Island Exploration

Lloyd felt well enough to ride with us in a van around the island yesterday (Yeh! Recovery!), so we gladly embarked on a day long adventure. Grenada is from volcanic origin and has produced a topography that is fantastic to visit. One must dope up on all kinds of anti-nausea medications before leaving because the road system here gives “curvey” an entirely new dimension. In addition to unbelieveable Coastline views, there are several freshwater lakes as well. We overlooked one, Lake Antoine, that occupies a perfect crater of an extinct volcano.

The rainforest is a protected national park that is located in the middle part of the island. We had hoped to hike a little through the mountainous region, but, with Lloyd feeling badly and the kids being so young, we opted to slate this for future exploration. We did, however, hike a short distance to Annadale Falls, where cliff jumpers were awaiting. Upon donation, they perform a 50 foot jump, and it is definitely worth the tip.



We ate lunch at Belmont Estate, which is a 300 year old plantation that still practices by the original manufacturing techniques. Their main product is chocolate, and we toured from start to finish how the cocoa plant is transformed into my favorite dessert.


The process starts with farmers picking the cocoa pod off the trees, and cracking the pod to harvest the beans inside. When opened, the beans are covered in this yummy sweet pulp (kind of tastes like yogurt), but, if you bite into the bean, it will be very bitter. In order to make the chocolate taste more palatable, the bean is put through a fermentation process for 5 to 9 days and then, laid out to dry in the sun. Various types of cocoa exist, and the fermentation and drying of the beans affect the flavor of the final product (kind of like wine or tea). Several times daily, the ladies at the plantation take off their shoes and shuffle through the drying beans in order to maximize their exposure to sunshine and air. The kids and I enjoyed helping… It’s the least we could do.


The Belmont experience is not complete without a quick walk through the plantation gardens. They have horses, a donkey, sheep, goats, lamb, tortoises, parrots, and yes, MONKEYS!!!!!! We had bananas ready to call for them in the jungle, but, we didn’t end up hiking in the right location. In addition, Hurricane Ivan destroyed most of the island in 2004, and the monkey population in the jungle was diminished to a minimum because of the storm. Apparently, it’s mating season and this time of year is the least likely time to spy these interesting creatures. (they are in their caves up to monkey business. Oh well.) Having not expected to see them, you can’t even imagine the excitement when the kids saw the monkeys! Their touch was so gentle… I fell in love, too.

Our guide taught us about the various fruits grown on trees by stopping along side of the road as he drove. From what I can remember (too much to keep up with) we saw breadfruit, jackfruit, starfruit, mango, avocado, almond, banana, seagrape, coconut, cocoa, palm, and nutmeg trees. Remember that Grenada is the world’s second largest producer of nutmegs in the world (just behind Indonesia), accounting for 1/3 of the worlds supply. Nutmegs are used in everything from drinks and desserts (nutmeg icecream) to medications (Nutmed, a trademark pain medication here). The nutmeg pod opens to show the red mace that covers the nut when it is ready to be harvested. Nothing goes to waste as they manufacture the mace for lipstick, cosmetics, medications, and yes, even pepperspray (primarily exported to other countries)!




We finished the day with a visit to the Antoine Rum Distillery, whose processes have changed little since the 1800s. It is the oldest functioning water-powered distillery in the entire Caribbean. We all tasted the locally grown sugar cane, which is the primary ingredient in the rum making process.


Lloyd and I taught this morning, and will finish up with our teaching responsibilities by tomorrow afternoon. It’s hard to believe that nearly 2 weeks have passed! We’ll squeeze in as much excitement as we can during these next 48 hours.