily there was another place called the Little Dipper just down the road that was open and it was a fantastic local cuisine meal. Really cheap too!
Finally, we cant leave with out mentioning the large number of birthdays that the Pearce family celebrate in June. We wish could have been there to celebrate with Caleb for his 21st and Vinnies 19th. It looks like they had a great time.
A certain someone else celebrated her birthday too. I can’t possibly divulge the age of this person for fear of being thrown overboard. Ken and Caroline couldn’t extract that information either, even after several glasses of wine!
Join us next time as we head towards Trinidad and Tobago!