What to do on a rainy day...

Even if it is not hot and sunny, it is still hot - and the rainshowers are mostly off and on - so you can still do lots of other things.

We decided to tour a nutmeg processing plant and return to Belmont Plantation as it was a day for the farmers to bring in their cocoa beans.

We visited the nutmeg processing plant in Gouyave, which is the only plant doing processing from start to finish since Hurricanes Ivan and Emily. 90% of the nutmeg trees were uprooted during the hurricane, and it takes 7 - 10 years for new trees to bear fruit.  This has hit farmers very hard, as many families relied entirely on the nutmeg.

On our way to Gouyave, we stopped at Dugaldston Estate and saw the nutmeg trees before stopping in Gouyave.

We saw how the nutmegs are brought in, put in drying trays, raked to ensure even drying, crushed, hulled and sorted before being sold, exported or taken up Island for oil to be extracted.

 

There is no machinery - nutmeg is processed pretty much the way it has been for over 100 years. We watched local women sorting the nutmeg after it is crushed - which is very labor intensive. They make $34 EC for a 7 hour shift - which is about $12 CAD.

We also saw bags of mace, although many farmers remove the mace before they bring the nutmeg in for processing. It is a beautiful bright red before being dried.

We then had a traditional Grenadian lunch at Kelly's Hot Spot in Gouyave. Barry was a good sport and tried it all, including the provisions and despite it looking like it was curried chicken (it wasn't:)) He didn't enjoy it all - but he did try it!

After lunch, a stop at Belmont to see the farmers bringing in their cocoa beans, we headed down Island - and stopped at Conference Beach for walk. Despite the weather it was very pretty - and we found lots of coral and shells.