(As we travelled to Grenada in 2008, the information will be out of date of course. As with every post or page on the internet, research your needs intensely before committing to any flights and/or accommodation recommended.)
We wanted to go somewhere different in the summer of 2008. Courtesy of XL Airways UK just a few months before they went bust in September that year, we got a tremendous late deal of a return to Grenada from Gatwick for £240. No wonder they no longer fly, we were fortunate that we were not on holiday when they did cease trading. Mrs G had already been to the Caribbean in 1998, as previously mentioned on the 'countries visited by us' page, Mr G had never visited the area before. Now we had to research where to stay for a week in Grenada. We instantly dismissed the all-inclusive resorts near the airport, as we like to get out and about. If people want to just laze on a beach or by a pool, then that is their holiday and good luck to them. 'The Telegraph' newspaper has an online guide to 'spice isle' in it's travel section. On the second link, the attractions numbers (?) correspond with the blog post numbers by the places we went to.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destination/caribbean/103303/Grenada-travel-guide.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destination/caribbean/103280/Grenada-attractions.html
We eventually saw 'Grenada Gold self catering apartments' online. We rented the Nutmeg Suite for the week and also hired the Jeep SUV all week too. We were picked up at the airport and driven to the supermarket at our request and then on to the apartments. We were glad to be driven, because we later found that Grenada had virtually no road signs! Finding Westerhall Heights after a long flight would of been fun, at least they drive on the left in Grenada. NB. ignore where Google maps place 'Grenada Gold Apartments', it is nowhere near the airport close to Point Salines in the far South West corner of the island, as shown here.
Take a peek at http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g147296-d636354-Reviews-or20-Grenada_Gold_Guest_Apartments-St_George_s_Saint_George_Parish_Grenada.html#REVIEWS
the traveller photo's on there are much better than ours, unfortunately.
http://www.grenadagold.com/index.htm
Our hosts Anthony and Lucille could not of been more helpful and were so charming. The accommodation is very spacious and air con is available to rent if required. We preferred to leave the windows open, as there was a nice cool evening breeze, although the tree frogs racket is deafening for such a small creature. After packing our shopping away, we thought we might go out for the last few remaining hours of daylight somewhere close. Westerhall Point was our destination of choice, just a few miles down the road. Take some bug spray with you to this area, Mrs G got bitten badly by sand flies. it was nice just relaxing by a beach for a change.
http://grenada-guide.info/attractions/beaches/westerhall.point/
Our next day of sightseeing began at Fort Frederick, high up above the capital St George. Wander about the ramparts and take in the wonderful views below.
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g147296-d148385-Reviews-Fort_Frederick-St_George_s_Saint_George_Parish_Grenada.html
A short car journey brings you to the Grenadian capital, St Georges (1). A small town with a scenic waterfront around a horseshoe shaped bay. Take a walk around the bustling streets of the market, or stroll along the waterfront. For food we used the Nutmeg café on the Carenage, with views over the harbour. Usually we ordered the roti and had a rum punch with it, then for desert had nutmeg ice-cream. Try and visit when there are no cruise ships in St Georges, a ship disgorging thousands of tourists in a small town makes for very crowded streets.
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g147295-d1046202-Reviews-Nutmeg-Grenada.html
Quoted from The Telegraph guide.....
A good pit stop in St George's is the New Nutmeg, a simple but fresh-looking café on the Carenage with good cheap eats (roti cost EC$15 - £4). If you want somewhere fancier, drop by Victory Bar & Grill in Port Louis, the snazzy marina on the southern side of St George's harbour.Fort George on the opposite side of the harbour is not as good as Fort Frederick in our opinion. If you have plenty of time then by all means go ahead and visit as we did....
This view looks back to the Carenage with the 'Anglican Church' on the left.
Now a short story (Are you sitting comfortably, children?) We were originally heading for Gouyave on the West coast (for 'fish Friday') but the lack of road-signs meant we got totally lost. When attempting to turn around the car because we realised we were going the wrong way, a man with a machete suddenly appeared. He offered to take us to the Seven Sisters waterfall, not far he said, ok we said. Over an hour later Mrs G gave up and waited on a rock, with the machete! and I carried on to the falls about twenty minutes later. The photo he took of me is so fuzzy I had to use this one.
On the way back we were both suffering from heat exhaustion. (we were not prepared for a hike in the country, we were going out to eat remember!) Mrs G stopped again and I went ahead to get some water from our car. Coming back I slipped and hurt my knees from the awkward landing. I somehow limped back to Mrs G and managed to get back to the car. Never again we both said, although in the end we did go to another waterfall later in the holiday. So only a couple of days in to the holiday and we were both the worse for wear, me with my knees and Mrs G wondering if she would last the week without a hospital visit. Things did get better healthwise for both of us, as you will see in part two and maybe stretched to a part three.
Just one tip this time
When in hot countries we are amazed at people who do not wear a hat. We know we are not wearing them in the photo's above, but we are in the next post. Sometimes we forget.
Our hats are from the Canadian company 'Tilly' (No we do not get a commission) Mr G was buying a floppy 'cricket' hat every few years, fine until he got sunburnt in Kenya wearing one! Now we both have a hat with life time guarantees.
http://www.tilley.com/Hats-Men.aspx
http://www.tilley.com/Shop/WorldBestHat/Default.aspx
That's enough for part one, part two will follow soon with one more tip and the 'And Another Thing....' rant and moan.
Thanks for reading.
Mr and Mrs G
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