Carnival in Granada

CARNIVAL (Pronounced CARNIVALE)
Carnival in Granada is called “Spice Mas Granada” and lasts four days. This year it was held from Saturday 8 August to Tuesday 11 August and we were here in Granada, located at the Port Louis Marina, in St George, the capital of Granada, where the main Spice Mas was held.

Carnival is a fun festival that is part of the island’s tradition and heritage, in deed, part of the tradition and heritage of the Caribbean. Every island in the Caribbean holds a Carnival at sometime during the year.

On Carnival Tuesday, the Fancy Mas parade takes place through the streets. This is the main feature of the Carnival. The Fancy Mas Parade is planned four months prior with the appointment of a Mas Band Leader. The Leader plans the theme which tells a story or conveys a message. The Band, which is the parade, consists of 250 to 300 masqueraders broken up into different sections of 20 to 30 masqueraders. Each section tells a different part of the story and wears different creations. The sections also has a King or Queen who is the leader of the section.

Once the Mas Band Leader has decided on a theme, sponsors are sought and material and accessories bought for the costumes. A Mas Camp is held where friends and volunteers get together to assist with the making of the costumes. Once the Band is publicised, masqueraders start to visit the Mas Camp to see the costumes and choose which one to purchase.

During the four days of the Carnival, trucks with huge loud speakers and DJ’s drove slowly along the main streets of Granada night and day playing calypso and steel drum music. This was intermingled with the main features of a steel band competition on the Saturday Night. A National Soca Monarch competition on the Sunday Night which was where individuals make up their own songs about events that happened throughout the year. It can be of love, life, politics or any other topic.

The music and partying continued in the streets until the J’Ouvert Carnival Pageant commenced at 4am on Monday morning. From dawn on Carnival Monday, the streets of Grenadas’ towns were filled with traditional masqueraders depicting Devils (Jabs-Jabs) and social commentaries of the highlights of the past year (Ole Mas). Spectators and masqueraders alike danced to the sounds of steelbands and DJs playing the latest carnival melodies, their bodies covered in paint, grease and oil.

On Monday afternoon, the fancy or pretty bands appeared briefly on the streets as they made their way to the big stage where competition was fierce in the fight for the Band of the Year.

The street party continued on in the evening as the Monday Night Mas bands made their way through the streets from 8pm onwards dancing and waving brightly coloured lights.

On Carnival Tuesday, the Fancy Mas parade took place. The King and Queen of the bands lead their band who then made their way through the various judging points. The party continued late into the evening until midnight when the official celebrations ended.

Granada

Grenada consists of three main islands, Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

Grenada, a spectacularly beautiful island, has lush green mountains, crystal waterfalls, golden beaches, and the fragrant spice trees that give the island its epithet “Isle of Spice”. There are more spices per square mile than any other place on the planet. It produced 1/3 of the world’s nutmeg supply and was the second largest producer in the world of nutmegs prior to Hurricane Ivan which destroyed much of the island in 2004. Other spices grown include cloves, cinnamon, mace, ginger, bayleaves and turmeric.
This is a nutmeg. The fruit is dried and the nut extracted for export or it is crushed and sold locally. The red part surrounding the nut is dried and crushed and is the spice called Mace.

Grenada’s history has been lively, with early wars and revolutions. More recently, things got exciting with the transition to full independence from Britain in 1974. Most Granadians felt this was premature, and instead of jubilant celebrations, the island was on strike and in protest. Nonetheless, independence was thrust upon her, and Grenada came of age under the rule of Sir Eric Gairy, a flamboyant and controversial figure who was groomed by the British Government and monarchy to become the island’s first prime minister.

Gairy made early political missteps, such as using his first opportunity to speak in front of the UN to plead for more research into UFOs and the Bermuda Triangle. There were rumours of corruption, of ties with the notorious General Augusto Pinochet of Chile and of the use of a group of thugs called the Mongoose Gang to intimidate and eliminate adversaries. Power went to Gairy’s head.

Before dawn on 13 March 1979, while Gairy was overseas, a band of armed rebels supported by the opposition party (NJM) led a bloodless coup. Maurice Bishop, a young, charismatic, London-trained lawyer and head of the NJM became Prime Minister of the new People’s Revolutionary Government (PRG) regime.

Bishop attempted to turn Grenada into a socialist state, improving medical care and education, but he did so at the cost of freedom: anyone who opposed him was thrown in jail, and all independent newspapers were banned. A schism developed between Bishop and hardliners in the government who felt that he was incompetent and was stonewalling the advance of true Communism. The ministers voted that Bishop should share power with the hardline mastermind (and Bishop’s childhood friend) Bernard Coard. Bishop refused and was placed under house arrest. While Coard had the support of the majority of the government and the military, Bishop had support of the vast majority of the public.

On 9 October 1983, thousands of supporters spontaneously freed Bishop from house arrest and marched with him and other sympathetic government ministers to Fort George. The army was unmoved by the display and Bishop, his pregnant girlfriend (minister of Education Jacqueline Creft) and several of his followers were taken prisoner and executed by a firing squad in the courtyard. To this day, it is unclear if the order came directly from Coard – although most believe that it did.

Six days later, 12,000 US marines, along with a few soldiers from half a dozen Caribbean countries, were on Grenadian shores. 70 Cubans, 42 Americans and 170 Grenadians were killed in the fighting. Most of the US forces withdrew in December 1983, although a joint Caribbean force and 300 US support troops remained on the island for two more years. The US sunk millions of dollars into establishing a new court system to try Coard and 16 of his closest collaborators.

Fourteen people, including Coard and his wife, were sentenced to death for the murder of Bishop. Although the death sentences were commuted to life in prison in 1991, the most recent appeal for full clemency and release from prison was rejected in February 2005.

Another major event in Granada’s history happened on 7 September 2004 when Hurricane Ivan with winds of 193km/h slammed into Grenada from the south. The storm crashed directly into Grenada’s most heavily populated southern parishes, ripping rooves off homes, downing trees and electrical lines and tearing some structures from their foundations. Thirty-nine Grenadians died, and many public buildings and some 90% of homes were damaged. Nutmeg, cocoa, banana and other cash crops were devastated. The hurricane was followed by waves of desperate looting and vandalism. Many residents spent months without rooves or electricity and with only limited access to running water.

The country received massive support from other Caribbean nations and from countries around the world. Still today, when travelling around the island, one sees many derelict homes that have not been rebuilt and a large number of small pre-fabricated houses which were built to house the homeless dotting the landscape. Many public buildings and island infrastructure were rebuilt by individual countries and some of these were identified when Mal and I went on a one day island tour when we first arrived e.g.There was the bridge that was rebuilt by Japan and the stadium that was rebuilt by China. Australia also played a major role and when talking to the locals we are told of how wonderful the Australians were.

We arrived in Granada on Thursday, 18 June 2009 and anchored in a lagoon which is a located off the main port of St George, the capital of Granada. During the next two weeks, we anchored outside of the port as it was much cooler and the water was clearer than the lagoon which allowed us to swim off the back of the boat; we also motor sailed to Prickly Bay, anchoring there for a couple of days, and to Hog Island which is a little further around the south of the island. We found these areas to be quite isolated so decided to return and anchor once again outside of St George Harbour.

As we had originally planned to find a safe anchorage in Granada for the hurricane season which is from June to the end of October, Mal had priced all of the marinas and also the cost of putting Hasta La Vista on the dry with the possibility of us then travelling to the US for a holiday. The best price and the safest anchorage was at Port Louis Marina in St George. To secure the price one had to book in for four months, so on the 3 July, we tied up at Port Louis Marina. Port Louis Marina is a new partially built marina which is still being developed. It offers a small restaurant, a pool and amenities, and is located in St George Harbour. Mal doesn’t particularly like marinas, however, it will serve our purpose and we plan to sail to other bays and islands to the north occasionally. The best part for me is that I now have a little bit of independence and can visit downtown St George and the shopping malls without having to drag Mal along.Hasta La Vista is the catamaran in the right of the picture. Downtown St George is in the background.
A view of Hasta La Vista from the pool.

The local buses consist of a large van which one flags down or waits at a bus stop until one passes. It is the equivalent of approximately $1 Australian to travel any distance within a certain boundary one way. We soon found our way around St George, the fruit and vegetable markets and the fish market as well as establishing where the best supermarkets were located.
A typical street in St George.
Markets in St George.
A fisherman selling the local delicacy, the “small jack”. The jack is rolled in flour and spices, deep fried and eaten whole.

Many cruisers are in Granada for the hurricane season and activities and outings are organised by the cruisers themselves and the marinas who have restaurant facilities. There is a cruisers net on VHF radio every morning six days per week where one is kept informed of the weather, social activities, etc. We have participated in happy hours and burger nights; taken a day tour around the island with two Aussi couples who just happened to have booked on the same day as we did and a South African couple; and have travelled to Gouyave which is a small fishing village on the west coast for their local fish fry night where the locals set up stalls and sell delicious seafood meals.

We have made very good friends with a Canadian couple, Doug and Wendy who have just purchased their first yacht, a catamaran, “Nahanni River”, and Nicholas and Lyn, an Australian couple from The Gold Coast who have just bought a mono, “Girl”, to renovate and sail back to Aus. We have spent many hours enjoying afternoon drinks, going around to the next bay for an afternoon swim and a pinacolada or going for a swim in the marina pool. And it’s great being able to go shopping with the girls!

Granada is famous for its beautiful rain forest and waterfalls. There were eight of us on “Cuddy’s” Island Bus Tour. Incidentally, six of the eight were Australians! “Cuddy” has a business taking cruisers wherever they want to go as well as offering day tours and transport to the Gouyave Fish Fry Night. We had a wonderful day visiting the Annandale falls, one of the falls in the centre of Granada; the River Antoine Rum Distillery on the north-eastern side of the island; a nutmeg sorting facility and a cocoa drying and export facility, as well as viewing much of the island along the way. Cuddy stopped and pointed out things of interest such as the different fruit and spice trees. He also gave us some of the recent history of the island including the time of Independence and of when Hurricane Ivan hit. Just north of Annandale Falls, as we came around a corner, Cuddy started hitting his horn. We were unsure of why until three monkeys came out of the forest and made there way to a log rail along the side of the road. Cuddy brought out some bananas and the monkeys came right up to cuddy and took them out of his hands.
Annandale Falls is only a small waterfall compared to those that are higher up and much more difficult to get to.
This fruit is cocoa. It is full of a white flesh covered seeds. These are dried and crushed to produce cocoa powder. You can experience the “cocoa taste” if you suck the flesh covered seeds.
This is the cashew fruit. The cashew nut is in the stem at the top. It is poisonous eaten raw but as we know, wonderful when roasted.




The Cocoa drying and exporting facility.
Cocoa beans.
Cocoa beans bagged and ready for export.
This is part of the River Antoine Rum Distillery. The sugar cane is crushed by the power of the water wheel.

The sugar cane is manually loaded.
The crushed sugar cane is sorted by hand.
This shows the piles of firewood prepared and ready to be fed into the furnaces underneath the large vats that boil and ferment the cane juice.
The labelling the bottle process!
Mal was quite happy behind bars in the rum tasting room!
The Nutmeg separating and drying facility.
Typical street stalls.

St Vincent and the Grenadines

(Grenadine Islands: Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, Mayreau, Tobago Cays, Union Island, Palm Island, Petit St Vincent)

St Vincent and the Grenadines is a nation of 32 gorgeous cays and islands. Although traditionally the territory of smugglers, pirates, wealthy yachters, reclusive royalty and rehabbing rock stars, this lost corner of the world is increasingly accessible to travellers.

St Vincent, the northernmost island, is the nation’s commercial and political hub, accounting for 90% of both the land area and the population. However, the true attractions are the smaller islands that reach like stepping-stones from St Vincent down to Grenada. Surrounded by coral reefs and clear blue waters, they are some of the region’s best spots for diving, snorkelling and boating. In particular, the uninhabited Tobago Cays are perhaps the most striking destination in the Caribbean.

While all of the Grenadine islands are lightly populated and generally undeveloped, exclusive Mustique, Palm Island and Petit St Vincent are worlds apart from funky, somewhat ramshackle Union Island and St Vincent.

We anchored at Wallilabou, St Vincent, on Wednesday 10 June 2009 and eight days later, anchored at St George’s, the capital of Granada. Our time in the area was short, however, we plan to revisit the area next year spending more time exploring these beautiful islands and cays.

Our stay at Wallilabou, St Vincent, is a picturesque bay surrounded by dramatic hills, about half way down the west coast of the island. In 2003, Wallilabou became famous as the main location for the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean” starring Johnny Depp. Many parts of the stage set are still there including a large dock structure in the southern part of the bay. A pleasant restaurant/hotel makes part of the waterfront, and this too was remodelled for the movie.
The large dock structure and the remodelled hotel used as part of the set for “Pirates of the Caribbean”.

The bay is so deep that one needs to anchor and then tie a stern line to a wall, trees or some left over metal structures on the beach. Men in rowing boats approach you from as much as three miles away asking to take your stern line ashore for a fee. We accepted the offer from a local and he took our stern line for us for EC$20, then asked if we had fishing line that he could have. Mal made a deal and sold a reel and line to him for EC$10.


Later on in the day, two 13 year old boys swam out to our stern and sat on the steps. Mal went down to talk to them. They politely asked if we had any chocolate or biscuits to give them. We offered them honey and oatmeal biscuits which they gladly accepted and enjoyed while talking to Mal.


On leaving the next morning, we saw the local fisherman trolling by rowing their dingys up and down just outside the bay. Most were successful in catching some fairly good sized tuna.


Bequia
Bequia is approximately 8 miles south of St Vincent and is only 18 sq miles in size. Bequians are proud people, descendants of settlers who came from North America on whaling boats, from farms in Scotland, from France as freebooters and from Africa. The island has long been a favourite of yachts people. Isolated enough to remain relatively unspoiled, yet lively enough to be stimulating and entertaining, it provides a blend of the old and new that many find perfect. Bequia has the most to offer of any island in the group of St Vincent and the Grenadines from beaches to nightlife, fine restaurants, diving, shopping and local charm and art. Bequia is an island of sailors and boats, linked to the outside world mainly by the sea. In days gone by, everything from little “two bow” fishing boats to grand schooners were built by eye, using only simple hand tools in the shade of the palm trees. Sadly old traditions have died. Bequia is now famous for its model boats. One can even commission a copy of one’s own yacht!

The island has an active whaling station in a low-key and very traditional way. By IWC agreement, local whalers can take four whales a year, and in some years, they do not get any. Few people are left in Bequia with the skills necessary to hunt them – a daring feat in an open sailing boat, using hand thrown harpoons. On the rare occasions that they make a kill, the hunters tow the whale to Semplers Cay which is just off Friendship Bay for butchering.

Bequi’s main harbour is Admiralty Bay with Bequia’s town, Port Elizabeth, built along the curve of the bay. It is an appealing seaside community with a busy port. Small hotels, bars, restaurants and shops spread from town along the south-eastern shore strung together by a narrow sidewalk along the shoreline known as the Belmont Walkway.

The waterfront in Port Elizabeth is colourful with vendors selling t-shirts, model boats and handicrafts. The building of model boats has been a Bequia specialty for generations. They will build any design to order but all-time favourites are the model whaling boats. They are artfully built and beautifully painted.

Our stay in Bequia was for approximately five days during which we were anchored in Admiralty Bay. We enjoyed exploring the markets and souvenir shops, especially the model boat shops.

Social outings were spent with cruisers who we had met previously and who were also spending a little time in Bequia. We were told that many cruisers arrived in Bequia and didn’t leave and we could understand why. It is a lovely island, with friendly locals and a large ex-pat community. In fact, we even enquired about the price of a small residential block of land on a hill overlooking Admiralty Bay thinking that it might be well priced and a good investment. We might have been able to purchase it some five years ago but, as with other islands in the Caribbean, the developers and the rest of the world have discovered the beautiful little island of Bequia and the price of land has soared.

On leaving Admiralty Bay for Mayreau, we passed the sight of “Moonhole”. This was a rather isolated community not easily accessible by either land or sea, there being no road or good anchorage. It was founded by the late American architect Tom Johnson. The original was built under a natural arch know as “Moonhole”. It was abandoned when a huge boulder fell from the ceiling crushing an empty bed. The other houses appear to grow out of the rocks without straight lines or right angles. They had huge arches, fantastic views, and lovely patios. There was no glass in the windows and no electricity. We understand that one can take a tour but we were happy just viewing it from the water.


Mayreau
Mayreau is 1.5 square mile, lightly populated island west of the Tobago Cays. With a population of about 250, Mayreau has neither ground water nor a secondary school and it wasn’t until 2004 that an electrical plant was installed. It’s two bays, Saline and Saltwhistle, are iconic castaway harbours that lure yachting visitors.

Saltwhistle Bay is protected by a long, narrow arm of sand, which at its thinnest is just a few yards wide. Shaded by palms that line a sprawling crescent of sand, the tiny and exclusive Saltwhistle Bay Resort is built in such harmony with its surroundings that it is hardly noticeable.

Hasta La Vista framed by the palm trees on the beach of Saltwhistle Bay.
One of the outdoor settings of the exclusive Saltwhistle Bay Resort.

St Lucia

St Lucia is a teardrop-shaped island, roughly 43.4km in length and 22.5km in width. The island’s interior is largely mountainous, with deep valleys, many of which are planted with bananas and coconuts. The southern part of the island has the best-known geological features: the twin volcanic cones of the Pitons, which rise up some 762m from the shoreline, and the hot, bubbling Sulphur Springs, just inland from the town of Soufriere. Despite this little show of geological activity, there hasn’t been a volcanic eruption on St Lucia since 1766. It is a charming rural island with authentic fishing villages and typical West Indian towns where life has changed little for half a century. Approximately 85% of all islanders are of pure African ancestry. Another 10% are a mixture of African, British, French and East Indian ancestry while about 4% are of pure East Indian or European descent.

We arrived early afternoon on Saturday 6 June and anchored in Rodney Bay, a bay on the North-West corner of the island. Rodney Bay is over a mile long and consists of a beautiful white sandy beach lined with upmarket tourist resorts and the St Lucia Yacht Club. Rodney Bay Lagoon which is accessible from Rodney Bay is a large and completely protected inner lagoon containing a recently renovated marina with slips that now cater for large white boats. The marina village services the yacht community well with Customs and Immigration being located there, bars, restaurants, a swimming pool, grocery store, chic clothes and souvenir shops, and a marine shop. The area of Rodney Bay is now catering for the tourist trade and one will find the famous Hooters Bar, an American franchise bar and restaurant, pizza restaurants, a reasonable size shopping mall containing an excellent supermarket and another large shopping mall under construction.

In strange contrast to this, is an area at the entrance of Rodney Lagoon designated to the local fishing community. There, brightly coloured fishing boats are hauled up on a landing and sheds provide storage and a meeting area for the local fisherman.


During our first afternoon while on board, we were approached by a local selling fruit or anything else that he thought we might need. We declined, but found his dingy interesting.


Moored in the marina and used for daily tourist cruises, was this wonderful square rigger, which was used as a prop in the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean”.


Our stay in St Lucia lasted two and a half days during which we saw as much of the island that we could. St Lucia is another island where we will spend more time exploring and enjoying next year.

A number of cruisers who we met in Martinique and who were travelling south arrived in Rodney Bay while we were there. Saturday afternoon and Sunday was spent exploring the area; Sunday Evening we joined friends for drinks at one of the Marina bars and Monday, we hired a car with another couple, Adrian (English) and Leslie (American) and toured the west coast of the island.

Some of the highlights were:
A stroll through the markets in Castries, the capital of St Lucia, was filled with colour, sound and smell. Local Store holders with weathered faces in the bustling market haggled prices with their customers. The streets were busy with traffic and people. Castries provided a visceral experience that rings of real St Lucian Life.


Following the coastline south, we drove high over mountainous ridges which led in turn to beautiful bays. The rain forest was thick, green and lush and reminded Mal of the Daintree forest in Queensland, Australia. The view of each bay as we turned on the crest of the ridge to drive down was spectacular. The fishing villages were simple villages lined with colourful shacks and beaches covered in long narrow fishing boats. Then in stark contrast, Marigot Bay had been developed and is lined with new small marinas, shopping villages and luxurious accommodation.

We visited the Diamond Botanical Gardens, where paths wind through gardens planted with tropical flowers and trees, including a large number of heliconia and ginger specimens, fruit and spice trees. Mal and I identified and named many of the plants as they are tropical plants also found in Australia. At the back of the gardens, a small waterfall drops down a rock face that is stained a rich orange from the warm mineral waters. The waterfall featured briefly in the movie Superman II as the site from where Superman plucked an orchid for Lois Lane. Mineral Baths which date back to1784 were built atop the hot springs. They were largely destroyed during the French Revolution but in recent times a few have been restored.
With a barren and somewhat moonscapish terrain, the Sulphur Springs are pocked with pools of boiling mud and steaming vents. The vents release great quantities of sulphuric gases, which are responsible for the yellow mineral deposits blanketing the area. The putrid smell, resembling rotten eggs is hydrogen sulphide.
Visitors used to walk up close to the vents and peer directly into the mud ponds until a local guide leading a group of German tourists stepped through the soft earth and plunged waist-deep into the boiling mud. He lived to tell the story, but everything is now viewed from the safety of viewing platforms.

This is a view of one of the twin volcanic cones of the Pitons, which rise up some 762m from the shoreline.

On Tuesday morning, 9th June, we pulled up anchor and sailed to Wallilabou Bay, St Vincent. Winds were E/SE at 20 knots and our speed reached 10 knots and more. Mal said that it was the best sail that we have had yet!