Spices and Sunshine

Grenada

12.21.2023 - 12.21.2023
View Around the World! - Part 1 on Where2FromHere's travel map.

Grenada is a mountainous island of volcanic origin, with a ridge of mountains running north and south. The highest point is Mount St. Catherine, which rises to 2,757 feet (840 meters) above sea level. The island's topography ranges from mountainous rainforest to dry lowlands and coastal mangroves. Grenada is 21 miles long and 12 miles wide, and is located 12°07′N 61°40′W, north of Trinidad and Tobago. Grenada is also part of the Windward Islands and the Lesser Antilles, surrounded by the Caribbean Sea to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The island was definitely more mountainous than expected. We came into port at St. George on the southern tip of the island. Here's a view from our ship's balcony as we came into port.

Coming into port is always fascinating - the dock workers are there and prepared to catch the guide rope that is connected to the ships heavy, woven rope. Once they have the guide rope they walk along the pier, pulling the ship's rope and then they loop it around the cleat to moor the ship to the pier. Here's a photo from our balcony showing the mooring in process:

Grenada's nicknam is SPICE ISLAND and rightfully so. Grenada is known for a variety of spices, including nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice, bay leaves, and turmeric. The island is a top exporter of nutmeg and mace. Here's what nutmg looks like in it's shell:

This is Jackfruit which is an exotic tropical fruit known for its distinctive sweet flavor and large size, reaching up to 80 pounds. It is high in protein, vitamins, and minerals. It's used in sweet and savory dishes, desserts and curries.

Who would have thought cocoa grows directly from the trunk of the tree - here's the sprout, the plant, the white interior of the plant that contains the beans and the finished product!

After the spice tour it was off to quech our thirst at the Rum Production plant. Rum production in Grenada has a rich history dating back several centuries. While sugarcane was never a major crop in Grenada due to the challenging terrain, the island's distilleries are known for producing high-quality, aged rums. Portions of the plant are no longer in operation, as you can likely surmise from the photos.

It's hard to tell if that was Jeff before or after the Rum tour and tasting!! The tour was interesting and we did acquire a coffee rum for our Christmas eve toast and some rum minatures to add to our international collection of minature bottles which Jeff's dad started many years ago.

As we rode along the mountainous hillside we made several interesting observations. Some passed us by too quickly to obtain a photograph, but just to mention a few. Homes were either shipping contaners, sheds, shanties or mansions built into the hillside. There was also a hillside cemetery with a goat grazing on top of one of the monuments. It was amazing there weren't more car wrecks along the narrow, winding road but we did see a few significant crashes and burnt out vehicles. We also noticed a plywood table set up roadside where the locals were butchering a cow - soon to be Christmas dinner for the patrons!

Our final stop was the Grand Anse beach where we sat in the shade of the tree, had a Pina Colada (topped with nutmeg) and gazed at the Serenade of the Seas in the distance.