Tuesday, January 30, 2018- Grenada

Tuesday, January 30, 2018- Grenada

We awoke as the ship was docking in Grenada.  The waterfront is quite hilly and colorful.  We have a UTV excursion booked over the internet with an outfit called Granada Sun Runners.  We were scheduled to take a 3 hour tour starting with pick up at the cruise dock at 8:15.  We had a quick breakfast in the Horizon Court and then packed for rain and sun with swim wear underneath.  The weather looked threatening, but the temperature was close to 80 degrees.  

We were at the place in the cruise terminal where tour operators meet their guests at 7:45am, so we logged on to the free Wifi, which only allows 20 minutes per day, to download emails and to try to upload photostream photos.  8:15 came and went with no sign of Sun Runners.  We went to the information desk and they called Sun Runners to confirm they were aware that they had guests waiting at the cruise port, and said they were on their way.  At 8:45, we had them call again, just as someone did show up.  So much for punctuality.  They must be on island time.  

We walked around to the back parking lot of the cruise terminal, where two Polaris side by side UTV’s were parked.  Our guide Bolo had us fill out paperwork and fitted us with bandanas and helmets.  The bandanas are mandatory and used to cover our hair, but they assured us the helmets are disinfected between riders.  The UTV’s have automatic transmissions and are pretty easy to operate, but they do drive on the left side of the road in Grenada.  So it was nice to play follow the leader to get us through traffic safely.  

As we were filling out the paper work, the sky opened up with a huge downpour.  We had our gortex coats on, while the UTV helmets had full visors and provided good protection of our heads from the rain, keeping our heads dry and comfortable.  We had to use our hands as windshield wipers on the visors as we were drenched with sheets of rain.  Our lower halves could just have been submerged in a swimming pool for the amount of warm rain that soaked us to the skin.  Fortunately, the combination of temperature, speed, helmets and gortex kept us comfortable despite the biblical class deluge of rain.  

As we drove through the streets of Grenada, we were glad to be in the small UTV, and not jammed in a minivan or taxi because the streets are very narrow, and the deluge of rain turned parts of the streets into raging torrents of water.  We stopped to see the National Sports Stadium and National Cricket Stadium.  The Granadans were very proud to have an Olympic Gold Medalist in the 400m track and field event (Krani James).  We also saw the only oil fired electrical generation plant on the island.  We then climbed up into the hill sides to Fort Frederick, which should have had sweeping views of the Grenada and surrounding islands, but it was raining so hard, we could hardly even see the harbor and city below.  While 80% of this tour ended up occuring on paved roads, many of the roads are in terrible condition, making our UTV’s ideal for getting around.  

Next we headed to the Southeastern corner of the island and drove through some neighborhoods with very expensive houses with long paved driveways, but connected with the same terrible stretches of broken pavement and gravel roads.  We ended up at a very picturesque but rugged bit of the coast with big surf and a rocky shoreline called Fort Jeudy.  We then drove to an overlook of Boburn Bay and Hog Island.

From there we took the back roads towards the airport, and when I say dirt roads, I mean mud tracks, for some down dirty mud splashing squishing around fun.  At one point, we went through a mud hold so deep that the footwells of the UTV started filling with muddy water, but we powered our way through.  It’s impressive what these UTV’s can manage to drive through.  We then made a stop at Grand Anse beach, one of the nicest and most famous swimming beaches in Grenada for a 30 minute swim.  The sun actually came out and the rain stopped for the duration of our beach visit. Janet spotted crabs that lived in burrows in the sand. When you tried to get close for a picture, they would dart into their underground warrens, so gettin a picture was a bit like playing wack-a-mole.  The water was a beautiful blue color, but the rains had clouded up the water so snorkeling probably wasn’t ideal.  Still, it was refreshing and relaxing to bob around in the salt water.  It was also nice to have Bolo watch our stuff and the ATV’s while we relaxed and had fun.

Our last stop was back to the Sun Runner’s office, which was between the Sands Resort and airport.  They get most of their customers from the Sands Resort.  We paid with a credit card, and the receptionist was kind enough to give Janet a nutmeg fruit with seed as a souvenir.  As we were checking out, 4 more ATV’s turned into the driveway- all customers from the Sands Resort.  We then got into a van for a ride back to the cruise ship and saw a bit of the Sands Resort, which is “All inclusive” meaning room, food and drinks.  After dropping off the Sands customers, it was just Janet and I in the van as it drove back to the Cruise Ship terminal.  The driver gave us a nice narrated tour, and drove to the tops of hills for viewpoints of the town, Grand Anse Beach and the cruise ship terminal now that there was a break in the torrential rains.  He also gave us advice on where to shop for spices at the best prices.  He dropped us off right at the cruise terminal, so we gave him a nice tip for the personalized private tour of St. George.

After taking showers and grabbing lunch, we walked back into St. George to walk around the public market for a bit.  It was certainly a colorful scene, and the streets were flooded with school children in their school uniforms.  Many of the stalls were empty or closed by then.  The streets are very narrow and there is a lot of traffic, so you have to be careful not to get run over by cars or fall in to a ditch.  

We returned to the ship and decided to check out the Elite lounge snacks and then attend the early show performance.  We were pleasantly surprised to find them serving sushi rolls with pickled ginger, soy sauce and wasabi.  

The show performance featured a Circ du Soleil juggler of 25 years, Steven Ragatz, who put on a high quality and entertaining show.  There wasn’t anything done on stage that we hadn’t seen before, but he did it all with the style and timing befitting of a Circ du Soleil show.  

We had Caribbean Jerk Chicken skewers and diver scallops for dinner which were quite delicious, followed by a new Chocolate Journey dessert that looked like a space age baked chocolate apple, but was filled with a light chocolate mousse, caramel and rings of dark chocolate.  

Tomorrow, we arrive at 7am in Trinidad, and have a city tour of Port of Spain, with a cultural show scheduled at 8am.  The ship is having a Caribbean Island sail away party on deck tonight, but we ended up getting our soggy clothes laundered instead.