Photo: Nasilele Photography
Listen, folks—I need the thesaurus for the thesaurus because I need all the superlative adjectives to describe the things I saw during my 10-day trip to Grenada. There are SO many things I saw that are so vivid in my memory that just cannot accurately be documented with mere words and pictures. From the millions of rainbows to the picturesque views to the amazingly super friendly people, you have to experience it for yourself to really FEEL it. But I’ll do my best to give you a taste ;)
So first things first, my initial post 9 Things to Do in Grenada if You’ve Been, Never Been, or Never Even Heard of Grenada was one of my most socially shared posts EVER. Like ever ever. Like I’ve written about many other places I’ve traveled to and that Grenada post was shared faster in three days than the lifetime of those other posts. Grenadians LOVE Grenada and in just my first couple of hours arriving there for the first time, I knew exactly why.
While I was traveling in Grenada with my great friend (Nas of Nasilele Photography) who has strong family ties in the country, it was really great to have an island tour to really see the island and get in tune with the country’s rich history. Plus your eyes seriously need the workout…lol. You’ll be looking at so many beautiful things.
So let’s get into it…
First, Grenada is one of the most naturally preserved islands in the Caribbean. It’s affectionately called “Greenz” for a reason—for miles and miles (and miles and miles…lol) all you see is lush greenery throughout the island. Great for those who appreciate nature and for the superficial, perfect backdrop for selfies…lol. If you’re only vaguely familiar with Grenada you may have heard it referred to as the “Spice Island” and while that can also be used as a metaphor to describe the “flavor” of the island, it’s because spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, tumeric, clove, etc. are among the country’s biggest exports. So naturally a trip to the Gouyave Processing Plant where Grenada’s famed nutmeg is processed was in order as part of our tour.
Gouyave Processing Plant
But prior to that we had to take it back to see how nutmeg was once processed in Grenada in what was called a boucan. A boucan is a house that’s built to house, dry, and protect nutmeg as it’s being processed. One of the last standing boucans is at Dougladton Estate. Walking inside and around the immediate area you feel like you’re walking into the past and experiencing a rich part of history. We got to touch and sniff many of Grenada’s prized spices and cocoa. Take a look…
Dougladton Estate
I have a newfound love of nutmeg now! Our tour guide Roger from the Grenada Tourism Authority also gave us some must-try ways to use nutmeg. He suggests putting a little nutmeg syrup (Monde Délice from De La Grenade—it’s also the first Caribbean food to win the Monde Selection Gold Award) in your barbecue sauce (for my meat-eaters, can you imagine what that would do to ribs? YUM). Nutmeg syrup is also DELICIOUS on your pancakes but a very little goes a long way.
I also got to try things like nutmeg cheesecake and nutmeg ice cream which you’ll see pictures of as I show you around more places in my Grenada posts.
We also learned about how Grenadians, particularly the elderly, would use some of the island’s spices for medicinal purposes. I wrote a few down in case any of you who like to try natural remedies wanted to check them out. Note: try at your own risk (putting that out there because I am not a real doctor and will not have you emailing me if you have an allergic reaction to anything…lol). Clove is great for toothaches or any pain in the mouth because it will numb the area within five minutes. Nutmeg was used to help prevent stroke—you put it in your mouth, give it a little crack, and it’ll release some of the so-called good toxins in it. Nutmeg is also a natural aphrodisiac (heyyyyyy) and is part of a “potion” used to combat impotency. And then there’s ginger to help with motion sickness. Boil the ginger in hot water, let it draw, let it sit for a bit, and then drink the water.
For we beauty enthusiasts, mace which comes from nutmeg is used in many of our beauty products.
Two of my travel essentials during this trip—see more of my beauty must-haves while I was in Grenada here
And then for those of us with sports injuries or any kind of muscle or joint pain, there’s the popular Grenadian product called Nut-Med which uses nutmeg oil and menthol among other ingredients and it’s like heaven-sent for my wonky knee. It provides instant relief and doesn’t leave you with a medicine-y smell so the neighborhood stray cats won’t follow you around…lol.
From the nutmeg factory we headed over to nearby Belmont Estates.
Belmont Estates is a “unique and authentic 17th century plantation that offers guests an opportunity to participate in and observe the workings of a fully functional historic plantation.” There’s farms, gardens, and a museum on site. We had a delicious Grenadian lunch at the restaurant and then bought chocolate from The Grenada Chocolate Company.
Belmont Estates
We also stopped at numerous scenic spots in St. George’s and seriously, there’s no way my words or pics could begin to accurately depict the beauty we saw. At one point we were overlooking the capital from one of the highest points and watched as the buildings glowed in a wave-like motion as the sun passed. It was just like when sports fans do the wave in an arena but with the sunlight doing the waving along the buildings. It’s a definite must-see—I tried taking pics but you couldn’t even see what was going on. Great excuse to book a flight and head to Grenada to see it for yourself ;)
There’s more coming…stay tuned!
Make sure you check out Part 2!
A HUGE thank you to everyone who has shared, commented, liked, and read my Grenada posts! I’m really excited to see all the enthusiasm and outpouring of love you all have shown me in my postings. Thank you—you all are also why my Grenada experience was so great.
Stay tuned for more posts! Check out what you might have missed here. Also check out #TSABDinGrenada for my Instagram posts and also follow hashtags #puregrenada and #followgrenada to see my crew’s pics as well as gorgeous pics other Grenada visitors have posted.
Also check out Danielle Travels to see my other travel posts.
Disclosure: Thank you to the Grenada Tourism Authority for generously sponsoring parts of our trip.