The magic of waterfalls
Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th May, 2024
On Saturday, our plan was to drive to Budget Marine in Prickly Bay, followed by a visit to the Grenada Dove sanctuary and finally a Palm Gardens. We selected a bottom paint requiring little surface work and compatible with what is on the boat. However, we didn’t purchase the paint because we needed to register the boat to avoid a 40% surcharge and we didn’t have all our boat documents with us. The extra cost seemed totally unthinkable.
We arrived at the Dove Sanctuary and were surprised to find the sign fallen over, no attendant, no map, etc. Let me first tell you that the Grenada Dove is the national bird, think Bald Eagle. Somehow I was expected a more serious attempt at preserving this species. According to some accounts on the web, there may only be 100 birds left. We followed a trail wandering through some very dry forest. No doves were spotted or heard. We did see many mockingbirds and one mangrove cuckoo up close.
As the dove reserve was near Clarkes Court, where we will haul out shortly, we drove over there. It’s a large boat yard and marina, but the office was closed until Monday. We walked around, checked out the laundry and the chandlery, and went in search of“hurricane crates”. We have signed up to have one installed around Cotinga and believe that they are a metal frame designed to stop the boat being blown over in storm force winds. However, “hurricane crates” seemed be as elusive as the Grenada doves. We didn’t see a single one and got completely overheated in the process. We resorted to cool drinks at the restaurant.
Sadly, we never got to the Palm Gardens. To our amazement, these botanical gardens closed at noon on Saturdays. Instead, we set off in search of the Mount Carmel waterfall. Upon asking for the location of the falls, we were “adopted” by a guy who insisted on “guiding” us to the falls. Sometimes there is no graceful away to get out of these situations! There were a series of pools and several families with young children, enjoying the water. Strangely enough, we had no trouble finding our way back, even though our guide had taken off once we paid him.
We did get fairly overheated climbing back to the car. Rather than carry on north, we traveled along the south coast visiting a few peninsulas with fancy “gated communities”. We were very hot and tired by the time we got back to Cotinga. A cold shower in the cockpit helped a lot.
On Sundays most things are closed in Grenada. So our plan was to visit more waterfalls. Not only are they scenic, but you get to cool off as well. First up was Annandale Falls. This site was a lot more commercialized than many. A concrete walkway led to the falls area. Some steps took you to a rocky area where you could enjoy the “waterfall massage” standing right under the downpour. It was like the ultimate power shower, minus the soap.
Many groups of people were here. The fearless children were diving and jumping from all sorts of platforms. We had fun watching the show!
Our second stop was at Concord Falls. The drive to the falls followed the Concord River and revealed lush vegetation. It was really beautiful. A short staircase led to the pool at the base of the falls. Once again there were many families with youngsters. Most kids seemed to be intent on out-doing the next guy. It was fun to watch and the water refreshed us adequately. The drive back was enlivened by a pair of hitchhikers. They were standing by the road and waved to stop us. They were an eleven year old called Peter and a twenty-five year old named (??). we had seen them at the waterfall and they needed a lift back to St George’s, so we took them south along the coast road and dropped them on a steep road near the sports stadium. The adult admitted to not liking to watch cricket. That seemed like a confession that could be a bit controversial here in the West Indies!
Gloria
The waterfalls were lovely, but what made them particularly special was seeing all the kids and families having such a great time. So rather than show pictures of the waterfalls themselves, these photos have been selected primarily to highlight the people. Sorry there are so many ... I took a lot of photos today and am struggling to decide which to include / exclude.
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