More impressions of Grenada

Some random shots out of the car on our first mobile day.

everywhere one can find those little huts where locals sell their mostly home grown fruit and vegetable, homemade juices and other goodies

A short stop for an early lunch at La Sagesse Beach

One afternoon at Morne Rouge Beach. A beach just a south step away from Grand Anse Beach, but difficult to reach without a vehical. As it was supposed to be a very nice one we gave it try.

Inspecting the close by area before heading to Grand Etang.

the Grenada Olympic committee house, which is close to Spiceland Mall

Grand Etang National Park

Here some information about the Park which I found online :

The Grand Etang National Park was established in 1992. It is a 1,000ha swathe of mountainous forest located in the centre of the island to the northwest of the 1,540ha Grand Etang Forest Reserve that was created as far back as 1906. The name ‘Grand Etang’ is derived from the French meaning ‘large lake’, in reference to the 12ha crater lake which sits at an elevation of 530m at the southeastern boundary of the national park. Also located within the Grand Etang National Park are the summits of Mt Qua Qua, Mt Granby and Morne Fédon. Several Waterfalls are found within the park, the mostly known are Concord Falls and Annandale Falls.

Unfortunately the high winds of the hurricane Ivan in 2004 had a devastating effect upon the rainforest, particularly on the windward-facing slopes that were exposed to the full force of the storm. The taller trees were either uprooted or cropped by the wind and the result is that there is no longer a high canopy creating wet rainforest conditions. This in turn means that many of the plants, flowers and creatures which you would normally expect to find in Grenada’s rainforest habitat are no longer as prevalent as they once were; in fact some are now quite scarce. Despite the storm, the forest is growing and recovering though it will clearly take many more years to re-establish habitats. Well to us it looked pretty much recovered, but of course we’re not experts at all.

The forests of Grand Etang are also home to the mona monkey (see feature image) which was probably introduced to the island from Africa during the years of the slave trade.

The Mona Monkeys

The monkeys feed mainly on fruits and plants, but are known to also eat insets. That explains why the Mona Monkeys in Grenada became so desperate and disillusioned after hurricane Ivan. Their habitat was left in total disarray, and they were forced to stray further than usual to find food. Many more Monkeys than normal were spotted in the months immediately after hurricane Ivan, and this sometimes led to confrontation with Grenadians.
Locals told us that some people eat the monkeys. I wonder if that is true? So far we have not seen a restaurant providing halve a rack of monkey ribs or whatever one would eat, in their menue. On the other hand I read that the monkeys are protected and hunting them is outlawed. If the locals do hunt the monkeys it most certainly is not widespread and probably done in secret.

this young mona was curious but did not dare to come down the tree to pick up the mango provided by a park ranger

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Welcome Rock and Belmont Estate with Shell and James from Carina

We left early on a Wednesday morning to pick up our friends from Clarks court marina Woburn bay to head up north. This time we took the road on the east side of the island.

the ruin of the church close to Grenville from another perspective

We still had some time bofore going to Belmont estate so we went down to Bathway Beach on the east side and a bit further north to see the famous turtle watching beach at Levera bay. (The nesting season of Leatherback sea turtle begins in March and ends in July. Marine biologists monitor the activities and nesting behaviors of the turtles at this beach to make sure they are well protected. In the nesting season it is possible to watch turtles in operated tours at night time.)

a stop at a bar back at Bathway beach to treat us with some cold beverages

Bemont Estate

A visit at Palm Tree Garden in St. David parish

A young boy gave us a tour and explained all the plants, I won’t do that as I can’t remember anyhow

Relaxing in Petite Anse and a walk to Sauteur

A walk to Sauteurs. Sauteurs is a fishing town in the far north of Grenada in the parish of St. Patrick. Here, the last remaining Carib Natives in Grenada jumped off a 40-meter-tall cliff later named Caribs’ Leap to their deaths in 1651 rather than face domination by the conquering French. Thus the town was named Sauteurs, which is French for “jumpers”. We did not see the Leap.