So, we decided to take our chances and stop in Los Aves de Sotavento despite the State Department’s Level 4 – DO NOT TRAVEL Advisory. Inadvertently, we ended up doing precisely what the advisory warned against: we arrived without notice and without a visa.
By our fourth month in Grenada, it was beginning to feel like home. We had developed a bit of a routine: Sundays, we attended church and went to lunch at Cilantros or Spice Affair afterward. Mondays were for grocery shopping. On Tuesdays, the kids met Pastor for Bible study while…
The highlight of our third month in Grenada was a much-anticipated visit from Grandma (Brandon’s mom). Before her arrival, we left the marina and returned to a mooring ball. We caught up on boat chores and did some extra schoolwork so that we could enjoy every minute with her.
During our first month in Grenada, we hadn’t ventured far from the capital city, St. George’s, so we took Green Man up on his offer to show us around the island. He spent several days driving us around and sharing the country’s culture and history with us.
Grenada, also known as the Isle of Spice, produces more than 20% of the worlds nutmeg as well as cinnamon, cocoa, vanilla, mace and ginger. We’re really enjoying the endless supply of fresh and inexpensive fruit, vegetables, and fish.
When we arrived in St. Pierre, Martinique, we put up our yellow quarantine flag and took our dinghy to the town dock. It was a small town, so customs and immigrations were just a computer in the back of a little restaurant.
For us, Trafalgar Falls was the most spectacular stop in Dominica. It’s located just a few miles outside Roseau in the Morne Trois Pitons National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The small island of Saint Martin is divided between two countries. The northern half is an overseas collectivity of France called Saint Martin. The southern half, Sint Maarten, is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. There is no border control between the two sides, so you can freely cross from Dutch territory to French territory.
Simply put, it was a dump. There was trash everywhere. The people were rude. The prices were high, and it was difficult to get any assistance whatsoever from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office.
For two entire weeks, we encountered neither another person nor a boat. We awoke to the sounds of mountain goats bleating on the beach, swam in crystal-clear water, and snorkeled among coral reefs teeming with marine life.