Grenada

The Carribean Islands are not very big, so after 3 weeks in Tobago, I felt it was time to move on with a very short flight to Grenada. This is a country of 3 islands; Grenada, the largest, Carriacou, considerably smaller and Petit Martinique, where you can throw a stone from one side to the other!

Grenada is much more touristy than T&T and therefore a white person such as myself does not stand out quite as much. I stayed in a little bungalo with a view of the harbour of St George, the capital. This is a quaint town with colonial buildings on a steep hillside, overlooked by an old fort. The place was gutted a couple of years ago by a hurricane and there is still a lot of rebuilding going on but there is a charming central market and with the combination of ripe tropical fruit, fresh fish and too many spices to count, the scent in the air is remarkable. The streets are almost inconceivable steep and narow but on a hot and humid day you can save yourself a climb by crossing from one side of town to the other via a skinny tunnel under the fort.

The main beach on the island is Grand Anse, facing west so with its azure waters and white sand it has perfect sunset vantages.

I went a bit silly with my scuba diving in Grenada as the water was so clear, the reefs numerous and loaded with fish and crustaceans, and a little further out to sea, many shipwrecks which are home to the bigger marine life of which I enjoyed seeing sharks, eagle rays, turtles, giant barracuda and some very large schools of fish. The most interesting of the shipwrecks in Bianca C. This was an Italian cruise ship before WWII which sank for some reason. With the start of the war it was hauled up, rebuilt and used as a warship but was torpedoed and sank again. After the war it was hauled up and rerebuilt as a cruise ship before sailing to Grenada where the engine caught fire and it sank a 3rd time. This time they let it rest in peace and it is now known as the Titanic of the Carribean. It is a deep dive site with the base of the sip at 50m, so my deepest adventure to date.

One morning I decided to hop on the ferry across to Carriacou, a 3 hour journey. I spent an afternoon walking across the island and discovered a beautiful, secluded beach covered in turtle tracks as well as a nice little hike through the jungle. I also popped over to Petit Martinique, which is about as laid-back and quiet a place as you can get.

Back on Grenada I rented a car for a couple of days and braved the precariously steep, windy roads and the rather scary driving habits of Grenadians to explore the inland and northern areas of the island. There are a couple of perfectly round volcanic lakes set in the jungle and some stunning waterfalls which require muddy hikes to be reached. The north of the island is more local than the south but has nice beaches and a number of spice plantations and rum distilleries. Grenada is the world's largest producer of nutmeg, which I think is a pretty good achievement for a rather small island!