The next decade....what's in store?

Sunday Outing

After getting the hire car changed to a jeep because of a strange noise (could be the fan belt they said), I wended my way along meandering roads, up to Grand Etang to get to Grenville, then up to Tivoli towards Hermitage.

After descending Grand Etang, I saw a Detour sign because the Birchgrove bridge is not yet finished being repaired or built. The turn off took me through Beauregard where I bucked up on guess what? Dead manicous. Wild meat. The man had 3 or 4 of them holding by the scruff of their tails, their insides taken out, mouth wide open. I had to stop. I had tasted it before (yuck) but never seen them before cooking. Even yuckier. But I took a pic for you all to see (watch for it and more in a couple days). Imagine the man was charging me EC$5 to take the pictures of some dead animals. I just promptly told him that was not on. So I got it for free.

Drove and drove and drove endlessly, past Grenville, past the old Pearls airport, up to Tivoli, then started asking directions to Belmont Estate. Found it.

Bucked up some family friends who were powerless so they came out to lunch, chit chatted, got a lovely mango, and insect repellant. Sand flies like flies! And I had on shorts, for I thought there was a river on the estate that I could go wading in. No such luck.

Got a tour. Saw the way cocoa beans are processed, drank some cocoa tea (it's nicer how Villy does it with the coconut milk), looked at how the Grenadian owners used to live. Mr Nyack was a smart man. He bought the estate in 1944, and then the war came. The world stop buying nutmeg from Grenada, but Nyack didn't stop buying from local farmers. He piled a room tight tight tight with nutmeg, which, if stored properly can keep for years. So guess what? After war, demand rose, and guess who had all the nutmegs?

I took pictures of a page in his payroll book from the 1950's, the receipt for the $35,000 pounds he paid for it, and some other things, so look out for those.

Then there's the little monkey. Cute thing who knew he was the centre of attention. Ran and knocked off all the flower pots off the railing of the gift shop....then made a beeline towards my leg! I thought the claws would have been sharp, but not so. He was just wet, as it had rained earlier.

Left and continued driving northwards up to Sauteurs. On the way I passed where I interviewed Devon Smith , and saw the sign for the Chocolate Factory. Larr says their chocolate is the best, so I bought a bar. Didn't eat it though. Will give it away and beg for a square!

Heading back down to Grand Anse on the western coast, I came upon a political meeting about to start in Victoria. Traffic, traffic and more traffic. The street dem si-mall. While waiting on the road to clear, I saw the Minister of Labour who Villy knows, so chit chatted. Hmmmm, I could have told him some labour stories after my recent experience but common sense prevailed.

The sun was setting as I drove down, and the reflection on the water was just gorgeous. This is one pretty little island. You all have to discover it. If you like cricket, plan to come for the one day match next April 28 (WI vs England), then stay on a few days to see the beauty of Grenada.

Posted by yamfoot at November 3, 2003 11:57 AM