We took a self guided tour to the Seven Falls in the interior of Granada with Sylvain and Lise "Vanilla". We caught the bus in front of the rum shops in Woburn. There were guys siting in front of the shops as usual, it didn't mater that it was 8 am. We took the bus to the depot down town and then caught a bus to the Granville on the other side of the island. It didn't take long for the bus to fill up because people were going to work. You don' t leave the station until they have crammed 18 people into the Toyota mini van. It is relay quite efficient. We told the bus driver where we were going and he dropped us off at the end of a short drive way to the start of the trail. The trail crosses private land so they have set up a booth to collect 5 e.c. per person, they give you instruction to find the trail and a walking stick which came in very handy as the trail was very steep and slippery at times. We climbed down through a working farm and along a jungle trail complete with stands of bamboo, the trial edged along cliffs that looked out over the mountains. We eventually came to a two tier falls. They were beautiful, the upper fall had a 35 ft drop and the lower about at 10 ft drop. We changed into our bathing suits and dove into the fresh cold water. After trudging through the jungle the water seem freezing against our over heated bodies.
But there were supposed to be 7 falls. We went off in search of the missing 5 falls. The trail didn't start off well, it was straight up a mucky cliff with roots as hand holds . Lise decided against it almost right away but Marg continued up the first 40 ft tier and then decided to return to base camp sliding from root to root down the slimy muck. Sylvain and I not being that bright continued on up another series of climbs and then along a ridge, the trail branched to the right but after following it for a ways we decided it couldn't be the right one and we continued on along the left branch. After slipping and sliding along the trail that seemed be getting less and less obvious, we decided to turn back before we became lost in the jungle. We eventually arrived back with the girls caked with mud and sweat. The local guide named Cliff had arrived and we were informed that the trail to the right was the proper one. The clincher is that you are not supposed to walk back down the hill but you were to jump off each of the falls and end up in the lower swimming hole. The trip would take 10 to 15 minutes. The last fall you were to jump was 35 feet high, maybe we got off lucky not finding the falls.
After swimming fully clothed we had to return to the water because we were still caked in mud. Sylvain showed his bravery by jumping off the 10 foot falls. I showed my age by not getting gloated into it. The walk out was up hill so the cooling effect of the swimming hole was lost by the time we arrived at the road. Three buses went by but they were all full so when the forth one stopped we gladly crammed in even though it was filled over capacity, 20 people in a Toyota mini van. The driver was a maniac he roared down the mountains at break neck speed and when we had to stop for construction he cut in behind a ambulance that happened along. He was pushing the ambulance so hard that it puled over and let us pass. When we arrived at the bus depot with the brakes smoking Marg went up to the guy and told him she wanted a good look at his face because she didn't ever want to get on his bus again. Another bus brought us back to our anchorage all in all a great day.
We have been asked by people back home if we get off the boat much. Actually some days we stay on the boat just to relax but we could be off the boat doing something every day.
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Comments [1]
Just tried to catch up on your travels.
Still hope to see you in Aruba in the winter. We arrive Dec 21st and leave March 3rd. Will be at the Amsterdam Manor.
Good laugh... here's my first ever water colour. Actually, there were 5 beginners in the class and I would have purchased each and every one of them.. must be the teacher!
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I was looking through my photos and found this one of our friends Wendy and Paul back at Dutchman's Cove Marina. They had just returned from their first summer sailing the waters of Georgian Bay, Lake Huron and the North Channel and Lake Superior. I remember them being so, so, so, relaxed and very, very, happy!
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Thanks for the photo as we hadn't seen it before.
The blog is wonderful.
Photo taken at Grand Anse Beach on Sunday July 11th, 2010 at Garfields . . . for the football game, which was won by Spain.
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Last night we also celebrated Sylvain's 49th Birthday. Heather and Keith "Shadowfax" joined us for the festivities. The main entrée . . Tuna California rolls. Steve and I bought the Bluefin Tuna at Fish Market in St. George's on Saturday. It was $7EC / lb. ($2.70 Cdn/lb.).
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My little brother... There are some who call me . . . "Tim?" (Monty Python)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AisrwPaRAbY
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I Fart In Your General Direction!
Photo: Venezuela power point presentation
One of the benefits of being associated with this odd group of people called cruisers is the fantastic feeling of camaraderie. . . We aren't so odd after all.
Tonight we enjoyed an information night on cruising Venezuela along with a steel drum band and hamburgers with french fries.... yummy. . . 4 beers total cost $53 EC's (isn't that around $20 bucks?). Traveling with this group to Venezuela this month is a no go. It is tempting, but we are happy that we've made arrangements to stay put. We are tired of traveling and look forward to our daughter Thera visiting us in August and perhaps Kim and Marius (in September) and Petra and Colin (sometime in the fall). Not only are Steve and I in agreement that we are just not up to traveling, but we are looking forward to enjoying Grenada to it's max. There is so much to learn and do here. The downside to our decision is that we shall have to say good-bye to our friends Sylvain and Lise (and their dog Vicky) from "Vanilla". They are out here for only 2 years and must keep traveling in order to get back home next year. They have a home . . As Sylvain often teases me about!
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Photo: of the St. George's University as we motored past True Blue Bay.
We are now in Woburn Bay which is approximately situated on the south-west corner of Grenada. We dropped anchor near Clarks Court Bay Marina. The water is very rusty in colour. We believe it is because of the larger mineral content, a natural occurrence because of the mangroves that line the river which flows into this bay. The holding is good but there are certainly more flies about, so we've thrown up our screening that surrounds the cockpit. The screen is a $40 (cdn) purchase. It is a large umbrella drop down screening that seems to fit our needs perfectly. Where the base is normally filled with water, we have threaded through a rope to help weight it down for a snug fit.
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Happy Birthday Karl. Don't celebrate too much! Love Aunt Marg and Uncle Steve.
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Happy Birthday Jim. Take the day off and do some limin' today.
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The only word I can think of is "wow".
Thanks for the memories.
Hope to see you both soon, less than 6 months till retirement.
Take care.
