The Grenadines and Grenada

Hi Everyone!

I am sorry its been so long since the last update! I am in Saba right now. I got here last Thursday. I managed to squeak into the island before they shut down all the flights and ferries due to the tail end of the hurricane! I am pretty lucky! Once I got here I climbed Mount Scenery and then the next day I woke up totally sick! I was laid up the last 5 days! I am treating my self to this absolutely awesome place called El Momo. I took the room called "In the Sky". Its just a one bedroom place with an outside kitchen and bathroom with an epic view! Check out the pictures! It was one of the best places I have ever been sick. I just spent my days watching the ocean, the birds, and the clouds move. I was a little worried I got Malaria since I was so sick but fortunately for me there was a doctor staying the guest houses and he came to check on me a couple times a day and confirmed it was just the flu. But now I am doing a lot better! Ready to hit the hiking trails and start diving again. I looked into the Dive Master Internship and it looks like I am going to have to do it somewhere else. I think I will at least get the Rescue Diver course done here. I also trying to volunteer with a couple of Marine groups so I will let you all know what pans out. I really like it here. Its just a mountain and the town it just tucked in. It is very scenic and idyllic here.

So before I get to ahead of myself I need to tell you all about my adventures down the Grenadines and into Grenada! I think the last time I wrote it was went I was getting on to the ferry in St Vincent. Once on the ferry I hit it off with a Austrian family that was headed to Union Island same as me! I was stoked to find travel buddies so quickly! It was a long ferry ride and it lasted 6 hours! The weather was really horrible too. We got to Union Island really late and just took the cheapest place they could offer. I stay in the same place at the Austrian family. The place was really dodgy but super cheap. The next morning I signed up for Captain Yannis's catamaran ride to the Tobago Cays and then Mayreu and Palm Island. It was so much fun. The family didn't come with me but I quickly made friends with two women from Brooklyn, there names were Roxanne and Glenda. They were hilarious and a lot of fun! I tried to teach Glenda how to snorkel and she tried but didn't like the water in her ears! The islands were incredible. The Tobago Cays make up a Marine Park and they are uninhabitant. They are just the most beautiful places in the world. I part of the tour was a snorkeling so I got my fill swimming around with lots of turtles and amazing fish. I just wanted them to leave me there forever! Palm Island is a private island that only the rich can live, it was beautiful but was really snotty atmosphere. They would only let visitors go to the bar and by no means sit on the lounge chairs and hammocks! The tour lasted all day and it was sad to say good bye to Roxanne and Glenda. Once back at the harbor I spotted my Austrian family on Happy Island, which is this little island in the harbor that is probably only 30 feet across and is a rum bar! So I got a water taxi out there and let the fun begin! The rum punches are the best I have ever had and probably will be the best in history. They shaved nutmeg on the top. Yum. We hung out there all night and watched the sunset. Lets just say we were very happy at the end, the island lives up to its name. The next day we took a water taxi over to the next island down the chain called Petite Marquinite. Its this small fishing island with about 500 people. Its the really old school mellow Caribbean Island. We stayed in this cool guest house pretty much all to ourselves! So let me tell you about the family that adopted me. Carol is the mother of Anook, who is the best kid ever! She is 7 years old and is almost a better traveler than me! Then there is Angus who is the boyfriend, he is from Texas but moved to Austria as a artitect. Then there was Clude who has been traveling in Central America and met them over in the Caribbean for their vacation. I am so happy they let me travel with them! They were so much fun and made island hoping a blast! I miss them so much. They made me feel like one of the family.

So the next day was the best I have had in the Caribbean. We got a water taxi to heaven. Heaven has another name its Morpion Island. Its like stepping into a postcard. I sat down on the 100 foot wide island of perfect white sand and a tiki hut and just had to shed some tears for the shear beauty and perfection of the place. We hung out on the island for couple of hours and had a beer (which we opened with the beer opener on the tiki hut!) That was the second place they could have dropped me forever and I would have been happy as a clam. But once all the yachts showed up we got out. The water taxi then took us over to the next island called Petite St. Vincent, which had little grass huts with hammocks in them with lounge chairs and a table. The third found paradise. I don't think I stopped smiling and laughing the whole day. We found some coconuts and opened them then put some rum and lime into them. We sang the lime and coconut song and took some funny pictures! We had hibiscus in behind the ears and everything....I didn't want the day to end. Carol and I went on an adventure we went out for a snorkel and then ended up walking around the entire island in our swimsuits and tried not to get caught by the resort police. The whole island was a private resort and we were crashing one of the beach pavilions. Opps. But on the adventure we found a yoga platform with mats so we couldn't resist and did a sun salutation with flowers in our hair and sand on our feet. Blessed heaven. So it was a sad moment when the water taxi showed up to take us back to the main island. A perfect day in a perfect place.

The next day we had to get to Grenada which was another really rough ferry ride that got us soaked and showed up in the dark in Grenada. We had the taxi take us to an expensive hotel but it was on the beach. It was like a prison cell after the guesthouses we were hanging out in so the next morning we worked on getting a place that had a little more character and was cheaper. We decided to rent a car, and then I elected to do the driving since I drove in Barbados without any harm and could manage driving on the left. We hung out on the beach all day then headed north. Lets just say that my Albany Oregon rally racing driving skills were put to use to not get us killed. It was like I was in a driving game. Words can not describe the insanity of driving in Grenada. First of all there is no middle line. Car and bus actually swerve towards you in a game of chicken. They must have known that I was a tourist. I had to careen off the road a multiple of times! Drivers in front of you would stop with out notice, cars just fly around them, dogs in the road, children walking in the middle of the road, chickens, produce stands, people walking, sheer drop offs on one side and then drainage ditches on the other. It was a nightmare! I was white knuckling the whole time and didn't get us killed! Yippy! I think that if i can drive and survive in Grenada I should be able to drive anywhere in the world. Anyways so we made it to the north. The scenery was just epic! Huge peaks of green with amazing jungles clinging to the side. Wow! We stayed a this nondescript place that turned out to be a rip off for the next 3 days. It was called the Pavilions, Mister Best turned out to be not the best. But anyways we went to the Seven Sister falls the next day in the Grand Etang National Forest. It was a cool hike in to a double waterfall that you can swim in! Yah! We were hanging out and Clude found us a guide to take us to the other 5 falls. It turned out to be a scramble in knee deep mud up a cliff in our swim suits. I was concerned about how hard it was going to be get down! We were climbing up with vines and roots! Once a the top the guide smiles and said ready to jump down the falls?!? Oh my god. I am scared of heights. It was so dangerous, mom you would have been mad. Lots of the pools were only 6 feet deep and we were jumping from 10+ feet up! But I learned to back flop a lot of the pools then we had to "walk" down a chute where the whole river was rushing through. I had to crab walk down the sides of this tunnel! It was so sketchy! But I have to admit it was beautiful! The last jump was terrifying! It was at least 60 feet high! I looked over the edge and wanted to throw up. I made everyone get out of the way and jumped the first because I knew if I was the last I wouldn't have done it! I would have talked my self out of it. I didn't even scream but I wanted to! Thank god the pool was 40 feet deep because it took me a while to get to the surface! I was so shaky when I got out, my adrendline was pumping! Poor Clude was so scared it took her an hour to actually make the jump! We spent the rest of the afternoon recovering and lounging in the sun.

The next day was the last full day in Grenada so we went to Bathways beach and hung out all day. I really wanted to do a bit more exploring but the family wanted to relax. The next day we drove down the west coast of Grenada which was mind blowing! Wow. I really like Grenada a lot if you can get away from the touristy spots its just the coolest island. On the way down the west coast we checked out a couple of cool little fishing villages on the way back to St. Georges and the airport then went to the open air spice market in Grenada! The place smelled amazing. They had all the spices you could think of, all the bags were like $2 apiece. I was low on money so I only bought some of the musts like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, etc. It was awesome. We then headed to the airport to drop off the family and the car. It was so sad to say goodbye to them. I was super emotional, but hopefully I will see them in Europe. After they took off the guy that checked in my rental car came to me and asked if I needed any help to get anywhere. Then he helped me out by calling a couple of places to stay near the airport. Which turned out to be super expensive so nice old Kellon offered to drive me to one in town to a place called Lazy Lagoon which was quite a bit cheaper. He even offered to pick me up in the morning at 4:30am to get me to the airport! I go to check in and the woman behind the desk greeted me with a huge attitude and tells me she doesn't have a room for me! But she turned me away even after Kellon had called for a room from the airport. I asked if there was another place to stay close and she said "no". Then I asked if she would call me a cab and she said "go to the street you will be picked sooner or later". Pissed off I said something not very nice and walked off to the street. I stood there for awhile then went into the grocery store right next door to use their phone to call another hotel. The women there were even more rude and just said no when I asked to use the phone. Totally disheartened I went to stand outside trying to figure out what do next. I was staring at the ground when this really nice English man named Gary came up to me and asked if I need some help. I must have looked pretty miserable. I asked him where I the Blue Orchid hotel was so I could catch one of the buses. He offered to take me so I agreed. Yes I got into a car with a strange guy but I could tell he was really nice. Plus his dad and step mom were in the grocery store buying potatoes. Once they got to the car they were like "who is this strange woman?" Gary turned out to live on the island and coached soccer and was trying to set up a league and his parents were visiting. They invite me to a dinner party they were putting on for some local friends and I happily agreed! Gary ended up living in this absolutely gorgeous place with an epic view of ocean. He even offered for me to stay at his house instead of going to the hotel. I couldn't refuse. The dinner party was fun and was so delaious! I felt very spoiled and very fortunate that he picked up some strange woman in distress. The next morning I woke up the whole household at 4:30am when poor Kellon couldn't find the house! Opps!

So now I am in Saba. I am going to stay for the month if I can. I am keeping an eye on the hurricanes. I am hoping they are not going to run me off the islands early. If so I guess I will be spending a month or two at home in Oregon if that happens? I will keep you all updated!

Miss you all! Hope you are enjoying the last days of summer! Talk soon

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