GRENADA - Caribbean Compass

A nutmeg, fragrant emblem of the Spice Island
— Continued from previous page
Gilles buys local animals, hangs them in a room-sized
chiller and produces wonderful cuts of fresh meat. He
also makes hams, smoked fish, sausage and bacon.
These feature in the restaurant, which is open most
days for lunch and on some nights for dinner. Gerard,
who runs the dock, has a workshop and good tools,
which he sometimes rents to those with a project.
Across the water, Clarkes Court Bay Marina has a
bar and restaurant which is popular for fish and chips
on Fridays, pot-luck on Saturdays, Sundays for afternoon
games, Wednesdays for steel pan and burgers
and Tuesday for movies. Sometime, find your way in to
the Little Dipper dock and walk up through the fruit
garden to Joan’s great local restaurant overlooking the
bay.
Hog Island is best known as a cruisers’ hangout and
for their Sunday barbecue. Yachts also anchor in Mt.
Hartman Bay, where Martin’s Pub at the marina often
has a Friday night barbecue.
Prickly Bay Marina’s Tiki Bar is famous for its Friday
night steel pan followed by a combo. On the other side
of the bay, De Big Fish gets hopping, especially on
Tuesdays and Saturdays when they have early live
music and happy hour specials. It is also one of the
best lunch spots. Young people can go party late at
night at Bananas, a short walk away. Wander up
towards the medical school, and Options is a new food
ALL PHOTOS: CHRIS DOYLE
On Fish Fridays, the village of Gouyave on Grenada’s west coast is a sea-foodie’s Mecca
court with shacks selling local food, sushi, Mexican,
pizza, shark-and-bake and more. For classier fare try
Moko Jumby on the same road, or the Dodgy Dock at
True Blue Bay.
Out and About
Starting about Wednesday each week, the morning
net will start to talk about Fish Friday at the village of
Gouyave on the island’s west coast. Gouyave is the
fishing capital of Grenada and on Fridays the fishermen
do a little direct marketing: stalls are set up all
over, traffic is stopped, and you can buy every kind of
seafood from the vendors. It has become a popular
local event. Buses are organized that will take you
there return for about EC$20.
One of the other things that will turn up from time
to time on the morning net is the offer of an “island
tour”. I am told this is a great and popular trip, but
any island tour of Grenada should just be a taste to
whet your appetite, because Grenada has a gorgeous
interior, and if you are on a budget, buses can take
you to most good spots.
For example, pack lunch, start early in the morning,
and take a bus from St. George’s going over Grand
Etang. Get off at the Forest Center, walk a hundred
yards or so back up the way the bus came and you will
see a marked trail to the west which will take you right
across the middle of the island. Take the short detour
to Mount Qua Qua with its lovely view over the Grand
Etang Lake before continuing down to Concord. [See
detailed hiking directions and map in “Monkey Paws
and Waterfalls” by Devi Sharp in the March 2010 issue
of Compass.] You will pass a few lovely secluded waterfalls
along the way. When you hit the main road, you
can get a bus back to town. Another destination not to
miss (but not visit on the same day) is Seven Falls. The
trail for this is also on the Grand Etang Road, but a bit
further north, downhill from the Forest Center. It
would also be easy to spend a day messing in the river
above Tufton Hall, behind Victoria. Go up far enough
and you come to the highest waterfalls in Grenada.
A fun way to see some of the country and get to know
locals is to join in with the Hash House Harriers (these
have been described as drinkers with a running problem).
They have buses that leave town for whichever
part of the country they have decided to harry, and it
is all announced on the morning net.
The island tour may have taken care of the Belmont
Estate and the River Antoine rum factory. But in case
it did not, put them on your itinerary. The Belmont
Estate, between Tivoli and Hermitage, is where the
cocoa for the Grenada Chocolate Factory is grown. You
can see it being dried in the sun, and find out about
the process of making chocolate. The River Antoine
Rum Factory (take the coast road from Tivoli then
head north) tour is like being in a time machine. Rum
is made here today, much as it was a couple of hundred
years ago. You want to call first and make sure
you go when it is in action so you can see the big water
wheel crushing the sugar cane and watch the heated
juice being ladled ever warmer in a series of coppers
heated by fire from the crushed cane stalks.
Boat Work and…
If you have work in mind, Grenada has two good
boatyards — Spice Island Marine and Grenada Marine
— and a host of support services for any kind of job
(see www.mayag.net/Suppliers).
And while maintaining your boat, how about you?
Island Dental Clinic is a new dental office with modern
equipment and two good young Grenadian dentists
who are keen and interested. Between them, the
Sunshine Medical Clinic, and Dr. Yaw in Prickly Bay,
there is nothing you cannot get done from a complex
crown to an implant, and at about half US prices.
For cruisers, summer in Grenada just might be the
“on season”.
NEW JET ADDED TO THE FLEET!
New Services:
AIR AMBULANCE
FLIGHTS TO & FROM ST. LUCIA
JULY 2010 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 19