Grenada and the Grenadines: The Variety (Spice) Isles.
In our 14 years of running SwimVacation, I’ve never guided two weeks in a row. My kids (now 12, 15, and 17) are more self-sufficient in many ways now, so I thought I’d give the full two weeks a try. I’m very grateful to my wife Cortney and in-laws Bob and Judy for taking care of things at home. It’s given me the opportunity to be present for a full turnover between trips, which turns out to be kind of a big to-do.
We said goodbye to guest Judy on Saturday morning, and set up guest Natalie with an island tour, as she’ll be staying with us for the second week. WIth 6 guests, 3 guides, and 3 crew for the coming week, we decided to switch to a bigger boat, the Lagoon 52, our 6-cabin workhorse. Luckily, we pulled our old boat into the dock stern-to-stern with the new boat, making it easier to haul everything over. We created a human chain of sorts to accomplish this.
Four cart loads of groceries later, our yacht is re-provisioned for a new week of swimmers!
Chef Lisa and Captain Richie hit the supermarkets to re-provision while Zack started prepping the L52 and Heather and I worked on laundry and paperwork for the changeover. Lisa and Richie returned with everything that we could possibly need for the week, food-wise, except for lemons and limes, which had apparently all been used by a large contingent of British people for their gin and tonics as they were here for a major cricket tournament. An entire Caribbean Island with no lemons or limes? Not even the tiny ones from backyard trees?! Apparently they’d been picked clean. Unsatisfied, I hatched a plan to find some.
The St. George’s Spice Market is a colorful, noisy, wonderful place in the streets and a small square in the middle of this former colonial town. My driver dropped me off at the edge of the market, and I strolled in, apparently the only non-Grenadian in town for the evening. I stuck out in my khaki shorts and floppy hat, but the locals welcomed me into the inner sanctum of the market, where big coolers filled with ice and beer were being emptied and refilled at a rapid pace and the smell of marijuana wafted through the air, cut only by Reggae rhythms emitting from big old speakers. I grabbed a beer and a seat and watched the crowd sway, before being asked for a dance. It was quite the spectacle.
Sweaty and a little buzzy, I hit the fruit stalls in search of my quarry. I saw a tiny woman completely surrounded by all kinds of produce and whispered to her about the status of her lemon and lime supply. She said she had only grafted limes. Huh? She produced something that looked an awful lot like a tangerine. She cut it open for me and I sucked hard on it, expecting orange but getting a decidedly limey rush, rich and complex. I asked her why nobody had bought her out of these things with the big shortage and all, and she muttered that nobody had asked. I bought them all, then bought some necklaces strung with spices from another woman that I thought would be nice for our guests' rooms. She gave me a shopping bag so I wouldn’t have to juggle 18 not-a-limes. I was given about a pound of complimentary ginger root, as well.
Seeing no taxis heading back the way I came, I decided to walk home, first through the ancient tunnel connecting the two parts of Town, then along the harbor, about 2.5 miles. I took a lot of pictures, stopped to watch 2 steel drum band practices, bought a round of beers for the small crowd at a roadside stand, and met a man dressed in a cloak and chains who was completely covered in motor oil. It was an early beginning to the Jab-Jab celebration here, Grenada’s version of Carnival, with deep African roots.
Local joint Patrick’s for dinner, with a long drawn out tasting menu. My first taste of Grenada’s national dish, the Oil Down. Finished off with under the counter spiced rum. Fiery.
Scenes from Hopper’s big adventure: The bustling streets of St. Georges, steel drum rehearsal, sharing a beer with motor oil Jab-Jab guy, and the orang not-a-limes that topped an amazing lunch spread that greeted our new guests.
Sunday morning, last minute prep for guests and a full english breakfast at the marina restaurant for Richie and Lisa. Guests arrive: Rick and Karen, Tara, Miriam, and new guest Karen. We collected Natalie from the marina pool and settled everyone in for a sail to Halifax Bay.
An afternoon swim brought us past a small beach where some island families played in the waves, then to an island with a small, seemingly abandoned eco-resort. On the way back we had to give a wide berth to some fishermen setting up a net.
Richie and Lisa have worked the charter business all over the world, and they have a tried and true way to create a local cocktail no matter where you are:
________ Sparkler
1 part local liquor
4 parts champagne
Local citrus, cut in chunks
½ tsp Sugar
Muddle a few chunks of the citrus and sugar in a wine glass. Add the liquor and champagne. Call it a _____ Sparkler, filling in the name of wherever you are.
And so tonight we sipped Grenadian Sparklers on the bow as the sun set into the Caribbean Sea. We caught up with each other’s lives and marveled that we are out in the world after such a long string of strange and hard days.
Salmon, rice and asparagus magically appeared for dinner, followed by apple tarte tatin topped with soursop ice cream for dessert.
Variety fuels me. After a hectic day of excellent crew teamwork followed by my adventures at the spice market, I’m delighted to settle into a second week of SwimVacation. This set of guests bring a new vibe, equally as pleasant, but different than last week.
With so many spices, fruits of different colors, spontaneous dances and road side characters punctuating swims in various shades of blue, Grenada is checking all of my variety boxes.
Hopper
