World ARC participants set off to discover the wonders of Grenada on an island tour today, organised by Grenada Tourism Authority (GTA). A 0900 departure took the tourists first through the City of St. George’s then up along the west coast to the Concord Waterfall. Some enjoyed a refreshing dip and others savoured the natural lush beauty.
The next stop of the Douglaston Spice Boucan enlightened participants on the various spices in Grenada, like their signature nutmeg as well as cinnamon and bay leaf. They also learnt how cocoa is processed from the pod and received a demonstration on extracting the seeds to be dried and eventually manufactured into a favourite of many, chocolate! Grenada makes some wonderful organic chocolate with the two local producers being the Grenada Chocolate Factory and Jouvay Chocolate Factory.
River Antoine Rum Distillery was the stop for lunch, followed by a rum tour. There was an early surprise birthday celebration for Brian from Folie a Deux when he was presented with a cake, candles and everyone singing happy birthday. His actual birthday is on Monday where he turns 17 but any excuse for a celebration. The rum tour took us through the process of making rum and it was amazing to see the water wheel in operation. Tasting samples were given at the end of the tour with some walking away with their favourites.
Grand Etang National Park was next on the agenda where a view of Grand Etang lake could be viewed and the lush foliage around it. Unfortunately, we missed the Mona Monkey who usually come out for a visit but they had already retreated back into the forest to settle down for the night.
After a full day, the tour returned back to the marina just before sunset. It was a great tour and provided a good insight to what a wonderful island Grenada is.