Grenada I'm falling under your spell and if you could speak, what a fascinating tale you would tell....

A fascinating tale indeed....this is the view from the ship as we approached the island of Grenada aka/Spice Island. It looks beautiful from this view...but this is the wealthy section where most of the homes are owned by non islanders (many Europeans).

And of course the greeting band....

Welcome station....

We hired a private guide, as we really prefer to be able to go where we want and ask questions. This is much more difficult on a bus with many people. This guy's name was "Lollipop"....something the kids started calling him when he passed candy out to them.

You saw how beautiful the hillside homes were but this is the reality of what the native homes are like.

This is the small town where we visited the "nutmeg factory".

The nutmeg bean....

Nothing is automated, everything is done by hand. This is one of the drying racks. Grenada has an average temperature of 95 degrees year round. Can you guess how hot it is in this building???

This is how the workers (who make approximately $6.00/day) sort the nutmeg. Those that don't float are used for spice. The ones that float are used for medicine and fertilizers.

More homes......

Leapers Hill.....

Breadfruit....used in one of the famous native dishes.

We visited the Rivers Rum Distillery, the only one on the island and over 300 years old.

I asked Lollipop if they had much crime on the island. He said not much crime but a lot of "domestic disputes" due to the fact that 175% proof rum is very cheap.

This is one of the many piles of husks from the sugar cane used to make the rum.
These husks will be used for fertilizer.

The still working water wheel which was installed in 1785.

This is the rum boiling down....it was certainly not a very clean place but I guess alcohol kills everything?????

The distillery....They process approximately 80,000 bottles a year.

This was the band on the dock when we returned to the ship.