The Spice Island
03 June 2012 | Prickly Bay, Granada
Heidi/party sunny
It was one of those - 'I feel like I'm in a National Geographic Movie' days. We drove into the Grand Etang National Rainforest in Granada. Our first excitement was seeing wild Mona monkeys. They came in quite close, first swinging loudly through the trees then climbing precariously on outer branches for their treats.
Then the ultimate excitement: hiking to Honeymoon Falls and Seven Sisters Falls and swimming under huge waterfalls. First we walked down a dirt road past trees of nutmeg, cinnamon, passion fruit and guava; pineapple and banana plants; Lemongrass and Shandon Beni (a cilantro substitute). Grenada is called "The Spice Island" for it's abundance of tropical spices. In fact they are the second largest producer of nutmeg in the world (Indonesia is number one.) The aromas were wonderful as we walked this farm road.
Soon we turned off the road turned onto a narrow path and hike for about an hour through the rainforest. Eventually we came to a river where we had to take off our shoes and continue barefoot, or risk submerging our footware. It was interesting climbing up steep rocks, past cascading tributaries to get to the main falls - and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Then as we turned a corner, a beautiful scene unfolded before us - a dramatic falls cascading to an inviting pool, with jungle and stark rock on all sides. It was fantastic. I stripped to my bathing suit and swam right under the falls. Amazing!