The Coconut Captives are Released!
After 42 hours of quarantine, the SwimVacation crew was released on Friday morning. We’d been staring at the calm blue water and bright white sand of Grand Anse Beach for 2 days, and finally we could jump in. We hung out on the beach most of the day, swimming, drinking coconut water straight from the shell, and eating the coconut meat for lunch. The past couple of evenings we’ve all gathered at a picnic table on the lawn for happy hour and takeout dinners. The rum punch here is particularly delicious and potent. We swap stories from our adventures together on previous SwimVacations as well as ones we’ve had on our own.
This extra time before the trip begins, forced by the need to quarantine, is a luxury for us, allowing us to bond and to get to know this new (to some of us) Island. Before the pandemic we’d hit the ground running with very little time to spare. Case in point, I’ve been to Hawaii 6 times but have never been off the Big Island. What will the future look like in regards to travel quarantines? We really don’t know. But after the last two restful days before a week of good work, I’d say that might not be a bad thing.
A day of lounging on the beach??! Never happens for the SwimVacation team! We enjoyed it and each other. Later in the afternoon, Hopper and I (Heather) walked with our beach friend Marlon to the mall to secure internet. Two hours and three stores later, we walked back with the whole world wide web in our hands. Thanks for the escort, Marlon!
All of our trips require solid ground transportation, and we rely on local labor for this. The people we work with - Albert and Iris in the BVIs, Abigail in the Bahamas, Demetris in Greece, are invaluable, and become part of our trip families. We keep in touch with them throughout the year. We’ve helped them out when hurricanes hit. They make us look good, entertain our guests, and give them a taste of local culture. They store gear for us between trips, help us solve problems when they arise, grease the wheels, bail us out, and wake up before dawn to get us on early flights. We didn’t yet have a driver in Grenada, so we asked around and were referred to Ace Ventura, the Man with the Van. He’s 32 but looks 23. Could be a keeper.
Yesterday morning Ace brought us to the popular open air market in St. George. Grenada is known as the Spices Isle, and one step out of the van made us understand why. The colors and the people and the spicy smells made my head swim. I wanted to dive in and roll around in it. We sampled Amazing Pamela’s Hot Sauces until our eyes watered, then tried some more. She gave us a piece of her Christmas Black Cake which tastes like it was made with an entire bottle of rum. We ate rack fig bananas (almost as good as Hawaii’s apple bananas), purchased live potted herbs, stared in disbelief at the size of the cinnamon sticks. There were rafts of nutmeg, mace, tumeric and ginger, floating on rivers of coconut water. There were local characters, some blind, some toothless, and a smack of curious kids. Muscled men slashed open coconuts with wood handled machetes. Piles of breadfruit and yams spilled over the make-shift tables. Our driver Ace had to drag us away.
Next we visited Fort George, high above town and the harbor it surrounds, with some great views. We saw the typical rows of old cannons, buildings stacked on each other, a mix of colonial and modern buildings. In a dank courtyard we had found the place where the former prime minister Maurice Bishop was executed in the early 80s during a coup. This event led to the American invasion here that I remember reading about in a newspaper that I’d borrowed from the box at my bus stop in 1983.
We hit the town proper, a tiny but busy place with lots of street sellers, and colonial architecture that was a mix of english and french styling. The workers at the fish market were busy carving up a very large tuna as we strolled through. With tourism down to a small percentage from normal, and no cruise ships, I got the sense that the locals had re-claimed this little town. This place has a great authentic, friendly vibe.
The bustling streets of St. George are filled with people doing really interesting things.
In the afternoon we checked out of the hotel, saying goodbye to the friends we’ve made here: the housekeepers, security guards, beach grifters, front desk staff, and the sheep that are tied up to the palm trees all over the lawn to keep the grass trimmed nicely. A baby sheep was especially cute, more of a milk drinker than a grass trimmer.
Finally, it was time to get to work. Ace dropped Miriam, Jason, and Zack at the supermarket, while Heather and I were dropped at the marina with all the gear and luggage to begin the process of setting up our catamaran. We basically take a perfectly clean, organized boat, turn it upside down, fill it with food and electronics, then put it back together all tidy and nice. It rained hard, after which I had a moment to myself on the stern, and was reminded how much I love working on and around boats, and how lucky I am to be doing all of this.
During our last dinner off the boat at the marina’s restaurant, we swapped stories with topics ranging from Las Vegas to accidental cannabis ingestion. They won’t be repeated here. A few rum punches and plantation punches appeared and vanished.
Heather after lugging stuff in a torrential downpour, exhausted dinner companions swapping stories, and a lovely dock stroll back to our new yacht home.
This morning we met a local guy on the dock who was petting the pigeon he held in one hand. His story was that he’s the caretaker for a big yacht and this pigeon had been using the boat as a bathroom, doubling his work. It would not leave, and no matter how far away he released it, the bird would fly back to the boat. He identified the tagged bird as a racing pigeon from Trinidad, and his plan was to buy it a one-way ticket on a cargo vessel heading for Trinidad later today. We wished him luck.
We have 3 hours until our guests arrive, and will be busy with last minute shopping and preparation till moments before. After a few days of immersion into this island and each other, we can’t wait to run this trip!
Hopper