Ankle Deep in Grenada

Ahhhh paradise.  You would think this was a postcard.  Aleida had done the leg work and researched for beaches and trails and found the La Sagesse Nature Reserve.  What a beach this was.  There was a small beautiful hotel on the beach and maybe 20 people to be seen all day.  It was PERFECT.  Not a beach for snorkeling but definitely one for swimming and long strolls.  The owner of the hotel told us that there was a small path taking you from this beach through some woods to another even more remote beach.  Didn’t think it was possible but we were indeed the only 4 on the second beach.  We only spent the day here but I would have loved to come back.  

Did I mention we took the local “bus” here.  Down at the market place in the city of St. George’s in Grenada there is a bus stand.  Giant vans that seat about 18 people with folding seats to fill in the aisles.  There are no legitimate bus stops but people just stand on the side of the road and wait to be picked up.  It’s not the most efficient service with frequent and unplanned stops but for $2 and the local Caribbean radio station blaring it’s a great plan.  Hopefully everybody put on deodorant.

Grenada is also known for several waterfall hikes.  The Concord Falls trail is one that I found and it did not disappoint.  The trail supposedly consisted of 3 falls.  The first two were definitely small.  The trail was very muddy and we had to cross through streams several times.  It was lush, messy and fantastic.  Some had to ditch their shoes.  I was expecting to see Tarzan at any moment.

Stopping for waters along the way.

Banana Tree and flower.

Plenty of wet boulders to climb over making our way….allll the way to the last waterfall.  It took us about 2 hours roundtrip.  Poured on us a bit.  But we were gonna get in that waterfall dammit!  The water was chilly at first and the waterfall being so tall was quite powerful we could barely swim towards it.  It was such a rush!  Extra point for the under the waterfall frantically swimming selfie!

Yeah Kenton!

We figured there had to be more awesome outdoor adventures.  We found the Grand Etang National Park and being in the mood for a real hike we hit the Mt. Qua Qua Trail.  This trail was about 3 hours roundtrip and was the longest hike at the park.  It started low by the Grand Etang Lake and climbed a wonderful ridge all the way to the top of Mt. Qua Qua.

Views of the ocean, the lake and the trail up the ridge were stunning.  

Click to enlarge!

Selfie pro.  Not even an iphone ;)

We made our way back to the bottom.  It was incredibly muddy in sections.  It was just like quick sand but mud.  We were sinking.  I lost my hiking sandals several times and just pulled a foot out of the earth.  Luckily we could make our way down to the lake and rinse off our legs, hands, shoes and butts (from falling) or the cabbie wasn’t going to let us back in!

Grenada is known as the Isle of Spice.  All of the vendors have crafts and conch shells and SPICES galore.  There’s plenty of cocoa and nutmeg growing on the island and they sell some pretty potent chocolate.  We bit some of the cocoa nibs right out of the shell and let me tell you that shit is bitter!  But we still got some chocolates and I got some cocoa balls to make hot chocolate with my mom!