We headed northwest from Woburn and then east from St.Georges. It is a narrow, winding road - but in good condition - just watch out for the buses!!
The waterfalls are very pretty - and there is a tropical garden as well. Our guide took us through the garden and to the waterfalls, where we watched some local young men jump off the top of the falls.
From the falls, we made our way to Grand Etang Forest and Grand Etang Lake. The visitor centre is very pretty and has history of the area. The lake is more like our Otter Lake than Okanagan Lake, and due to the heavy rainfall in the last few days, the trail around the lake was not accessible.
Grand Etang is a bird sanctuary and forest reserve with miles of hiking trails, lookouts, and fishing streams, and home to the Mona Monkey. Unfortunately, like the elusive Grenada Dove, the Mona Monkeys were no were to be seen when we visited. Grand Étang Lake is an expanse of water that fills the crater of an extinct volcano 1,740 feet above sea level. Although legend has it the lake is bottomless, maximum soundings are recorded at 18 feet.
From Grand Etang, we headed east to Grenville, then north to Pearl. Pearl has important historical significance as it is the site of the first airport in Grenada. It was used until 1984, and now serves several purposes - it is used as a roadway linking Upper and Lower Pearl; on Sundays, it a race track (Barry says it would be a great demo track); locals use the airstrip and surrounding area to graze their cattle and goats. Talk about a multi-purpose facility!
The wreckage of a Soviet and a Chinese plane are also located in Pearl, a reminder of the 1983 conflict - or Revolution as Grenadians refer to it.
Next stop, River Antoine Rum Distillery. This is the oldest distillery on the Island, and is the only Organic distillery. The tour was very good - showed us all the steps from crushing the sugar cane right down to testing for quality - and I tried two different rum punches - both very good. Unfortunately, you can only buy this rum on the Island - as they sell it all to locals and visitors. I guess I will have to bring home a bottle to let you taste it:)
From here, we were pretty much done with tours for the day, but decided to follow the sun and take a scenie route back to Woburn. From River Antoine, we headed north to Sauteurs stopping at Conference Bay, Bathways Beach and Levera Beach on the way. We also took a break in Sauteurs at their beach before heading south towards Gouyave and then to St.George's and Woburn. It was a long day - but so much to see!
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| Conference Beach aka Conch Shell Beach! |
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