Grenada the Spice Island

While we were anchored on Grenada's south coast at Hog Island, we hired Mike - a local Taxi-Man with a mini-van who operates out of Whisper Cove Marina to take 12 of us yachties on an all-day tour of the Spice Island - GRENADA! The above pic is a panoramic view of the harbour at St. Georges, looking down at the yacht Lagoon, and the ship's Carenage.
Below:We stopped at a roadside spice stand and were educated on all the various spices that are grown locally.

Annandale falls was a beautiful spot, unfortunately the natural attractiveness has been diminished by it's development as a cruise-ship tourist stop...

Cocoa is grown throughout the island, and is a major cash-crop in Grenada's agricultural economy - which is eclipsed by their major industry - the cruise-ship trade.

We stopped in Carlton at the Cocoa Growers Association to see how they process Cocoa. The farmers sell their beans to the Association, where they dry, and sort them, and then they export the bagged cocoa beans to chocolate users all over the world.

First the beans are fermented in these fermenting bins. They are worked every few days to ensure that they are evenly heated by the natural fermenting process.

Covered with banana leaves, the heat really builds up, and the moisture sweats out of the beans.

After they leave the sweat boxes, the beans are spread in the sun on these drying racks to reduce their moisture content. The drying racks are rolled in under the shed during the night, and in the event of rain. This work is all done manually.

The machinery in the warehouse is all built on site and is quite ingenious and well crafted. They have dryers, sorters, husk removers, and baggers.

After touring the Carlton Cocoa Growers Association, we proceeded north up the east coast of Grenada and stopped for lunch at Ebony's Restaurant in Grenville. We had a great lunch and enjoyed discussing the mornings adventures.

This is the view of the main street in Grenville, looking down from Ebony's restaurant with the Police Station just across the way. Grenville is a busy little town, typically Caribbean, with thankfully very few tourists. It is a good place just to nose around and meet folks, and getting the real flavor of the Spice Island - Grenada. From Grenville we headed north up the east coast to the rum distillery, and the Belmont Cocoa Estate, subjects of following posts.