We arrived in Grenada on July 24th and picked up a mooring ball near the capital of St. George’s. The weather in Grenada was surprisingly hot and humid. After clearing into the country with customs, we went to a nearby restaurant called Patrick’s where the owner allowed us to try a huge variety of Grenadian dishes, including fried ballyhoo, ginger pork, curried chicken, roasted pumpkin, callaloo soup, saltfish bakes, and many others.
Over the next week, we spent lots of time walking the streets of St. George’s. We toured the House of Chocolate Museum. We ate at many of the local restaurants and made several trips to Grenada’s huge outdoor market, where we found our favorite fruit, genip. Although in Grenada they are called “skinups”.
After months of online services, we were happy to find a Lutheran church in Grenada. The temporary pastor, Pastor Souk, invited us along to swim at Annandale Falls and to see the monkeys at Grand Etang National Park. We spent lots of time hand-feeding mangoes to a group of at least 30 mona monkeys. Afterward, we ate lunch at Victory Bar and Grill.
Later that week, we had dinner at a delicious Indian restaurant called Spice Affair.
We also took a trip in our dinghy to dive Grenada’s underwater sculpture park. The sculptures were fun, but the kids enjoyed jumping off of a nearby cliff more.
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.
Grenada’s carnival, also called Spicemas, is a 10-day celebration of Grenadian culture which began on August 13th. It involved almost round-the-clock partying, parades, deafening music, and street food. Some of the events like J’Overt, where they wear very little clothing and cover themselves in tar or old engine oil, were a little intense for the kids. We spent more time at the Fancy Mas celebration, where we saw lots of costumes, tried roasted field corn, and met a man with a pouch full of dead lizards. Grenadians speak English, but the dialect is sometimes difficult for us to understand, so we still don’t know what he intended to do with them.
In a few months, we’ll be sailing across the Caribbean to Panama, so we decided to have our sails inspected and repaired. We spent a long day removing our mainsail, jib, and code-zero. After carefully folding them, we dropped them off with the local sailmaker at Turbulence.
Throughout the Caribbean, we’ve become accustomed to walking long distances (sometimes several miles) for groceries, so it was really nice to find a Foodland grocery store right on the water in St. George’s harbor. We were also fortunate to meet a local taxi driver that goes by the name Green Man. Like many of the Grenadians we’ve met, he’s been extremely kind and generous, often sending us home with big bags of oranges, avocados, and mangoes from the fruit trees in his yard.
On Gabriel’s Birthday, we went to Spiceland Mall to let him pick out a few books. Afterwards we ate lunch at Carib Sushi and saw the new Blue Beatle movie at Movie Palace. Finally, we stopped by Knife and Fork for some birthday cake.
Towards the end of the month, we decided to rent a slip in the marina for a few weeks to complete a few boat projects. It was our first time med-mooring our boat, where we backed in, between two other boats, tying the stern to the dock and the bow to a mooring ball.
Five weeks in Grenada have flown by. We plan to stay until mid-October, at which point we’ll head to Bonaire, Aruba, and Curacao.
I loved hearing about the people you met while you were there. I loved too how the boys made friends. Missing you terribly and love you tons!! ❤️
I love hearing about your adventures! I love all the photos. What a wonderful opportunity for all of you. I can’t believe how big the boys are getting.