BARBADOS - OUR FINAL CARIBBEAN DESTINATION

 Once again this Monday morning June 18th we find ourselves getting up and heading to the airport before the sun comes up as we make the island hop to Barbados. As we approach this new island nation from the air we can already tell that it is going to be worlds apart both geographically and economically from where we have been before.

 Situated more then 100 miles to the East of St Vincent and the Grenadines it sits alone into the Atlantic Ocean. Seldom traveled to by Cruising Yachtsman but with vibrant tourism and a good economy. We felt like we should see this island nation since we probably wouldn't get a chance to next time around on our own boat.

  We took what seamed like a long taxi ride towards Bridgetown from the airport past large homes and acres of rich farmland. We arrived before 7:30 A.M. and were told we were to early for check in at the Hilton-Barbados (http://hiltonbarbadoshotel.com/)  which is nestled in the lush tropical peninsula of Needhams Point near historic Bridgetown. We took this time to have breakfast and see the tour desk to make arrangements for the days activities. We decided that once again is would be best to hire a private tour guide to drive us around the island and lucked out that a local restaurant/bar was having a dinner show tonight showcasing local entertainment and food.

After getting settled into our room, which had an amazing view balcony of the Caribbean sea port we got ready for our island tour which would begin in less then an hour.We were pleasantly surprised to look out and see a good anchorage lined with mooring balls and more cruising yachts then we would have expected. We met our guide in the lobby and began our tour of the island.

During our tour we were taken on a clockwise tour of the Island up the Caribbean coast first then across the top of the Island and down the Atlantic coast then around back to the city.

After our Island tour we were dropped off in Bridgetown to get some lunch and do some last minute shopping. There was a cool inlet into the city center where there were fishing boats available for immediate charter for some private fishing, very cool.

After finding a great local place for lunch in what could be described as a 3 story department store. We bought some souvenirs and returned to the hotel to relax before going for the dinner show. Watching the sundown over the Caribbean sea for the last time from our Balcony.

We met several other Americans staying at the resort on the short shared taxi ride to the event. We were looking forward to the dinner show as we were concluding this amazing Caribbean Trip. We couldn't recommend more the fun of the Harbor Lights show filled with activity and great food.

 Check out the following video's of the experience.

Well just when we thought the adventure was over, upon waking up in the morning for our early departure flight back to the states, there was a blackout and we had no electricity to our room getting ready. Thankfully we were prepared with our sailing gear including several flashlights from which we lit our final hour in Barbados. Our last taxi ride to the airport and this adventure would be over.

Flying back to the U.S to go back to our daily lives we were overwhelmed with emotion as we came away from this trip more convinced then ever we were directing our lives towards the right lifestyle for us and cannot wait to continue the journey. See you all "Out There" again soon.

LIMIN TIME IN GRENADA - WEST INDIES Part 4 of 5

After a week sailing we really wanted a change of pace and decided to move across the island to Grand Anse Beach and checked into the Grenada Grand Beach Resort (grenadagrand.com) for a couple days. As this was Saturday and we were warned that the islanders all take the day off on Sunday we decided an island tour was in order, so we hired our Taxi driver/ Tour guide to show us around his island. 



We decided to tour the St David and St andrew areas in the southeast part of the island stopping at Fort Matthew and Fort Frederick on the way up and over the hill through the city of St Pauls. These were high on the hill overlooking the capitol of St Georges with amazing views.

 We continued traveling south passing an overlook to Hog Island near which many full time cruisers anchor there boats for the season. This is where another cruising couple Mike and Rebecca Sweeney whose blog (http://www.zerotocruising.com/) I have been reading are currently moored. Mike had came across our blog recently seeing that we were headed to Grenada and invited Amanda and I to find time to visit with them, but we didn't get the message until we were already back home as we didn't bring our laptop with us.

We stopped briefly at the De La Grenade Industries where the wonderful Nutmeg and Guava jam we have enjoyed was bottled, and went thru Laura Herb and Spice Garden although it was closed. He continued our driving tour with a brief photo stop at La Sagesse Bay (http://lasagesse.com/) where there is a remote 12 room hotel with cafe on an unbelievable palm fringed sandy beach.

We continued up the coast through Bacolet and St Andrews Bay to the big east coast city of Grenville. The larger city and fishing village was packed with people shopping and enjoying there Saturday in the city. 

Our final part of the tour took us up and over thru the rain forest of the Grand Etang forest Reserve and Grand Etang Lake where we made a photo stop and saw some native monkeys.

Then we re-turned to St George continuing our drive through the rainforest viewing many rivers and beautiful homes which gave us a good overview of this part of the island.

We had lunch back at the hotel then walked down the 2 mile beach for a sun downer at Umbrellas Beach Bar (facebook.com/umbrellasbeachbar.grenada) trying once again to see the green flash at sunset over Grand Anse Beach as we looked West but missed out from low clouds on the horizon. Completely exhausted we retired for the evening early opting to skip dinner and dancing this evening to get a good nights rest.

 Sunday, our final day in Grenada we took the bus into St Georges looking to buy some souvenirs and stuff to take back home having completely forgot no one works on Sunday here. It's really not a joke.... it was a ghost town, no one anywhere. We figured we could use some exercise and walked through the Sendall tunnel once more ( not as scary without cars sharing the tunnel) and walked around the Carenage finally finding a grocery store that was open. Here we were able to get a few of the things we were looking for.

 We then walked across the street and into the Port Louis Marina for a quick visit with our friend Marco (http://habibisails.blogspot.com/)  and to see his Island Packet 380. We then decided to have some lunch while we were there in the marina and dined at the Victory Bar and Restaurant (http://www.cnmarinas.com/en/marinas/port-louis-marina) which served an excellent lunch as we watched a huge super yacht pull into it's berth.

  On our final evening we decided that some local flavor was in order and on the hotel bell mans recommendation we went out to a local Restaurant not to far from our hotel called La Chateau Restaurant (http://www.grenada-beaches.com/restaurants/le-chateau-restaurant/) and enjoyed there buffet dinner including the breadfruit pie, plantains, more fresh Mahi and some good french wine. What a way to savor in the richness of the spice island of Grenada.

 We hated to leave, we found the people of Grenada to be genuinely happy, friendly and trustworthy. They broke down any pre conceptions we may have had and won us over. We cannot wait to make time to visit Grenada again and recommend a visit to anyone who hasn't been there before.

Stay tuned for the last installment of this trip as we check out The furthest East Island in the Caribbean known as Barbados coming soon.