Saturday 16th Grenada

Thoroughly enjoyable tour today - Grenada in a Nut(Meg) Shell. Set off from the dockside in a large minibus with a scenic drive along Grenada's beautiful west coast, through quaint fishing villages and spectacular views of the Caribbean Sea. The driver was also our guide, which was impressive when you saw the steep hills and hairpin bends he had to negotiate - often one-handed!! Our first stop was a Nutmeg Processing Station in the fishing town of Gouyave. Nutmeg is the island's main agricultural product.

After a guided tour of the plant we were driven along narrow roads through plantations of nutmeg, cocoa and bananas, along with other spices (cinnamon, clove, ginger), city's and avocado. We stopped for a complimentary fruit juice called soursop. Apparently we were very fortunate to be offered this particular juice. It was deliciously refreshing. (Bananas are either a finger, hand or bunch. One bunch per tree - took lots of notes as we went along as the variety of fruits etc were mind blowing. Apparently, even if someone is impoverished, they don't starve due to the availability of naturally growing foods.

Incredibly interesting insight into the island's economy. Anyone can pick the crops in your garden, as long as they eat it there or do not take it to sell at market.

Tomorrow a day at sea and then Willemstad, Curaçao.