Page 9 - Allisons Newsletter, Lakewood Edge - Dec 2018 Issue

caribbean destinations TRAVEL

by Katherine Rodeghier above sea level through Grand Etang
National Park. Hiking paths lead
W lingered on the GETTING TO around Lake Etang, formed from the
here? That question
crater of an extinct volcano. Seven
sent U.S. troops to invade this KNOW GRENADA,
Sisters Falls is nearby. Annandale
lips of Americans in
October 1983 when news broke
Falls, the most easily accessible in
Grenada, can be visited on the way
that President Ronald Reagan had
tiny Caribbean nation. Grenada, to or from St. George’s.
Driving through the countryside
on the radar of many folks, and 35 YEARS AFTER THE US INVASION and villages, visitors are sure to
population 110,000, didn’t register
see the colors of the national
certainly not as enemy territory. flag—green, yellow, red—painted
By Christmas, the conflict had to visitors to show how it’s done. countries, no child labor is involved of the best Caribbean beaches. For on rocks, curbs, bridges and old
ended and peace was restored. At Dougaldston Estate, guides in its production. nearly 2 miles, its white sand fringes tires framing flower beds. The
Now, 35 years after Grenada crack open nutmeg pods to The Grenada Chocolate Co. a cobalt sea. patriotic display is at its best in
grabbed headlines, more Americans reveal a seed inside laced in red, welcomes tours, as does a nutmeg- Hills and mountains rising the weeks leading up to Grenada’s
are getting to know it. Overnight affectionately known as the “lady processing cooperative in the fishing from these sandy coastlines lead Independence Day, Feb. 7.
visits by U.S. residents increased 18 in the boat with the red petticoat.” village of Gouyave. Bags of spices into rainforests. A driving tour up France claimed Grenada as a
percent in the first half of 2018 over The red covering becomes processed and bars of chocolate always can the west coast on winding roads, colony in 1650, ceded it to the
the same period last year, according as mace. The nutmeg seed is used be found among the goods vendors often narrowing to one lane, passes British in 1763, then took it back
to tourism officials, and the number for flavoring, in medicine and, in sell at the outdoor market in the bamboo forests and nutmeg trees. during the American Revolution.
of cruise passengers rose more than some parts of the world, as a natural old town section of St. George’s, Cocoa pods hang heavy on their Britain ruled it again after the
26 percent. aphrodisiac. Inside a wooden shed, Grenada’s capital city. branches, and bunches of bananas war until it granted islanders
Whether they come for day benches hold an array of other bits An underwater volcano created dangle along the roadside. Farmers independence in 1974. Grenada
trips on cruise shore excursions or of plant material—leaves, branches, the main island of Grenada and its six wielding machetes dodge vehicles remains a parliamentary democracy.
vacations at luxury resorts, visitors seeds—scraped and pummeled into smaller islands about 2 million years as they walk to their fields, drivers As Caribbean islands go, the
stroll some of the Caribbean’s spices until the room fills with the ago. It formed the rich volcanic soil raising their hands in greeting. crime rate is low. When Hurricane
best beaches, tour plantations and fragrance of Christmas. responsible for the high quality of At Concord Falls, the three- Ivan roared through in 2004,
explore tropical rainforests laced Outside, the hot sun shines Grenadian nutmeg, and—perhaps tier waterfall cuts through black, it damaged the prison, and the
with lakes and waterfalls. down on cocoa beans filling more of interest to vacationers— volcanic rock dressed in the lush incarcerated left to check on their
Twenty percent of the world’s shallow wooden platforms where nine black-sand beaches. These, greenery of the rainforest. Children families. Once the emergency was
nutmeg grows in Grenada, but this women walk slowly back and forth, along with more than 40 stretches play in the pool at the base of the over, a public service announcement
“black gold” isn’t the only flavor shuffling their feet through the of white sand, allow beachgoers falls, and young men may offer to ordered prisoners to return to serve
found here. Long known as “The beans to aerate and dry them so to choose from simple, secluded stage a spectacle by jumping from out their sentences. All did. n
Spice Island,” it also supplies home they can be shipped to a chocolate hideaways to long seafront arcs lined the top of the cataract in exchange
pantries with cinnamon, allspice, factory. Grenada chocolate earns with luxury resorts. Grand Anse for tips. ©2018 Chicago Tribune
turmeric, mace and bay leaves. high praise as some of the world’s Beach, lying along the southwest Another route through the Distributed by Tribune Content
Spice plantations open their doors best and, unlike in some developing coast, often has appeared on lists rainforest travels up to 1,900 feet Agency, LLC

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