Grenada Dora the Explorer style - Sauteurs and Belmont Estate

When my mother-in-law, Nancy, was here last week, we rented a car and drove all the way around the island following the coast.  The trip took about 6 hour in total, with stopping in Sauteurs, the Northern tip of the island, for lunch and at the Belmont Estate, where they manufacture chocolate, for a tour. 

Sauteurs, the Northern tip of Grenada

Sauteurs, an abandoned pier with abandoned cars (missing wheels, doors, etc)

Enjoying the scenery from the balcony at Helenas

The entrance to Helena's Restaurant and Bar, Sauteurs

Lunch: Chicken (which is widely debated...), rice and peas, boiled fruit, salad and fresh fruit juice

Same as above with fish (easily identified as fish) instead of chicken

 When asked what they had for dessert, we were presented with these plastic bags filled with frozen-something the waitress called "power." They were NOT tasty...

We later learned that "power" is a local Guiness and ice-cream concoction ...ICK

 The table next to ours was reserved...Nancy was hoping for Oprah (who owns property in Grenada) but instead it was an older couple on vacation from Chicago. Our table was not so swanky.

Welcome to the Belmont Estate...over 400 acres of cocoa, nutmeg and other fun things!

 I rang the over 300-year old bell at Belmont Estate...before the tour guide told me how old it was.

 Belmont also has animals.  This little guy was pretty cool.

  

 Workers sorting cocoa beans into bags, where they will be weighed and then will ferment in banana leaves, before being dried in the sun and used for chocolate...it smelled like vinegar, not chocolate.

Nancy buying as many coconuts as she could find from roadside stands

Booze Cruise 2.0 - Post Midterms

I organized a booze cruise (the same trip I went on a few weeks ago) for the Foundations of Medicine students to celebrate the conclusion of a painful week of midterms. 

Boarding the catamaran

First rum-punch of the day with my SO girlfriends, Sheridan and Sherry

My mother-in-law Nancy

CW and I enjoying rum-punch and Carib

Another SO, Robert, and I snorkeling in Flamingo Bay

Post-snorkeling beach and ocean fun

Me jumping from the boat, onto the water tramploine and into the clear blue ocean

Swimming with a beer in hand is an important skill, which Sheridan and I have both mastered

Foundations of Medicine students liming on a water trampoline

What a beautiful day! Successful booze-cruise!

Whale and Dolphin Tour

On Saturday, March 6, 2010, I went with the SGU Significant Others on a dolphin and whale watching excursion.

We left Grand Anse beach and headed north-west into the Caribbean Sea in hopes of seeing some marine life.

The scenery was beautiful, as we ventured further and further from our tiny island home.

I should also mention that the boat had an open bar.

Well, it’s an ongoing debate about whether or not we saw any whales. The crew claims these are melon-headed whales…I’m pretty sure they were dolphins.

So since we didn't see much going on in the water, we tried to make the most of our trip by having fun and drinking as much as possible in the 4-hours we had onboard.

Snorkel and Booze Cruise - West Grenada

This past Saturday I went on one of the most fun trips I’ve done on the island so far, a snorkeling booze cruise! My SO friend, Sheridan, invited me to go along.

We boarded the catamaran on Grand Anse beach at 9:30 am and set sail northbound, Carib and rum punch in hand, to the West side of the island. Our first stop was at Flamingo Bay. We snorkeled around a reef and saw lots of beautiful fish and coral.

Underwater Erin

Then we swam back to the boat, where the crew had inflated a water trampoline for us to jump from the boat and into the water. They also had a kayak and some foam rafts to “lime” (Caribbean lingo for hanging out or partying) on. We hung out for about another hour while the crew cooked us a barbeque chicken lunch right on the boat! The meal was complete with rice, vegetables and salad.

Fun times on the water trampoline

Fish below my feet, dangling off the catamaran

After lunch we drank, swam and fooled around on and off the boat for a few more hours before the anchor came up and we sailed further south to the Underwater Sculpture Park, a group of sunken sculptures created by artist Jason de Caires Taylor. You can see examples of his work in Grenada and in Cancun, Mexico at his website: http://www.underwatersculpture.com/index.asp

After we all returned from snorkeling and checking out the sculptures, up came the anchor and we heaed back to Grand Anse Beach.  The crew gave us each a piece of cinnamon cake and we watched the beach where we live get closer in the distance.

Erin gets her lime-on with a raft and some rum punch at Flamingo Bay

This weekend I'm going on another trip through the same charter company for whale and dolphin watching!  Stay tuned faithful viewers!