Grenada is a tropical island, and it needs rain to be as lush and green as it is.  I got about a day and a half of rain, and it was nice.  Great time to use the spa.

The wind picked up and the waves grew stronger.  No one swam in the ocean for a day or two and you could hear them crashing all night.

Laluna’s Spa:

The Spa Lounge:

The Spa Rooms:

Between the beach and spa building is the yoga pavilion.  Between the dining room and the yoga pavilion are the kitchen herb gardens.

Eventually the rain ended and the sun came out again.

The Conch I Found On The Beach:

The Laluna Dining Room:

Octopus Salad:

This moon carving presides over the pool side bar and lounge.

And this odd coconut shell head man presides over the dining room.

This little guy shared my porch with me for several days.  He enjoyed scrambled eggs and eventually canned cat food after a quick trip to the local super market.  I would have loved to bring him home, but he seemed very happy with his current circumstances.

I highly recommend Laluna as a friendly, comfortable and relaxing place to stay when visiting Grenada.

Driving around St. George’s, the Carenage:

I had read about a good restaurant on the north side of the island, so with a rental car at my disposal, I spent Saturday driving along the west coast to explore the northern end of the island.

Driving through St. George’s Town was much easier Saturday morning compared to Friday.   What is depicted on the tourist map as the “main” road is a bit deceiving.  At times it could pass as a main road, if a narrow two lane semi-paved road without shoulders could be considered a main road, and at other times it was little more than a trail.   I headed north along the coast from St. George’s towards Sauteurs.

A vendor along the main road just north of St. George’s:

This part of the drive was pretty good until reaching Gouyave.   The main road was impassable due to a washed out bridge.  Road signs were mostly nonexistent, but there was a hand written detour which I followed.  Only problem is that there was only one detour sign.  I turned around and went back, followed a different road, found a “Y” with a one way, so naturally took the one way in the direction I was traveling.  I ended up making a loop.  With frustration starting to rear its ugly head, I stopped and asked some mechanics how to get past the detour.  Everyone was very helpful, and it turns out I had to drive back to the “Y” and go down the one way in the wrong direction.   Finally past Gouyave, with help, which is a consistent plus here, I was back on the main road.  

The main road somewhere on the west coast of Grenada, going through a small town:

Where the road leaves the coast and heads into the hills is Duquesne Bay.  There are some petroglyphs in the stone near the beach which a little local boy came out to show me.  He was also helpful.  A break from the car was needed and I walked along the beach.

The petroglyph is in the lower right hand corner of the next photograph:

Unfortunately, a staple of all the islands I have visited are the starving, mangy dogs and goats staked by the road.  Grenada has them as well, and I had no food to hand out.

Armadillo’s Patio:

The only way to know what town you are in is to ask someone.  The people who live here are very friendly and more than willing to help.  I stopped many times to ask directions and find out where I was.

The restaurant I had read about is Armadillo.  On Trip Advisor it was the only one on Grenada with 5 stars from every visitor.  Andrea runs Armadillo, a guest house and restaurant.  You must pick your meal from the menu a day before and give an arrival time.  I had estimated my arrival at Armadillo to be between 1 and 2 pm, but made it around 12:30.

Armadillo is on top a hill on the north side of the island, just west of Sauteurs and has a stunning view.   The day I had lunch you could see as far north as St. Vincent.  There was a lovely breeze and lunch on her patio, surrounded by flowers, was wonderful.

I had a tuna appetizer with onion and a mustard dill sauce, lobster with pasta, and almond chocolate mousse.  It was delightful.

I wanted to drive back a different route and completely avoid the detour is Gouyave, so I attempted to find the road heading south to Grenville.  The complete absence of road signs by now was no surprise, but still aggravating and made it nearly impossible to figure out exactly where I was.  I used general directions via the position of the sun and knowing I was on an island and could only get so lost, I continued.  There was no other option.

I was hoping to stop at the Belmont Estate Grenada Chocolate Company because it looked like I would drive right by it.   Again, no signs and I missed any sighting of the chocolate company.

I finally made it to Grenville and headed west into the interior and the Grand Etang Forest Reserve.  The toughest and most treacherous part of the drive was between Grenville and Birch Grove, following what I can only guess was Road 6 (there were no signs), and up to the Grand Etang.  The road can best be described as nearly single lane with hairpin turns, steep drop-offs, no shoulder and on a fairly steep grade.  Many times I had to stop for oncoming cars, and at times even back up to a wide spot.  Pedestrians and other drivers were helpful and act as impromptu traffic cops waving cars along or signalling to slow down.

The steady climb into the rain forest afforded cooler temperatures, but no improvement in the road conditions.  At the top of the climb was the entrance to the Grand Etang Forest Reserve and a wide spot with a few smaller tourist buses.  I would not have wanted to either drive one of the buses up to the top, or meet one on the road.  From the reserve the road wound down into St. George’s, but it was not any wider until very near the bottom.  It would have been nice to tour the rain forest but the drive was exhausting and my only desire at that point was to get back to Laluna in one piece and relax.

Typical street scene of the two lane main road with parked cars:

Buses do as they please:

Cars parked along a two lane main road with a blind corner. This is typical:

Magazine Beach:

A rental car was necessary to explore the area surrounding Laluna.   Picking up the rental at the airport, I discovered a Grenadian temporary driver’s license was required and easily acquired for an additional $24.  Who knew?  Just a stone’s throw from the airport and literally a 30 second drive, is the lovely Magazine Beach.

Locals vote this beach in the top two, due to the clear water and lack of seaweed.  My next stop was St. George’s, the main town and port city.  I found the roads on Grenada to be less well maintained than Barbados, being very narrow, and in need of pot hole repair.  The absence of street signs also was not helpful.

The Lagoon, coming into St. George’s from the south:

There was quite a back up of traffic heading into St. George’s.  It was Friday, and the beginning of market weekend.  The streets were a bit confusing and quite congested.   Parking on the north side of town, outside the main area, was the only solution.

The habor, with Ft. George in the background on the left in the lower photo:

The cruise ship port area was crowded.   I walked to Ft George for the view and through the spice market.  It was set up for the cruise ship passengers.  Having enjoyed nutmeg syrup at breakfast, it was the one item I purchased at the spice market.  The spice market was heavily scented with pot, not surprising, due to the local gentlemen puffing away on stogie sized joints.    I later asked a Laluna employee about the legality of pot, and he said in the market the smoking of joints was accepted, and even shared by the local police force, as long as you didn’t try to move more than a few pounds of the commodity.

The fish market close to the port:

There was so much traffic and it was so crowded, my only desire was to get back in the rental car and find a quiet spot for lunch.   A glance at the town map showed you could bypass the downtown/port area by riding along the ridge line, which I did.

With my patience for traffic gone, I headed to Grand Anse Beach for lunch, just two beaches down from Laluna, where I’m staying.

Grand Anse Beach is a popular beach and I found a nice spot for the local catch of Swordfish.  It was quite good.

Morne Rouge beach looking north.  You can see St. George’s in the distance and the cruise ship port.

One beach south of Grand Anse Beach is Morne Rouge Beach, and one more beach south of that is Portici beach where Laluna is located.

Portici Beach, where Laluna is located:

I was happy to return to the relative calm and quiet of Laluna.

Luckily, Laluna’s restaurant is truly stellar for pasta.   I had one of the best pasta meals ever here, Pappardelle Laluna with nutmeg and porcini mushroom cream sauce.  I would highly recommend it.

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I just arrived in Grenada, the Spice Island.   Just 3 1/2 hours nonstop from Miami, it is a new island for me.  I’m staying at the lovely boutique hotel LaLuna.

The water is warm, I’m guessing 80 – 82 F.