Day 4 - Tuesday, The Dragon tour

Today was a full day to say the least. We signed up for the all day island tour and it was all day. We boarded a bus that seats 30 but had only 12 of us on it and expected the usual somewhat boring but educational tour of the island. Our driver/tour guide, Peter Dragon, made sure it was not boring. From his jokes, to the interesting history about every part of the island and every plant, to his driving 'magic', he kept us completely entertained.

He started by taking us through the St. George streets, that one would think the small bus we were in would just not fit, including 'little San Francisco' which speaks for itself.

Our first stop was the Concord Water Falls where we dipped our toes in the cool water (never say cold in Grenada) and watched the jumpers.

The ride through the island was quite fascinating, everything here is on the side of a steep hill so houses are built on legs. You look at them and wonder how they stay on the side of the hill. 

Overall the people in Grenada live by modest means but as Dragon explained, people in Grenada never go hungry. There is always plenty of food. They like their rum and like to party.  

Dragon was a born in Grenada and is clearly proud of his country. He took us through his home town and the town in which he was born. As we passed through, his sister and 89 year old mom were on the porch waving and just a bit down the road we passed one of his brothers....it was cool. 

From the falls we drove to lunch, along the way Dragon pointed out the egg trees..yes real eggs.

Lunch was at a private residence over looking the ocean where the Caribbean and Atlantic intersect and you can see the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique which are part of Grenada. 

Our group was a mix of Canadians and American's and got along very well.











Lunch was a home cooked meal and was sumptuous. After lunch we moved onto the Rivers Rum distillery.

The distillery is 300 years old and is basically run like it was then. It is powered by a water wheel and fired by wood and cane stocks.

They run two distillery systems and consume all they make on the island.

What they make is 150 proof, 75% alcohol and can not be exported due to the high alcohol content.  They sell a version cut with distilled water for those that want to take some home.

Of course we sampled the rum, it was not as harsh as one would expect for 75% alcohol.

On the tour we even drove onto the runway of the old airport that was in use when the Americans invaded in 1983. A Russian and Cuban plane did not make it out and are still sitting there.

On the return we stopped at Grand Etang Lake, this is a lake formed by an extinct volcano. It has fish in it and Dragon even caught one using only bread and his hand.











From the lake we stopped at a place in the rain forest where you can often view monkeys but there were none to be found, so we moved on towards home base.

The day was long but if you come to Grenada, it is a must do. It gives you a good appreciation for the island and how the people live here.

Before dinner we took in the sunset at the beach, again poolside.

We ended the day on the big terrace once again, but were joined by a couple that was on our driving tour, both Canadians, but he from Chile and her from Quebec. They invited their friends from the UK and we had a great time getting to know them. We closed the place after midnight, it was a very long but fun filled day.