Spice Island (Greneda) Impressions: Installment 9

By: aromaproductions on 5:37 PM

Share it Please

Tweet

Spice Island (Greneda) Impressions: Installment 9

Monday, 16, 29 July, 2013:

Today Arlene, my sister, my cousin, Grace and me are in the city with Emmanuel to change US dollars to Grenadian dollars.  But first we accompany  him to the Carenage to Hubbards' hardware store to purchase items that our builders need for our apartment's renovation. There we take a few pictures of the Carenage and of ourselves, the three amigos.

After that we visit the Arts and Crafts’s shop on Young Street to purchase souvenirs, then we go across the street to MNIB (Grenada’s Marketing Board) to purchase local fruit and locally made fares such as sugar cakes, tamarind balls, pineapple tarts and sour-sap drinks.

 We take some photos with Grenadian policemen. They look so smart in their uniforms I can't resist asking them to pose.  They are surprisingly very obliging.  My husband, Emmanuel, is the photographer.

According to islandgrenada.com, The Marketing & National Importing Board is responsible for securing fresh fruit and vegetables from farmers throughout Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique for export and local consumption. Bananas have always been popular both as an export crop and a staple diet. It has invaluable nutritional benefits, rich in fiber, vitamins, potassium and low in calories. Other produce available are mangoes, watermelons, sweet potatoes, yams, plantains breadfruit, pumpkin, cauliflower etc. Consumers are offered a variety of freshly prepared snacks and local juices at their nationwide outlets.

From there we go to Andall to buy paper plates, cups, knives, napkins.

Today I am cooking dinner for the workers. After returning from St. Georges, we go to the Blue Danube to buy callaloo for lunch. It is so delicious, we leave only bones in our soup bowls.

One of the main ingredient of the callaloo soup is the leaf of the dasheen vegetable.

The ingredients can vary depending on the Caribbean island and, besides callaloo leaf,  can include , salt, onions, scallions, and vegetable ( eddoes/tanya, plantain, yam and dumplings), while Trinidadians, for whom it is their national dish, use okra and coconut milk to make a different dish with a different taste and consistency.

Next I spend two hours in the kitchen preparing rice and beans, potato stuffing (Both Virgin Islands dishes), baked chicken and salad for nine people. When it is done, it is time for dinner, but I am tired and my back feels like it is about to break. I rest in a hammock and in a lounge chair for a few hours.

Tuesday, Day 17, 30 July

Sugar apple tree

Today we are up at 7:00 because we leave at 9:00 for a tour around the eastern and middle part of Grenada which is 133 square miles.  It is four times the size of St. Thomas where Arlene, Grace and I grew up.

Saint Thomas, together with Water Island, forms a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of Charlotte Amalie. As of the 2010 census, the population of Saint Thomas was 51,634^[1] about 48.5% of the US Virgin Islands total. The district has a land area of 31.24 square miles (80.9 km²).

The island was originally settled around 1500 BC by the Ciboney people. They were later replaced by the Arawaks and then the Caribs.  Christopher Columbus sighted the island in 1493 on his second voyage to the "New World". The Caribs barely survived the first decades of contact with Europeans, either due to disease, deportation into slavery or being killed.

The Danish conquered the island in 1666, and by 1672 had established control over the entire island through the Danish West India and Guinea Company. In 1917, St. Thomas was purchased (along with Saint John and Saint Croix) by the United States for $25 million in gold,^[7] as part of a defensive strategy to maintain control over the Caribbean and the Panama Canal during the First World War.

The tour around the island of Grenada takes about eight hours.  Another day would be required to complete a tour of the island.

Lake Antoine

Our tour includes a visit to two lakes:Lake Antoine, and Grand Etange. Lake Antoine is the second largest lake on the island of Grenada. Lake Antoine is similar in that it is also a crater lake but it lies at the bottom of a deeper crater.


 
According to http://www.grenadagrenadines.com,this shallow crater lake, like Grand Etang, is host to a wide variety of wildlife. The lake's perimeter trail, a beautiful walk in itself, is another of Grenada's excellent attractions for birdwatchers. Among the species frequently sighted are the snail kite, the fulvous whistling duck, large billed seed-finch, gray kingbird and limpkin.

Wikipedia states that Grand Etang Lake is a submarine volcano that is extinct. It is located in Saint Andrew Parish. 









Evidence suggests that the Grand Etang Lake is connected to Kick em Jenny (active submarine volcano) as when Kick Em Jenny was bubbling, so too were the waters in Grand Etang Lake. The Grand Etang Lake is 1,800 feet (550 m) above sea level and it is one of the two crater lakes on the island (the other being Lake Antoine). The lake is approximately 20 feet deep.

Along the way to the waterfall our tour guide points out local plants and fruit. 

Here is a nutmeg fruit, the nutmeg and the mace which covers the nut. It is also used to spice drinks.

Grenadaexplore.com states that Grenada has several fabulous waterfalls, with only a few of them known to the general public. There are more  than a dozen waterfalls and several cascades. 
Depending upon your fitness level, you can choose between a gentle stroll through a well tended garden to get to Annadale Falls; or, if you are feeling very energetic, a 20 minute hike through the rain forest to get to the Seven Sisters and Honeymoon Falls.

We had a wonderful time looking at the natural beauty of the waterfall and its surroundings and purchased a few souvenir items.


The Concord Waterfall is situated on the edge of the forest reserve on the western side of the island, and therefore the water is crystal clear and ice cold. 




Of the three waterfalls in this area, the first one is the most readily accessible and most photographed, with a paved road leading almost directly up to it. There is nothing like taking a bracing dip in a cool mountain stream, so we do suggest that you walk with the necessary clothing.

Grace Daniel, my cousin.

The second (Au Coin) of the three falls is bigger and taller, and is reached only after a 45 minute hike. The trail goes through a nutmeg plantation and is readily marked, so a guide is not absolutely necessary. However, a guided tour with someone who can show you the different types of cultivated plants and their uses is well worth it.

The third  (Fontainbleu) is a little off the beaten track, but well worth the journey. At Fontainbleu, the water cascades down a 65 foot cliff into a crystal clear pool.
If you are planning on visiting all three of the falls, then we suggest that you plan on spending a morning and pack a light lunch and some refreshments. (Don't forget that camera or they might not believe your descriptions back home.)

After the waterfall, we visit a nutmeg factory in Gouyave where we are given a tour which cost us only US$1.00.The Gouyave Nutmeg Processing Station is one of the largest nutmeg processing factories on the island.  We get to watch workers choose, grade and package the nutmegs.At the end of your tour,  we explore ‘Nutmeg World’ for packaged spices, clothing and other locally made tokens to remember your tour.

According to grenada explorer.com, if you drive anywhere north (or east) of St.George's,  you'll find yourself among nutmeg trees. If you do not know what you are looking at, you may well think they are apricots, though. 

Grenada has thousands and thousands of trees, and Grenada is second only to Indonesia in nutmeg exports.

The fruit is made into jam. And liqueur. And syrup, without which a Grenadian rum punch just would not be Grenadian. Or add the syrup to fruit salads, eat it with pancakes, baste chicken with it...




Mace turns up in lipstick and nail varnish, as well as in most of the world's sausages. The shell of the kernel is used as mulch, as gravel, and as fuel for burning.

In the shop there are an assortment of  nutmeg products including jams, and syrups.
The nutmeg itself yields an essential oil as well as being a spice. It is used in aromatherapy massages for rheumatism and arthritis, and as an inhalation oil. 

There are also other products made from local fruit available for purchase. 

The noni is a fruit I had never seen until this visit to Grenada and I had visited the islands several times  with my family in the 1980's.

Our next trip is a rum factory. The Rivers Antione rum factory, which was built around 1785, is located not far from Tivoli and Lake Antoine. Its method of distilling rum hasn’t changed much since it began to operate. It depends a lot on hand laborers, including those who cut the cane.

 Uncommoncaribbean.com says that visiting the distillery in the north of the island is almost like taking a step 250 years back in time. 










Rickety wooden carts are pushed along ancient tracks to transport the cane and the stone structure containing the distillery has long graduated from the stage of being antique and now lies somewhere between decrepit and disintegrating. Rum was being produced within these walls while Mozart was writing operas!

Central to the entire process of manufacturing Rivers Rum is a water wheel. 











Fed by the River Antione, that wheel has been the driving force behind crushing cane for as long as there’s been Rivers Rum—making it the oldest distillery driven by a water wheel in existence.

From the crusher, the cane juice runs down a tiny, open-air wooden guttering to the boiling house. The fires of which are fueled by the dried, crushed cane also known as bagasse or the distillery’s other alternative energy source.

We also visit Leaper’s Hill before we go to Lower Sauters to have a traditional Grenadian lunch. It is my second visit. It is a place of sacrifice and tragic Caribbean history.

Cliff where the Caribs jumped to their death.

Catholic Church at Leaper's Hill.

An unusual plant at Leaper's Hill that captured my immagination 

Although hungry and thirsty, we still take time to snap a few photos..

The lunch consists of homegrown salad, provisions (breadfruit, green banana and plantain), fried fish, and fried chicken in a delicious sauce. Our drink is lemonade and dessert is a Grenadian adaption of cheese cake. 

And finally, we visit The Belmont Estate/ cacao factory to watch the process through which the product goes before it is exported. 



The website of the estate tells us that Belmont Estate has an excellent relationship with Grenada Cocoa Association (the local farmers association). On and off over the last 30 years Belmont Estate has acted as an agent for the GCA (who manage the cocoa industry, buying from local farmers and selling internationally). When acting as an agent for the GCA, Belmont Estate purchases wet cocoa from the farmers in the community, ferments and dries the beans, then sells to the Association. In 2012 Belmont Estate and the Grenada Chocolate Factory formed a closer partnership and currently organic beans are purchased from local organically certified farmers then fermented and dried at Belmont for the factory to produce the world class, award winning chocolate. On buying days at Belmont, visitors can see the beans actually being weighed and purchased from farmers. And on any day of the week be assured that you will see beans being fermented, and dried. The story of the cocoa is brought to life at the fermentary with the display of several pieces of machinery that are used in the semi-processing and by the demonstration of the traditional method of polishing the bean, by dancing in old copper pots.


But by then we toured-out, tired from our eight hour tour and sun-burnt, so we visited the shops instead.

 At the entrance of the Belmont Cacoa Factory there are tables which display fruit indigenous to the island.
 On this table sour-sap, pawpaw, mangoes, families of limes and lemons, etc., are on display.

Sugar apples, avocado, passion fruit,  noni, etc. are displayed here. 

On this table, breadfruit, avocado, and assorted nuts and spices can be seen. Many containers are made from the calabash fruit which are now hallow gourds

We also did some purchasing along the way--coral carved bracelets, earrings, nutmegs at the Waterfall, rum and rum punch at the rum factory, handbags, and table towels, chocolate from the cocoa factory.

Wednesday, Day 19, 31 July 2013

A river seen on our island tour.

Today is Emmanuel's and my last day in Grenada. It is countdown to departure. Arlene, Grace and I leave for Grand Anse at 8:00 a.m. We have arranged with a taxi driver, Mr. Frazer, who lives next door, to take to the beach. Mr. Frazer had also brought us to and from the airport for a $40 GD fee.

It is my second time at the beach, but the first time swimming. Arlene and Grace are at Grand Anse for the first time. It is cool because it is early and almost empty except for a few locals swimming. 

We feel like we are in heaven looking at the clear, blue water and white sand. We decide to walk the length of the beach first before flirting with the water the best way we can. After walking, we choose a tree. There are many low, wide seaside grape trees and seaside almond trees to choose from.

We mark our spot by spreading our towels and putting our beach bags down. Then we slip out of our trousers and head for the water. We make sure we can see our things while in the water. The entrance to the rushing, retreating, splashing water looks like a shallow pool to me and Arlene and Grace have to help me into it.

I have water anxieties from childhood swimming lessons and near drowning. Some of us never get over that. The sand levels out once I get over the bank and I am in. I remember then that I forgot to rub on my sun tan lotion.

My  face and right arm are already red from sitting in the front seat of our tour-taxi with my sleeveless arms out. 

A half an hour passes before we get out to check the time, then I rub too much lotion on.

Arlene and Grace are not good swimmers, but swim well enough to survive. I am not a swimmer at all. So we wade into the water. I splash around waist deep; they do dog paddles, float and do short swimming exercises. We can see men doing push-ups on the sand while others give swimming and sailing lessons to tourists.

 At 9:30 a.m., we get out to walk, dry off and search for the hotel they have booked to stay in after Emmanuel and I are gone.

Along the way, we pick sea-grapes and almonds from the numerous trees the grace the white-sanded beach.

This makes us nostalgic for our childhood when we did such things. 

We are so lucky there are no “manchineel” trees here. They are known to bear a poisonous acidy fruit. We are grateful for that. According to Wikipedia “The manchineel tree, Hippomane mancinella, is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae), and the only species in the monotypic genus Hippomane. Manchineel is native to Florida in the United States, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, Central America, and northern South America.^[1] The name "manchineel" (sometimes written "manchioneel") as well as the specific epithet mancinella is from Spanish manzanilla ("little apple"), from the superficial resemblance of its fruit and leaves to those of an apple tree. A present-day Spanish name is in fact manzanilla de la muerte, "little apple of death". This refers to the fact that manchineel is one of the most poisonous trees in the world.”

We leave at 10:00 a.m. as we are to leave for Madeys to visit Lena, my sister-in-law, at 11:00 a.m.

Back at our apartment, work men are rushing to finish plastering walls, tiling and changing electrical outlets they have started, but the renovation of the apartment is not done. My husband will have to return in the New Year  2014 to continue the work.

Our driver, a Brazilian-Guyanese man, named Issa, is two hours late. When he arrives, he speeds over hills and around dangerous curves to get to Madeys and return before 4:00 p.m. We get there around 2:30 p.m. because my husband has asked him to make a detour to show us the village (Hermitage) where he was born.

When we arrive at Lena’s home, she serves us lunch she has already prepared. It is a sumptuous lunch of chicken and breadfruit, green bananas and coocoo (boiled cornmeal), ginger beer and mangoes for dessert.

We are back in St. Georges around 5:00 p.m. 

I ask the driver, Issa, to rush me to St. Georges to get a picture of a shop called “Basel Shop.” I could not have gone back to Basel, Switzerland without this gem. I have to give him a special tip for going beyond his call of duty.

In the evening Grace and Arlene order a fish dinner from the Blue Danube and Emmanuel eats boiled bananas and salad. I taste a bit of fish but I am not hungry. I am thinking of our up-coming travel back to Switzerland (via Miami and London). These thoughts are sucking away my appetite. Our flight will take eleven hours and we will spend an equal amount of time in transit.

photos of Grenadian birds by Grace Daniel.

Everything that needs putting away must be put away: chairs, tables, dishes and clothes. Perishable food must be given away or thrown out. 

After that we pack and secure our souvenirs. It means we have to wrap them carefully in thick papers and clothing so that they will survive the very long journey back to Switzerland.



 The flight includes two six hour layovers. One has to worry whether the rum, rum punch, sugar cakes etc., will survive the journey

I don't really enjoy flying because it means I have no control over my life. My life is placed solely in the hands of God.

Photos of birds by Grace Daniel.