1/5/06 A 3 Hour Tour

Melanie decided that she needed to hit the beach today to work on her tan to make everyone back home jealous. Doug, Carrie, and I, however, decided to rent a truck and check out a bit of the island (I didn’t really trust the Mecca-mobile to get us back). We drove up over the Grand Etang Road to head up the east coast to our first stop, The Grenada Chocolate Factory. We got a more extensive explanation of the whole chocolate making process than when I visited with my parents and then bought a ton of chocolate bars. Gene, the lady whose apartment I’m renting, also owns a shop in town and told me to let Edmund know she was out. As it turns out the delivery guy is off the island for a few weeks and because delivering chocolate is so very complicated, none was being delivered during this period. Even though Edmund didn’t know me from Adam, he sent me along with a couple dozen bars for Gene. Thank God they didn’t melt or I would have bought one huge amount of Grenadian Dark Chocolate!

On the road we stopped by a guy selling fresh coconuts for directions and a refreshing drink.

The next stop was the Rivers Rum Distillery. Too bad that most of the working had stopped for the holidays but we did see them bottling the 83% rum; “Slightly Overproof Rum” is on the label. I’m surprised that the stuff doesn’t eat right through the bottle!

We started back over the Grand Etang and made one more stop at the Seven Sister’s Waterfall. I had been wanting go to these falls for a while and really enjoyed the hike. Of course you can’t go anywhere around here without being hit up for some kind of donation to support the cause, whatever it may be. On the way in it was to help support the guys who lived up at the entrance to the trail and down at the falls it was to support the Grenadian Divers’ Association; just a group of guys who would jump off the falls and then try to sell you some touristy crap! Despite that, hiking through the forest was beautiful and the falls and surrounding pools were refreshing.

We finished the day with dinner back at Gene’s house. We had Doug and Melanie, Louw and Marta, and Gene with her dog Freckles over. We (and when I say “we” I mostly mean Carrie) made blackened Scarlett Snapper with some local vegetables which we all enjoyed tremendously.

After dinner we loaded up in the Mecca-mobile for the short trip back to the hotel. As I went to start the car, the clutch went right down to the floor as the clutch cable snapped. Good thing we didn’t take her out for the tour!!