I want the Magic Bus

Every day I get in the queue
To get on the bus that takes me to you
I'm so nervous, I just sit and smile
Your house is only another mile
Thank you, driver, for getting me here
You'll be an inspector, have no fear
I don't want to cause no fuss But can I buy your Magic Bus? – The Who

The actual port town of St. George’s is about three miles from Grand Anse Beach. The port town is the epicenter of Grenada. This is where cruise ships port, farmers and local merchants sell their goods, and where most tourists visit.

Although I consider three miles a totally walk-able trek, the sidewalks and traffic (driving on the left side, British-style, and somewhat crazy), make it necessary to get a ride. And up pulls the “Reggae Bus.”

Why are they called reggae buses? I’d assume it’s because of the local reggae/island rap jams that each bus rocks along to while transporting passengers. This music sometimes cracks me up because they use random lines from US rap songs as hooks and chorus lines and its total copyright infringement, but who even knows this music exists? Granted when I say “bus” I really mean a van that is designed to hold 15 passengers in the rear, and two in the front (although in the US would probably hold seven-passengers comfortably). With that said traveling on the reggae bus is crowded, hot (no A/C), sticky (pleather/vinyl seats), but its dirt cheap: a ride to town is $2.50 EC, just under $1 US (or $2 US total, round-trip).

Another interesting thing about the reggae bus is that you don’t catch it, it catches you. Instead of waving down a reggae bus, as one would do for a cab in a city, you just wait until one beeps at you and the doorman yells out “St. George’s!” Then you yell “yea mon” or just wave and run towards the bus. 

 Each bus has two employees, the driver and the doorman. In my experience the drivers vary widely in age and style, but the doormen are generally young guys in their mid-20’s to early 30’s who all bear a striking resemblance to Kanye West, with their baller-baller-bling-bling earrings and aviator shades. The doormen sit in the back working the sliding door on the left side of the bus, helping passengers get themselves and any shopping bags or packages on and off, taking payment and making change.

If you’re traveling to the town of St. George’s, the bus will take you to the end of the line at a parking area right next to the cruise ship terminal. If you need to get off sooner along the route, you just knock loudly on the window or ceiling (however if you don’t ride the bus to the end, be prepared to jump out of a moving vehicle…I’m just saying). The whole thing sounds crazy, but it’s a great system of transportation, cheap, fast, and certainly beats walking.

Photographs: Grand Anse Sunset

Show Me The Money!

A sushi dinner for two - $100

A large pizza with pineapple, ham and onion - $41

A travel-size HP computer mouse (since my touchpad died) - $79

Sounds pretty expensive, huh?



Living here can really mess with your number sense, as $100 is no longer worth $100.

In Grenada we don’t use the US Dollar as the primary form of currency (although it is certainly accepted everywhere). The EC or Eastern Caribbean Dollar is the primary form of currency. Luckily the dollar is stronger than the EC, with an exchange rate of approximately 2.7 to the US Dollar.

The easiest way to convert the EC dollar value back to the US value is to multiply by 0.4 (which is actually slightly more than what you’d owe, but it covers local taxes and can’t hurt to overestimate). Personally I like to move the decimal point one place to the left and then multiply that number by 4. Some people multiple by 4 and then move the decimal. Tomato, tomato.

At first, this can really mess with your head. You go to buy something for $10 EC and hand the cashier $20 US and get back a handful of colorful bills with the Queen of England on them, and a bunch of coins ($1 is a coin here, since the smallest bill is the $5). Who knows if you’re getting ripped-off! Unless you’re some kind of math genius super-human who can do complex equations without thinking, which I clearly am not, you have to pay close attention.

My solution, dump all your US bills as soon as possible and start thinking in EC dollars, with a US value. So that sushi dinner for two is only $37.20 in US Dollars and that HP mouse is only $29.39. Bottles of Carib beer generally cost $3 EC at the store and $6 EC at the bars (unless there is a special). That’s $1.20 US at the store and $2.40 US at the bar. Not too bad.

Home Sweet Dorm Room

Here are some pics of our dorm room. Its certainly no Sandals, but the view is pretty sweet! And got all of our luggage within 24 hours of getting here! Thankfully!

Click Images to Enlarge

Island in the Sun

 Well we made it! Although our flight from Barbados was delayed two hours, and three of our four suitcases were lost, WE MADE IT! I am vowing to NEVER fly LIAT again! It's cheap and I know why.

When we checked in for our flight in Barbados, they told us two bags would go on our plane and that the remaining two would fly “Standby.” They let us choose which two bags to send on our plane…why they even bother to do that I do not know. When we packed our bags we each put the things we needed for the first night in one bag (sheets, towels, basic stuff) and asked that those two bags be sent on the plane.

Our plane landed in Grenada around 9:00 pm AST and as soon as we got through customs I see one of my bags going around the baggage carosel. I run to grab it and realize it is the bag I sent “Standby.” At first I was overwhelmed and happy that both my bags got sent on the flight…but then I realize that this is the ONLY bag of the four CW and I packed that actually made it. We waited in line for an hour to let them know that our bags were missing and then another hour to pay taxes on our computers (a whopping $22 USD for mine).

We got to our dorm around 11pm and then got the next surprise…a double bed. Normally we’d be ecstatic about not having to sleep in two twin beds, but since they affirmed on numerous occasions that it would be two twin beds, we bought two twin mattress pads, two twin blankets, two sets of organic twin sheets…not that we had any of it with us anyways, since our bags were MIA (and I’m not talking Miami International Airport, although they must be a partial owner of LIAT, the way they lose baggage). I was amazed because from the look and feel (and maybe the lack of an identifiable bad smell) it’s a BRAND NEW MATTRESS! No icky plastic or anything. So we roughed it on a bare mattress (although we cranked the A/C and slept fully-dressed so we didn’t make any direct contact with the mattress).

Luckily as I type this, CW is on his way to the airport as they confirmed receiving two of our three missing bags, with the possibility of the third being there as well. We bought sheets, towels and pillows, so tonight should be much more confortable.

P.S. The picture of the beach was taken right off our dorm room balcony! More to come...

Somewhere, Beyond the Sea

Well, we’re about 68 hours from departure and things have gotten quite interesting.

First off I got an email from Orbitz.com last night letting me know about a pending Union strike in Grenada that could potentially leave us stranded in Barbados on Monday, as it would basically shut down the entire economy and transportation systems on the island. I was stunned, but more so by Orbitz for being so on top of things and sending me the email. Otherwise we would have never known! How do I feel about it? How would you feel about being stranded in Barbados? Much worse things could happen like, being stranded in the States, for example! I’ll take it!

Then CW and I started reading more about the luggage allowances online. We are flying with US Airways and then on a Caribbean-based airline called LIAT. So far no reviews have been great, but it’s cheap and it’s a short flight from Barbados into Grenada (with a 15-minute layover to re-fuel on Canouan Island). Last night we read updates to their website and learned that instead of the three rolling bags we each planned on taking (one to carry-on and two to check), we can only take two and they must both be checked…there goes my great idea to bring all our sheets, towels, pillows, and whatnot in a carry-on bag. So now the possibility exists that if a bag were to be lost or delayed, we will be sleeping on a nasty plastic dorm mattress… So either we will get stuck in Barbados, arrive in Grenada with no sleeping materials, or arrive unscathed in Grenada with all baggage in tow. I’ll let you know how that works out!

Itinerary
1. US Airways #4056 Washington (DCA) to Philadelphia International (PHL)
Departs January 11, 2010 7:55 AM (EST) Arrives January 11, 2010 8:53 AM (EST)
2. US Airways #885 Philadelphia International (PHL) to Bridgetown Grantley Adams Intl (BGI)
Departs January 11, 2010 10:00 AM (EST) Arrives January 11, 2010 3:54 PM (AST)
3. LIAT #787 Bridgetown Grantley Adams Intl, Barbados (BGI) to Canouan Island (CIW)
Departs January 11, 2010 5:20 PM (AST) Arrives January 11, 2010 6:00 PM (AST)
4. LIAT #787 Canouan Island (CIW) to Grenada Point Saline Intl (GND)
Departs January 11, 2010 6:15 PM (AST) Arrives January 11, 2010 6:45 PM (AST)