Grenada (part deux)
We walked all over St. George, the main town) last night. At all hours of the day and night, people are out and about. Lots of kids all dressed in their uniforms carrying musical instruments or art supplies. Grenadians take the education of the youth very seriously.
Hired a taxi and driver, John, to take us all around the island. This big rock is very mountainous and the roads are narrow and curvy. You would think that would slow the drivers down but not hardly. The locals use a special safety feature: loud and often use of the horns. They all seem to be blasting their horns at once. Some are for warning and others are for greetings. I cannot tell the difference.
The effects of Hurricane Ivan in 2004 are still very prominent. An amazing number of buildings are still abandoned or under repair. The rain forest is a beautiful green but the trees all seem to have suffered. On the taxi tour, John showed us the early stages of things we take for granted. For example: nutmeg trees and their fruit, cinnamon trees, cocoa trees, vanilla vines and allspice. He demonstrated many plants that are used locally for medicine and ailments. Very interesting. We have been eating a variety of local dishes. Last night I had sweet and sour conch (here it is called Lambi) and Oliver had curry conch. Today Oliver had stewed oxtail and I had swordfish pie. It’s all good! Steve