Blogs from Grenada, Central America Caribbean - page 2

The Carriacou Carnival is currently taking place. Carriacou is one of the Grenadian Islands, and strangely a bastion of Shakespearean theatre... of sorts. Pierrot, or Shakespearean Mas, is a tradition celebrated on Shrove Tuesday (I know I'm a day early, but I've got pancakes to make tomorrow), as part of the carnival that stretches over a long weekend. The Mas is performed by wandering actors who walk around the island performing Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar and beating each other with sticks when they make a mistake It is a carryover from the plantation era, when slaves were forced to perform for their owners and were hit when they made any errors. One site descibes it as 'an annual opportunity to mock the mannerisms and cruelties of the past. To celebrate this strange carnival, I challenged my friends ... read more

Geo: 12.008, -61.7257... read more

Geo: 12.1279, -61.68We made it! Made it to Grenada. This was one of our cruising goals accomplished. We had made our haul out reservation back in Dominica, and had to rush a whole lot more than we prefer, but we arrived in Grenada six days before our Haul Out date. Back when we first set out on this adventure, we had to chose a route to take. Option #1 was Bahamas, TCI, Cuba, Mexico, Belize, with a final goal of Guatemala. Option #2 was the route we chose, taking us to Grenada. It took us three years to make it, but we did. Will we continue cruising? Yes. Absolutely. Will we try to do the route we didn't take? Maybe someday. But not this year. The trip from Carriacou to Grenada was another rough one. We ... read more

Geo: 12.0648, -61.7445After a comfortable nights sailing we arise with Serenade still some distance from Grenada. Peter fetches coffees which we enjoy on the balcony in the early morning warmth. As we have an aft balcony cabin we are shielded somewhat from the easterly winds that the ship has experienced ever since we arrived in Aruba a few days ago. Breakfast is a leisurely affair in the main dining room. We dock at around 1pm today and our tour is scheduled for 1.45pm. We head back to the cabin to change and apply the all important sun screen. We pose for the obligatory photos as we leave the ship and we head to the rendezvous point for the tour. Our tour is called Sunshine and Spices. We are met by our guide called Terry and board ... read more

Geo: 12.4768, -61.4534 "Who has seen the wind? Neither you nor I." This is a stanza from one of Christina Rossetti's famous poems, but given these weeks living on a boat, I would add two lines to it: But when the waters ripple through, The wind is passing by. Apologies to Ms. Rossetti. Has anyone ever seen the wind? It is impossible, of course, but then how is it that sailors are able to see wind shadows? Since I was taught what to look for, I have also seen these, what are called wind shadows. When you are looking out at the ocean, either sailing or already anchored, if you watch carefully you can sometimes see a rippling across the water that is not a wave; it is heading for your boat. When it finally gets ... read more