Back to our old routine

Ok ...we are back in business and I am feeling much better again. We also have started our school routine again! It was very hard for all three of us to stick our heads back into the books again after three weeks off school. I finally caught up on our blog entries, and now there is heaps to read for you if your interested what we have been up to the last two weeks. As already mentioned in a previous blog, I cannot post any pictures on our blog at the present moment as we have used up all our uploading space on Picassa, but no worries I am upgrading and will do it as soon as possible. We have got plenty of plans for the next couple of weeks. Lots of Yoga will be happening and I am very excited to meet with Amy on Thursday as well as going to the 700th Hash event on Saturday. So watch this space for some exciting news and more adventures.

Coincidence or meant to be

It is always surprising how small the world is. A year ago I have noticed a friend of a friend on Facebook and was drawn to her beautiful appearance on her profile picture. Since I don’t like befriending people on Facebook that I do not know personally I just left it at that. However her picture appeared on Facebook once in a while. During my communication with friends for my birthday wishes I mentioned to Yogamani that we are based in Grenada at the moment and how much we liked it here. She promptly wrote back telling me that a good friend of hers had just moved to Grenada and I should try to connect with her. Guess who it was…right … the beautiful friend of a friend with the name Amy that I had become aware off just a year ago. She had just moved to Grande Anse in Grenada which is just 15 minutes from where we are anchored. How bizarre is that? I connected with her through Facebook the same day and we arranged to meet on Sunday for a picnic lunch on the beach near us. She has got two children, aged 4 and 6 and despite the age difference the children had a ball when we met on the beach yesterday. While the guys went snorkeling with the children, Amy and I sat in knee deep water and exchanged and shared our passion for yoga. We got on like house on fire and have got a few connections from back in New Zealand. It was so beautiful to see the infusion of our energies and we thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company. We have got lots of ideas that we can bounce on each other and I can feel that our compassion for yoga will bring us plenty of joyful hours and afternoons. People like to say about Facebook what they like, I like it and it has given me plenty of opportunities to stay in contact and share my pictures with friends around the world while out on the ocean and now it has given me another beautiful friend to embrace and to enjoy her company while staying in Grenada.

A tour across Grenada

Today is our second day driving around in a car and there is still so much to see and do, so we started early to make the most out of it. Yesterday we went right around Grenada, today we go across the island. I am the navigator again and believe that I am better organized today and have got more of an idea where we are going then yesterday. We will see the day will tell our first destination were the seven sisters Fall! My inner GPS and map told me to go to St. George and then we had to turn right at some stage to go inland. I thought that was pretty clever of me, Sven just gave me the funny look. There was never a real sign saying go this way to the Falls, so when we were close to go the same route then yesterday, we turned around and took the next good looking turn right. All of a sudden a sign turn up saying the Grand Etong Forest Reserve…. puhhh ….we are on the right track. A beautiful road guides us right through the middle of Grenada. The highest point we crossed told us that we are 583 meters above sea level, Carlos ears are popping. Then we reached the car park of the Seven Sisters Falls. We pay our entrance fee of 5 EC (approx. $2) and a walking stick and then we are on our own. The Seven Sisters Falls are located on private property and we have to walk across the farm to the Falls. First we walk past banana plantation, beautiful nutmeg trees and a huge farmed area with lots of vegetables and fruits hanging from the trees. Then we left that part of the property and came into the more unmaintained path. It went down the hills and since we had lots of rain the day before the sort of walkway was very muddy and slippery. However our flip flops brought us safely to steady grounds and we just had to rinse them in the next river bed. This walk to the Falls was just amazing and pretty wild and natural….lots of fun and then finally the jungle opened up and revealed the beautiful Seven Sisters Falls. We just felt like in the movies of Indiana Jones, such beauty upon us. We slipped out of our clothes and into the bathing suits and went for a well deserved swim in the cool water. Ahhhhhhh….how literal cool and awesome that was. We had a good swim and when we felt that we were cooled off enough, we dressed again and made our way back. Luckily this time it went more up the hill which seemed a bit easier then down the hill. By the time we reached the car park again we were hot and sweaty again and ready for another dip in the pool, unfortunately there was no pool in sight. We hopped into the car and just drove further along. Next I navigated us to the Sulphur spring close to Clabony, we went high high into the mountains looking for the springs, but the further up the mountain we went the smaller and uneven the road got. After 1 ½ hour we finally gave up and turned around; even though we did not get to our target it was still a thrilling experience and very beautiful scenery. By the time we came back out of the mountain we were hungry and looked for a small convenient place to have something to eat. We drove and drove around and at some point I had lost my navigation and I did not know anymore where we were. When we finally found a place to eat we discovered that we were on the other side of Grenada, in Grenville. We had the most tasty pork and chicken snack from a local side store, when by luck I discovered that we were standing right in front of a cocoa processing plant. After our snack we went for a little tour in that factory, which was very fascinating and informative. After the little tour we made our way back to Grande Anse. It was already getting dark and we were exhausted once again from driving in the heat all day. Back on the boat I downloaded all the pictures from yesterday and today and we relived the two trips again. Unfortunately I cannot download any pictures at the moment as my uploading space for pictures on Picassa has been reached. I will have to upgrade this function soon and will share new pictures with you soon. It has been a wonderful and memorable two days; what a great birthday present …..thank you Sven, Julia and Carlos and everyone else for sharing this with me!!

A tour right around Grenada

My birthday present for this year was to hire a car and tour around Grenada. We met Ray at nine o’clock at the “De big Fish” restaurant and he drives us to the police station to obtain our Grenadian driver license. We did not have to sit a test; we only had to pay money for the “driver license ticket”. Another way of making money from tourists, never mind we put that behind us and make our way to explore Grenada. As we are leaving the station we can see the sky overcast and then it starts pouring down with rain. The road was hard to see, but we are determined to get to our first stop and so we kept going to the Concord Falls. Once we were a bit higher in the mountain the heavy rain finally stopped and it only drizzled a little bit. In actual fact the rain enhanced the lush green scenery and we stopped several times on our way up the mountains to admire the view. The Concord Falls is a 3 level waterfall, however because of the rain we just went to visit the lowest cascade as it was easy accessible from the road. After the Concorde Falls, we also visited the Annendale Fall, where a local guy impressed us with an acrobatic jump from the top. Afterwards we made our way to Gouyave to visit the Nutmeg Station, which became another highlight in the Caribbean. I did not know what an interesting spice the Nutmeg is. Not only was the smell overwhelming in the station, it was also interesting to discover how the Nutmeg is harvest and processed and what it is used for. The Nutmeg grows on beautiful evergreen trees. Nutmeg is the actual seed of the tree and is roughly egg-shaped and about 20 to 30 mm long and 15 to 18 wide, and weighing between 5 and 10 dried. The outside yellow capsule is used to make jam and syrup, while the “lacy” reddish covering around the actual seed is called mace and is used as a spice for soups. The inner seed is in a shell and will be dried; once it is dried the shell is removed and used for a flavor in the BBQ fire. A shelled nutmeg lasts up to three years and with its shell it stays fresh for up to 10 years. The first harvest of nutmeg trees takes place 7–9 years after planting, and the trees reach full production after 20 years. Nutmeg is usually used in powdered form. This is the only tropical fruit that is the source of two different spices ….overall an amazing and very interesting fruit. After the nutmeg station we make our way to the north of Grenada. The island is very green and people are very friendly, wherever we go people wave to us and when we asked for directions we get very precise and correct directions. Excellent experience! Our next stop is the River Antoine Rum Distillery. This is the oldest working rum distillery in the Caribbean, where traditional methods are still used for rum making and it is the only distillery driven by a water mill. It was impressive, but the smell here was stomach turning, with all the old fermented sugar cane piled up around the place. It was very interesting to have a look at the old machinery and it gave us a little impression how they used to make their rum and still do up until today….very old fashion! From here we stopped at Lake Antoine, which is a shallow volcanic crater lake with great spots for bird watching. This place reminded me very much of the Green and Blue Lake in Rotorua back in New Zealand. The Belmont Estate is next on our list; this was supposed to be one of our highlights on this trip and turned out to be a total disaster and disappointment. The Estate is set in 400 acres of lush rolling hills and a working cocoa plantation with a chocolate factory attached. When we arrived it already gave us a deserted impression, however you should never judged anything from the outside. Unfortunately the first impression was right this time and nothing much was happening there. The restaurant looked still in a very good shape so we had my birthday lunch there….ups wrong decision ….the food from the buffet was not good and I would not recommend or rave on about this place. Our last stop for the day was Grenville, which is the second largest town in Grenada. When we arrived late back home we were exhausted from driving in the car and heat all day, but happy with our experiences and I will have fond memories of my 45th birthday for a long time.

Happy Birthday to me !!!

Today I am celebrating my second birthday on the boat.....yeah and still loving it! Happy Birthday to me. My family sang to me this morning and with such beautiful start into the day it promised to be a good day. Julia and Carlos were really excited about my birthday and made me a beautiful Necklace each....thank you so much ....I love it. However my most beautiful present are my children, being married to a wonderful man and having the opportunity to have such a wonderful experience with them. Thank you universe to provide us with such a prospertous life.

Bruised and Battered

I haven’t been feeling very good the last week. Don’t really know what is going on, whether it is the hot weather, my upcoming birthday or maybe simply needing a break from everything. However while dealing with my personal crisis, I broke my right toe once again, and if that was not enough I stepped onto a fishing hook with my right big toe ….autsch…at least now I know why I am not feeling so on top of the world…my right foot is in pain! Nevertheless that is nothing what a real cruising lady cannot handle and so today we took the bus to St. George. I am limping around town behind my family and adore the architecture of St. George. We all very much like St. George and especially Grenada. Everyone is really helpful, friendly and in general they seem to be happy people. First of all when we arrive in town we explore the area, where the cruise ships usually dock, luckily today there is no cruise ship in so everything is empty and everyone is pretty relaxed around the shops. Downtown St. George is very clean and I like the mix of modern and old architecture mixed together. Unfortunately you can still see where Hurricane Ivan left its note in 2004. It did not only destroy 90 % of the Nutmeg and Cacao plantations, it also destroyed quiet a few churches and other facilities around Grenada. When we are back on the boat we have got an hour to rest before we are off to the movie night in Clarks Court, with a bunch of other cruisers.

Back to Grenada

We are heading back to Grenada this morning. As you might have noticed already our access to the Interrnet has been quiet thin and I have fallen behind with my reports, but I am hoping that back in Grenada it will be better again. We have managed our two lots of guests on JUCA very good and are happy with the feedback. So Captain Sven is ready to lift the anchor and to leave Bequia...I can already hear the anchorchain coming up.....Lots of love to everyone and we are all sending you a big hug where ever you are....See you back down in Grenada!!!!

Back to Bequia

This morning we got up at six and got ready for a round of snorkeling before breakfast. Wow, what an amazing experience to observe the turtles while their having their breakfast. This morning there were turtles everywhere we looked. I probably did see eight or ten at the time, whatever, wherever I looked I saw turtles feeding on sea grass, resting on the ground or diving up to the surface to catch some air….it is just beautiful and very hard to describe in words. I am very happy that we made the effort getting up early to experience and observe the turtles in their natural habitat. After being back on the boat we enjoyed a good German breakfast and then we had to get going as we were heading towards Bequia and it would take us roughly five hours to get there, depending on the wind.
The weather is beautiful and we have a perfect sail up to Bequia. We arrive in Bequia early afternoon and first thing once the anchor is down…we all jump in for a swim……aaahhhh life could not be better! Once we were done with cooling off we all went to shore and explored the little township of Port Elisabeth. We meet our friends from SV “Sandy Dreams” and briefly catch up with each other’s news and happening since we have seen each other last. Ryan has now joined the Dengue Fever club, so there was lots of comparing and sharing between the two captains. Andrea and I went for a little walk along the promenade on the beach, while the boys took the drinks and ice back to the boat. After dinner we had a rum punch with freshly grated nutmeg and the evening is filled with laughter, joyful smiles and memories of the sailing trip from Carriacou to Bequia. Unfortunately the next day was our last day together and it meant to say goodbye to each other. Andrea and Mark came as guests and left as friends and we are sure that we will see each other again; however until then we let everything be and just enjoy the beach, the sun and snorkeled around the coast line of Port Elisbeth. In the afternoon Andrea and Mark took the Ferry over to St. Vincent to continue their holiday there for a few days, before heading towards Barbados for a week.
We tried to catch up with them on Saturday morning in St. Vincent, but unfortunately Hurricane Irene cross our plans and we had to leave Bequia at five in the morning to return to Grenada early Saturday morning. Grenada is the most southern Island in the Windward Island and pretty safe in regards of Hurricanes.

Wonder of the Tobago Keys

This morning we set sail for the Tobago Keys. My fond memories of our last visit are still warm in my mind and consequently I was really looking forward to the beautiful beach of Tobago Keys, the Turtles and Iguanas. We arrived at lunch time and after we did our T-shirt shopping on the local boat we went for a snorkel straight away. There were quite a few boats in the bay, but we still manage to snorkel with some Turtles and paid the Iguanas a visit. I love the Tobago Keys and its surrounding environment. Snorkeling with the Turtles was the highlight of the day if not the sailing trip altogether and we could not get enough of it. I suggested that we should go early in the morning, when no one is around; I bet that we would be able to see far more turtles. They are both keen to go and are excited about this adventure. I had prepared Beef Lasagne with Salad which we thoroughly enjoyed after our afternoon snorkeling.

Back to Union Island

We had a really quiet night, caught up on a lot of sleep and got up fairly early to do the last chores on the boat before the guests arrived. Julia and Carlos enjoyed their time with no school very much and were trying to encourage us to do more charter. I wonder why? The next four days we will be hosting a young couple from Germany and we are all eager to meet them. While I prepared breakfast, Sven went to shore to pick up Andrea and Mark from Germany. As soon as Andrea and Mark are on the boat is feelt like the sun is shining from every corner of the boat. They are a delightful couple and I can feel that we will have lots of fun on the boat for the next few days. Andrea is laughing all the time and Mark is a very quiet comfortable person to have around. Before setting sail towards Union Island we have to fuel up our JUCA, and lucky us there is cheap fuel available in Carriacou. This is our first big adventure on our second charter trip. First we need to dock onto the big barge and then once we finally assured that the fuel is clean we fill the tanks from our JUCA. The last time we fueled up was eight months ago in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Once we were fueled up we settled to sail to Union Island. The weather was nice and the lagoon of Union Island awaited us with its spectacular colors. While I fixed us something for lunch, Sven checked us all into the Grenadines. For the rest of the day we enjoy Union Island. Andrea and Marc went for a little stroll through the little township of Clifton, enjoyed a swim in the crystal clear water and later on we all went for a sundowner to the little bar right in the middle of the lagoon. What a fun day we had.

Cariacou Island

We are on a mission. Our JuCa is cleaned and ready for the next lot of guests. At the moment we are still in Union Island and have to make our way over to Carriacou to pick up our guest tomorrow morning. It is an easy sail for just an hour so we are pretty relaxed and leave the beautiful Union Island at about 4 pm. When we arrived in Carriacou we relaxed for the rest of the late afternoon and prepared us mentally for the next four days.

Union Island

We walked around Union Island a little bit and the main commercial area here on the Island is Clifton. it is lined on either side with shopes and other business offering goods and services. the action on this island is at peak in the afternoon when the ferries arrive from St. Vincent. many people order their supplies from the wholesaler in St. Vincent and receive it every afternoon with at the ferry dock.

Mount Taboi is the highest mountain peak in the Grenadines. At 1000 feet it offers spectacular views of the southern Grenadines in both directions to Grenada and St. Vincent. The island's first car was unloaded in 1956, the first secondary school was opened in 1972 and the airport here was opened in 1974. You can see it is a fairly newcomer to modern society compared to the rest of the Caribbean Islands. We also went to pay Castello Pradise a visit. Jutta Hartman is a unique sight and her artworks is on dislpay throughout the labyrinth of bars, shops and her private home, a must see experience.

Emina, David, Sally and Jasmine came as guests and left as friends. We are all very sad that they had to leave us today, but everything has its time and I am sure our path will cross again one day. While they are enjoying another day 0n Palm Island before returning to Barbados, we are getting our JUCA ready for our next guests. We were busy cleaning, washing and making water before we were able to enjoy the rest of a beautiful day filled with peace and quietness. We ended the day cuddling up in bed reading our Roald Dahl book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and
switched the light out quiet early.

Bequia - Tobago Keys - Union Island

Wow Wow Wow….these are the only words that I can find for my first impression coming into the Tobago Keys. We have landed in Paradise. The colors around me change every minute I blink with my eyes; amazing! We are so lucky and fortunate with the weather it could not be any better. The experience to sail down to the Tobago Keys is branded into our memory stick forever. The sighting of those tiny little islands is very exciting and I feel like a child in a candy shop…who would like to leave this place ever? In our guide books it says that “the Tobago Keys are a group of small deserted island, protected from the sea by a Horseshoe Reef. The water and reef colors are a kaleidoscope of gold, brown, blue, turquoise and green. There are small sand beaches everywhere and the water is very clear. On cloudless nights, the stars are cast across the sky like wedding confetti thrown in an excessive gesture of bonhomie. Even squalls can be dramatically beautiful as they approach from afar.” We anchored in front of Petit Bateau, which is as picturesque as it can be….blue water and white sandy beaches are lined with beautiful coconut trees. It is simply beautiful and comes probably very close to being in paradise. That same afternoon we do explore the little island by foot. It takes approx. 15 minutes to cross the island. Turtles and big crabs are crossing our path and the whole atmosphere is mesmerizing and the energy around us is just beautiful. We meet some guys from Argentina and Ireland that enjoy a BBQ on the beach and sing along to their guitar. I probably do not need to go into any further details here and you can just close your eyes and let your imagination run wild! The next day after breakfast we pile into our Dinghy equipped with our snorkeling gear and go over to a little Island called Baradel, here we are going to swim with turtles in their own environment; the ocean. Part of the bay of this little Island is fenced off to protect the turtles from passing by dinghy’s and sailing yachts. What an adventure for all of us, swimming and diving with the turtles. Julia is amongst her own species, and she swims along the Turtles like that is what she is born to do. Her movements under water are just incredible and she behaves like a fish. We observe turtles all morning how they swim, eat and rest on the ocean ground. What a wonderful experience, apart from a little lost reef shark, a Barracuda and a few normal little fish there are not many other fish to observe, but the turtles are making up for it. I even manage to go for a little walk on this little Island and come across a few humongous Iguanas. Emina, David and Sven are driving over to Petit Tabac; on this isolated beach with wild its tropical garden they filmed the island scene in “Pirate of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. Unfortunately we do have to leave this little paradise in the afternoon to make our way to Union Island, our guests are going to fly back home from here.

Grenada - Cariacou - Bequia - St. Vincent

We left Grenada on Sunday morning to pick up some guests in St. Vincent. We had checked the weather and it was suppose to be pretty calm and good wind, so it should have been an easy sail. We had booked ourselves into the Prickley Bay Marina to get some fuel, but someone was faster than us and had occupied the fuel dock over night and was refusing to leave for another couple of hours. We did not have the time to wait around that long, so we decided to go to fuel up in Port Louis. Luck was on our side, when we discovered that the fuel was cheaper there, which saved us lots of money. Just before lunch time we were ready to make our way to Cariacou, where we would stay for the night, before heading to Bequia the next day. Pick up point for our guests was Young Island in St. Vincent, which was only a few miles further up north and would only take an hour to get there.
Once we got out of the harbor we had once again realized that you cannot even trust the weather reports and that you have to be prepared for a rough ride all the times. Luckily we have got a captain that does not get seasick and always knows what he is doing. While our JUCA was pouncing through the waves and rough seas, the kids and I were lying seasick in the Master bedroom. Luckily I had prepared everything else pretty well, but I forgot to close the hatches properly so we took in a bit of water from all sides. I finally managed to secure and close everything, before lying down and observing my breathing and trying to calm down my stomach. After a couple of hours the worse was behind us and we could already see Cariacou. It is always a miracle to me how quickly my system recovers as soon as the waters calm down. We discovered a great Pizza place (yes they do have great Pizza at the end of the world), and thereafter settled down for a quiet and early evening.
The next morning we left the anchorage early to get to Bequia in a decent time to stock up a bit on ice and fresh fruit and vegetables, doing the last preparation for welcoming our guests and for Julia and Carlos to have a play with their friend Luana on SV “Shaitan”. We had the most beautiful sail you can imagine, dream wind from the right direction and blue sky. We saw some dolphins and this experience compared to yesterday shows us the duality of life very clear. By lunch time we arrive in Bequia and settled down in beautiful, crystal clear water. We were greeted by Louana and Iris with a warm welcome and the kids are happy to have each other again. While the kids are playing and jumping in and out of the water I get ready. I have to admit I am a bit worried about all the cooking and having to serve eight people on the boat, but nothing what a bit of Reiki and Pranayama can’t fix and I tune into the next week of spoiling guests on our JUCA.
We left early in the morning and arrived in time in Young Island. We had to wait for an hour before we finally greeted our guests David, Emina, Sally and Jasmine on Board. It is an absolute delight to meet the family the girls are friendly and open and there is an instant connection between the children. We secure our dinghy and tie off the mooring ball and heading towards open water and our first destination on this trip; Bequia. We have got the perfect sailing weather with dream winds and calm sea, we even see lots of dolphins crossing our path. Admiral Bay is greeting us with blue sky and the water is not just crystal clear but also very calm. While I prepare lunch the kids and adults are enjoying a swim in the beautiful water. After lunch Julia, Carlos and I join the family for a trip to the turtle sanctuary and the whaling museum. We are appalled about the fact that the community on Bequia have got permission to catch Whales and still slaughtering four whales per season….how can that be possible that people are still so ignorant these days ? Nevertheless the drive through the country side is beautiful and represents the peaceful Island life of Bequia. Back on JUCA later that evening we are enjoying each other company and chatting till late into the night while the kids watch a movie.
The next day one part of the crew is going for a trip to the firefly plantation, while Sven and I do our chores….running the generator to make water, to cool our fridges down and to wash some towels and what else there is. I prepare lunch and tidy up the boat, so that we can leave the Bay of Bequia as soon as the rest is coming back from the land visit. The plan is to leave for the Tobago Keys by two in the afternoon.

St.Vincent, Young island

We are back in the Grenadines. We left Grenada on Sunday morning and stayed the night in Cariacou and then the next day we arrived in Bequia. Here we spent the day cleaning and meeting up with our friends from SV Shantai and Julia and Carlos were really happy to play with their friend Louana. This morning we left early for St. Vincent to pick up our first guests in Young Island. We are going to spend the next three days entertaining and spoiling them and will drop them off in Union Island. Will write more when I have got time. In case you wonder why I am a short in my pictures...well I have given another gift to the sea gods and godesses....I dropped our camera into the water while taking some shots of Louanas beautiful dog Sarah of the duckboard.....bummer!

Shopping Therapy in the Spice Shopping Mall

We have not been sleeping the last few days, but have been without Internet, but here now finally some pictures and an update from us in Grenada. A few challenges and opportunities approaching us fast and our brains are working overtime. Since we have been here in Grenada, I have been hardly off the boat and very busy reorganizing the space of JUCA and trying to figure out what to cook for our first trip to the Grenadines with guests. So far I have got a pretty good idea how to spoil them food wise and today I have been busy provisioning for the upcoming trip on Monday. This morning at eight we went to Budget Marines huge Carnival Sale to buy a bigger Chilli box and some snorkeling gear, but we also discovered the Spice Island Mall in Grande Anse. Shopping Therapy for the whole family!!! I bought some new bed linen and pillows and our cupboards and fridges are bursting with yummy food. Yeah and because it is so nice I went to the Shopping Mall twice today. In the afternoon I went by myself, and in all the excitement I nearly forgot which bus to take back and where to get off the bus. No worries, the bus system here is as easy and convenient as in St. Lucia and by the way the locals are very helpful and friendly. We are all in love with Grenada and looking forward to spend some more time here.

Safe and sound in Prickley Bay, Grenada

We are well and truly in the Caribbean. It is peaceful, the people are very friendly and the food is reasonable here. No loud music is tearing through the night, we are in a pretty hurricane safe area and the water in the anchorage is also pretty clear. I believe we can stick it out here easy for a couple of months or to the end of hurricane season. Grenada is also known as the spice Island and there are lots of things to see and do. Did you know that Grenada is the largest nutmeg producer in the Western Hemisphere? Due to its moderate tropical climate the island has proven to be successful in growing spices in all kinds of varieties. Grenada is famous for its cocoa, mace, cloves, vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger and as already mentioned – nutmeg. Grinded nutmeg is an essential part for the drink with the name “Painkiller”. Painkiller is made out of cream of coconut, orange juice, pineapple juice, rum and then the freshly grated nutmeg on top…delicious, but as you all know the alcohol side of the Caribbean is not really my department; I leave that to Sven. What I am really looking forward to is to discover, explore and experience all the different kind of fresh spices on offer, especially the chocolate plantations. Grenada cocoa is unique and amazing. The fertile volcanic soil produces flourishing cocoa estates in the lush mountainous landscape. The cocoa beans are supposed to be of a high quality, deep aromatic, fruity, flowery incense. So we will see and learn and deepen our knowledge about cocoa trees and how they grow and how the powder is extracted out of the seeds. Grenada is the southernmost of the Windward Islands and lies only 90 miles north of Trinidad.