Grenada

26th August 2008

12.00N 061.45W

We motored just about all the way to Grenada from Trinidad. It was a dark night with only a small crescent moon, millions of stars twinkling above and, apart from a pod of dolphins coming out to bid us ‘farewell’ in Trinidad, it was fairly quiet.

We anchored first at Prickly Bay and checked in but it turned out to be quite rolly, so we moved round to Hogg Island and then Clarkes Court Bay. It was really nice to be able to swim in the sea again – after the dirty water in Trinidad – and we went snorkelling at every opportunity. Unfortunately, in his excitement at being cruising again after the long stay in Trinidad, Andy dived into the water for a midnight swim. (I seem to remember a bottle of rum being involved somewhere!!!) He came up with jellyfish tentacles wrapped round his neck and shoulder which left angry red welts where they touched. Over the next few days these became worse and it was clear that he had had an allergic reaction to the stings. With medication he was soon sorted out but I don’t think he will do that again in a hurry!

Back at Prickly Bay Andy ran in to some people whom he had met in Thailand on his way to England from Australia 10 years ago! They all enjoyed catching up and swapping memories of people and places they had known.

One of the sad things about Grenada, I felt, is the huge amount of development that is going on, mostly, it seems, for holiday homes and retirement homes for rich westerners! Since my visit 2 years ago a huge number of buildings have gone up and on Hogg Island, a previously untouched piece of land, the plots for another new development are marked out. At St Georges Bay the new marina is growing fast and we were told that a number of local people had been moved out of their homes to make way for it. They now live on a steep hillside just outside town and are very unhappy about it. Oh well, I am sure someone is making a lot of money somewhere!

Away from this madness, though, Grenada is still a lush, green, rain forested island, where hiking is a pleasure. We enjoyed driving out to the waterfalls, passing heavily cultivated areas of bananas, cocoa and other vegetables and hiking in the hills. The market was also fun and there was plenty of banter with the local ladies selling their herbal potions ‘to make you strong, sir!’