Grenada Carnival - Spice Mas 2008

Last week was a busy one. It was Carnival in Grenada!

The first festivity for us was Panorama, the steel drum competition. We bought tickets for the event at the Grenada National Stadium and headed out for the evening. The music was great, the band members were energetic and the competition was fierce. Some of these bands had more than 80 players and 120 instruments. The music started about 8:30 p.m. and didn't end until 1:30 a.m. I'm proud to say we hung in there until the very end! Because this was a competition, each orchestra played only one song. Most of the time was spent breaking down one band and setting up the next. Here's some video of the top 2 bands.

Two nights later we were at it again. Mike and Renee (Jacumba) and Jim and I headed back into St. Georges for the Monday Night Mas. We were told it would start around 6 or 7:00. You can never be sure because the carnival website doesn't even publish starting times. Grenada operates on what we cruisers refer to as GMT (Grenada Maybe Time). We arrived at 7:00 and the first band didn't come through until 10:30. The Mas is a big party where people sign up to participate in a parade where they follow a truck blaring music. They dance along wearing their sponsors' t-shirt, carrying glow-sticks and blowing whistles. This too is a judged event although I'm not sure what they're judged on. We watched the first couple of groups and then headed home. I think it's more fun to be in the parade/party then to watch it.

Tuesday, the day of the big Carnival parade. It was scheduled for noon but according to one of the participants it probably wouldn't start until about 2:00. We went to St. Georges with Mike and Renee and a van full of other cruisers. GMT was in play again...

Here's the parade route at 12:00. That's OK, we're going to lunch.

Here's the route at 1:00, no one even lining up.

2:00 and still empty.

3:00 Where's the damn parade!!!
These participants are just making their way to the start!

Things finally got going around 3:30.

This parade had a group of children and as is usually the case, the kids were quicker to smile and pose for the camera.

Here's a video with some of the sights and sounds of Carnival....

Trip to St. Georges

On Wednesday, Renee, Jim and I took the bus into St. Georges. The bus system in Grenada is great and an easy way to get around the island. There are bus stops but in reality the bus will stop anywhere you want. You can't walk anywhere without having them beep at you as they approach. The buses are large vans that can seat 18 but yesterday we managed to squeeze 21 in, although several were little kids. The trip costs less than $1 each way, far less than a taxi and gives you an opportunity to see a little local color.

Our first stop was Island Water World, a marine store that hosts a book/video/DVD swap each month. It's a great way to get rid of the books you've read and pick-up new ones all at no charge. I read several a week so I love the swaps.

Then it was on to the vegetable and spice market. Grenada is known as "The Spice Island" and the market is full of fresh spices such as nutmeg, curry, tumeric, pepper, etc. Here's just a few of the good things we bought. The large, round fruit at the top of the picture is a breadfruit. You "Mutiny on the Bounty" fans have heard about breadfruit as it was what Captain Bligh was transporting from Tahiti to the West Indies when the mutiny took place and Spencer Christain took over the ship. Captain Bligh later returned to Tahiti and was successful in bringing breadfruit to this part of the world.

Notice the yellow mustache? Jim was inhaling the aroma of the fresh spices.

I think we found our favorite spice lady. This is Theresa and she was great. Although, she was on to me pretty quickly. When I told her that I wasn't a very good cook and that Jim was she seemed mystified. Grenadian women are all good cooks. She just looked at me and said," I don't think you're a bad cook. I just think maybe you're a little bit lazy." Rats! My cover is blown! And she said this in front of Jim!

By the time we were finished shopping we had made a new friend. Theresa had hugs for all of us and made us promise that we would look for her at carnival.

Carnival has started with the main events this weekend through Tuesday. We're trying to get tickets to the Pan (steel drum) competition and we plan on going to the parade. Can't wait!

Another Hash - this one without the blood!

As if you didn't see enough last week, we bring you more hash pictures. Jim, Renee and two of her friends did this one. I was still healing from the previous weeks' wounds so I just went along for the scenic ride, to lend support and of course to have a beer at the finish line.

Houses along the roadside near the finish of the hash. I love the beautiful colors they are painted. Why are all the houses in the states white, beige, tan and gray?

Jim, Renee, Jennifer and Chuck looking clean before the start.

It rained hard before the start so the hashers had some mud to look forward to.

Hashers heading out along a riverbed.....

....along the trail........

...... and up the steep hillside. Those small dots are people climbing the hill, using their hands to help pull themselves up. The course was shorter than the previous week but this hill was a big one!

These kids were having a great time playing in the mud while mom was out hashing.

I'm happy to report that everyone stayed on their feet this time. Only muddy hands and feet! This location had a river for everyone to wash off in afterward which was a bonus.

The rest of the time we've been taking it kind of easy and just hanging out. I think that's because we know we don't have to move the boat and we can just sit for awhile. We played dominoes on Jacumba one afternoon accompanied by a jug of Jim's rum punches. We need to do that more often! We went to see the movie "Iron Man". It's the first time we've been to a theatre in 2 years. And Jim and I have been playing Scrabble all the time! We got on this kick about a month or so ago and we haven't stopped. We play almost everyday! We're trying to exercise our brains a little bit more!

We'll try to come up with something more exciting next week!

A Short Sailing Video

a Hashing we will go!

On Saturday July 19th Jim and Wendy went hashing!

Grenada's Hash House Harrier's are a local group of runners and walkers who meet bi-weekly to trek through the countryside. Our friend Renee has been hashing for the past 2 months and we had been following the events on her blog. So the 3 of us headed out Saturday afternoon taking a busride to St. George's where we were picked up for the hour ride across the island to this weeks' hash.

There are 2 hashes, one for runners and one for walkers. To make it more interesting, there are a number of false trails. If you head the wrong way you'll eventually come to an X which tells you you're on a false trail and you have to double back and find the right trail. These are not, let me repeat NOT groomed trails. They are treks through the woods that have been marked by the person laying out the course. Because we have had so much rain they were muddy, slippery and treacherous!

Here's the Hash Master giving us instructions at the beginning.

Jim headed off with the front group who were running and walking. Renee was toward the middle and I was with the back group. I didn't take any pictures during the walk. There is no way I could hold on to a camera. I needed both hands to claw my way up the steap hills, slipping and sliding the whole way. It was the most difficult hike I have ever done. I've hiked for 5 hours at a time, climbed up the island of Saba into the rainforest and many more. It can't compare with how difficult I found this. At one point I slipped and fell off the edge of the trail ( I use the term trail loosely!) and slid 10-12 ft. down the hill before I managed to grab some vines to stop myself. Luckily the guys behind me saw me slip. They handed a long branch down to me, I grabbed on and they pulled as I struggled up the slope. I don't think I could have made it up alone. The terrain was too muddy and covered in slippery, wet leaves. There was a point about 90 minutes into this that I thought I couldn't go on! I was so tired! But the people with me were so great and encouraging.

This is the road we came out on at the end. Jim had walked back to find me. Did you notice he's getting re-hydrated with a beer! The man to my right is Che, who walked with me towards the end. He was great! Check out the young med students on the left. They look pretty tired too.

Here's Che showing everyone how muddy I am.

Another guardian angel. She was hiking with family and friends and helping all of us up the steep parts.

Look closely. I'm not the only one with mud on my butt!

At the end of the hash all of us Virgins (1st time hashers) lined up to run past the old-timers while they sprayed us with beer. Then we were presented with our certificates that proudly state that we are no longer hashing virgins.

Jim getting a beer shower.


Proudly displaying our certificates.

When I took off my sweats, I found the first injury, a baseball-size lump with scrapes and cuts. I didn't even know I'd done this. Later I found a few more bruises in places I can't show you!

The bitter end. Renee looks as fresh and beautiful as she did at the start. Jim is so happy to be trail running again. Wendy is red-faced, sweaty but managed to smile!

Will I do it again? Probably.