Candi and Michael ~ On The Move

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Free at Last ~ Clearing our Container through Customs

December 26, 2015 by Candi Licence 6 Comments

Our container was supposed to arrive last Wednesday, but didn’t.  This is not unusual.  Freighters have a loose schedule.  Ports or times may change as freighters make their way through their planned itinerary and possibly pick up a new load or get a stop added.  We called around noon on Thursday and the ship still hadn’t docked.  Later, we found out it docked late in the afternoon but our Customs Agent hadn’t been able to make contact with the port. YEAH! Our stuff is in Grenada.

I think this is our freighter, being loaded to go back to Jacksonville

The port is a ‘sea’ of brown containers and I wonder how long it will take us to find ours.

We called our Customs Agent contact bright and early on Friday and they still hadn’t made contact.  This is a crazy time of year at the port.  Businesses are getting extra materials and ‘stuff’, lots of people are sending down barrels of food and presents for family and more food is coming in for the holiday buying spree.  We hung around on Friday, watched the rain, and wished for a phone call to tell us to come to the port to claim our goods, but it never came.

A portion of the line of people waiting to get into the port to retrieve barrels or containers.

A portion of the line of people waiting to get into the port to retrieve barrels or containers.

The port is closed on Saturdays and Sundays so our next possible date was Monday.  Now I’m getting anxious because Christmas is a BIG holiday in Grenada and many people take off at least the whole week before Christmas and often the week after as well.  Our construction crew left on Friday (Dec. 18th) and wished us both a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We won’t see them again until January 4th!

We got the call around 9:30 Monday morning to come to the port.  We are working with a Customs Agent whose job is to work with the port to get the container placed on the ground and in an area where it can be unpacked, provide a port contact to walk us through every part of the process, provide man power to unpack the container and load everything onto trucks, then deliver everything to our house and unload it a second time, into our house.  We met the owner and he reviewed all our paperwork before we went into the port to be sure we had everything in order and told us we’d be working with his onsite contact, Kurt.

Standing in line ....

Standing in line while Kurt arranged for expedited access.

Kurt got us expedited access into the port which was great because there was a huge line waiting to get pedestrian access passes.  This is similar to paying airline porters to smooth the way through check in.  Once we got cleared, we met with the Customs Officer.  He reviewed our paperwork and assigned a Customs Inspector to supervise the opening and unloading of the container.  Meanwhile, Kurt has gone to find our container and he met us as we were coming out of the customs office.

The port is huge and BUSY. There are trucks coming into the port to drop off goods to be shipped, lots of trucks leaving the port with goods being delivered all over the island, there are huge cranes moving containers around and lots of people walking everywhere – Freight Handlers, Customs Agents, Inspectors, people receiving their goods, truckers, loaders, etc.  As an outsider, there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason but everything made perfect sense to Kurt who was able to locate our container quickly in a huge mass of containers that mostly looked exactly alike and confirmed that it was ‘on the ground’.  This means it was the bottom container and didn’t need to be moved before we could begin unloading.

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Kurt cutting the port lock. Even with the huge bolt cutters it took a few tries to cut through the lock.

The container was secured with our personal lock, a special numbered seal and a port lock which needed to be removed, in our presence.  Kurt came back with a huge pair of bolt cutters and after a few tries, got the port lock removed.  Michael cut the seal and opened our lock.  Michael and Kurt unlatched both doors and swung them open wide.  I was holding my breath, and yipped with joy as the interior of the container filled with light.

Michael cutting the seal and unlocking our personal lock.

Michael cutting the seal and unlocking our personal lock.

Everything was exactly as we had packed it.  This is amazing to me – the container had been craned onto a ship, traveled over a rolling sea for 8 days, then craned off and moved, probably multiple times, within the yard.  Michael’s braces held perfectly, it didn’t look like ANYTHING shifted and there was no visible damage to any of the boxes.  YAHOO!

Within 3 minutes, three trucks arrived with about 6 guys and they began unpacking the container and loading their trucks.  Michael guided them, pointing out things that were really heavy or fragile etc.

Checking off the inventory as it is being unloaded.

Checking off the inventory as it is being unloaded.

First truck loaded and ready to go!

First truck is loaded and ready to go! Tarps being pulled over the load to protect it from rain.

I worked with the Customs Inspector checking off each box against my master list.  It was invaluable having a really organized inventory – it made everyone think we knew what we were doing and added a lot of credibility.  I had everything organized in a formal notebook with tabs for the detailed inventory, the appraisal for our owned goods and Michael’s photography equipment, plus all the invoices for all the new goods.  These invoices and the appraisal were cross referenced to the master inventory.  In addition to numbering the boxes, I had written the main items in each box which, of course, matched the detailed inventory.  After really inspecting the first few boxes as they came off the container, reading the contents listed on the box and then marking the box on the master inventory, the Customs Inspector relaxed and actually let me do the checking off box by box and just helped by calling out numbers.  After a while, he even left to oversee the unpacking of another container that was nearby.

Rain break!

Rain break!

At one point, it began raining. Tarps were quickly produced and our belongings were covered while we all took a rain break in the container.  We are at the very end of the rainy season and it is still raining on and off every day.  Showers are fairly short 10-20 minutes but they are fierce.  This was our biggest concern – particularly for the art.  We had packed most of the art at the front of the container and planned to transfer it last so it would have the shortest amount of time to be exposed to the fickle weather.  By noon, all three trucks were loaded and Kurt escorted us back to the Customs Officer.

The Customs Officer relooked at all our paperwork, conferred with the Inspector who oversaw the unloading of our container, made some calculations and completed some official looking paperwork.  Duty is comprised of 4 parts, the duty assigned to each new item, the weight of the shipment, the amount of insurance paid and 15% VAT.  He said our detailed paperwork made his job easy and dismissed us.

Mr. George, patiently calculating all the duty, while helping other customers on the phone. He never slowed down and rarely looked at the customs book for prices. Amazing!

Mr. George, patiently calculating all the duty, while helping other customers on the phone. He never slowed down and rarely looked at the customs book for prices. Amazing!

Kurt now took us back to his office and his boss, Mr. George, grumbled that the Customs Officer hadn’t calced any of the duty on the individual items in our 106 boxes of new items.  It took him probably another hour to calc all the duty.  He has a book 3 inches thick that details each item.  He rarely looked at it but when he did, he opened the book to within 2-3 pages of what he needed and quickly found the information he was looking for.  It was very impressive watching him work, but it was tedious.  After he was done, he had 45 categories of items that are all taxed differently.  IE – candlesticks that are metal are taxed differently than if they were glass.  Black tea is taxed differently than green tea.  The amount of detail was dizzying.  Finally, all the calculations were done and we knew our number and could head back to the port to pay the duty and get our trucks released.

It’s now 2:30 and we get a look at the line to pay duty.  It’s really long so Kurt tries to see if he can work some back room magic but there are no duty cashiers on break that could help us.  Kurt then takes me to another office about a block away and there is only one person at the window.  Success !?! Or not ….   I get to the window and this agent doesn’t have a credit card machine.  We really want to pay via credit card because we get 2% cash back and this is a large charge (although much less than we feared).  Since we never carry a balance, this is a no brainer discount each time we use our card.   We now go to another office around the corner and get on the line there – only 5 people in front of me.  The sky is darkening and I’m hoping the tarps will keep things dry if it starts raining again.  Once again, Kurt is sweet talking the agents, trying to get us through, but every system is in use and the network speed is really slow with the heavy load.

Michael had called our credit card company to let them know the charge was coming through so they wouldn’t decline it because it was a large, overseas charge.  (They know we are in Grenada but the system has arbitrary blocks that trigger from time to time).  So when I finally get to the window at about 3:15, I confidently hand over my card.  Declined.  UGH!  Try again, please?  Declined.  I ask if I can just step aside while this gets straightened out so I don’t have to go the end of the line (about 12 people deep).  They agree.  I call Michael who is still inside the port and ask him to call Capital One again.  He does and finds out they approved his card, but mine has a different number and that is why it was declined.  They do some magic and say try again.  This time everything goes as planned and I get a magic piece of paper that will allow is to release the trucks ….  after one more hurdle.

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The trucks, all lined up to pass through the final check point before we can leave the port, FINALLY!

We go back to the main port just as it starts to pour rain and head to the Yard Office.  This is where they match the duty paperwork up with the trucks and provide THE piece of paper that will allow the trucks to pass through the gate.  It is 4:30.  We headed out before we ate breakfast and haven’t had time for lunch.  I’m starving and worried about our belongings getting drenched.  Fortunately, the truck workers have placed two more layers of tarps over our goods.

The Blue Monster truck I rode in to get to our house. Check out the door!

The Blue Monster truck I rode in to get to our house. Check out the door!

I get into one of the trucks to guide them to our house.  Michael heads out in advance to open the gates, unlock the house and secure Mick.  I’m in a large workingman’s flatbed truck – nothing pretty about it – it’s huge, no upholstery, hole in the floor, dented up, shifts horribly, rumbles down the road and I realize I’m on the “other side” of traffic. What I mean by this is – I’m the big, rumbling truck that is hogging more than half the road, with a blaring horn, running yellow lights and making everyone else scatter. Amazing. Between honking for friends, pretty women and other cars, plus grinding gears every several hundred feet we make quite the racket as we lumber down the road.

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All three trucks, in the driveway, getting ready to unload. Not much clearance for the red truck and it is the smallest of the three.

I’m trying to figure out how we are going to get these big trucks up our skinny, winding driveway that I cautiously navigate each day and the driver just tears up the driveway – no problem.  He knows the dimensions of the truck, exactly, and the only potential casualty is a branch of Frangipani that is hanging too far into the driveway and gets brushed aside by the huge mirrors.  Now the unloading can begin.

This is the garage when it was abut half full, more unloading to follow.

This is the garage when it was abut half full, more unloading to follow.

It’s getting really dark again and we know the rain will be coming, fast and furious, shortly.  We unload the Art and furniture truck first.  All this will be stored in the garage until the living room is complete and it’s unloaded fast.  The workers are efficient and moving quickly but are also really careful with anything that is remotely fragile.  I’m impressed and pleased.  They have been a complete joy to work with.

One view of our Office. The other view is piled just as high. Computers, electronics and photography equipment is being stored here.

One view of our Office. The other view is piled just as high. Photography equipment, computers and electronics are being stored here.

Our spacious kitchen, (thank goodness!)

Our spacious kitchen, (thank goodness!)

The second truck pulls into position and again unloading begins.  I’m at the truck directing where boxes are to go – garage, kitchen, bedroom or office and Michael is everywhere else making sure things are ending up in the right place and are stacked well.

As the third truck pulls into place and we begin to unload, the rain starts.  Serious rain is pouring down and the wind is howling.  Luckily for us, the wind is whipping from the water and the house is protecting the garage opening from getting wet and we’ve got the truck as close to the door as possible.  We are now moving everything into the garage as fast as we can and then organizing the boxes in groups to be moved to the right location.  Soon everything is sorted out, moved to the correct location and the workers leave with money in their hands and smiles on their faces.  A job very well done.

Michael and I collapse on the patio with sandwiches that Nadica has made for us and big glasses of water.  We relax, review the day and start thinking about the huge job of unboxing everything that lies ahead.  We are so thankful everything appears to have made the trip brilliantly and they are in our possession once again.  Next, unpacking, unpacking, unpacking.

 

Filed Under: Grenada, The Arches, Travel Tagged With: Container, Grenada, Moving

A Moving Adventure ~ “Bon Voyage”, Container

December 14, 2015 by Candi Licence 2 Comments

The arrival of the container. Michael is guiding the driver into the parking spot.

The arrival of the container. Michael is guiding the driver into the parking spot.

Michael secured the seal and the loading was done.  Now our container will wind its way through the streets of Jacksonville to the port, be loaded on a freighter and chug its way to Grenada.  Bon Voyage, safe travels.

It’s a strange feeling knowing every ‘thing’ I cherish is in one huge box and will be traveling eight days over the ocean, destined for our new home in Grenada.  The recent demise of the Jacksonville based cargo ship, El Faro, is on my mind.  Such a tragic loss of life and a grim reminder that weather can wreak havoc on the best laid plans.

This is the money shot. The container is fully loaded and we've recorded the container number.

This is the money shot. The container is fully loaded and we’ve recorded the container number.

We were supposed to get a call from the driver before he drove the loaded container away so we’d be there to get the final Bill of Lading paperwork signed but it didn’t happen and the container was gone when we checked the lot where it had been parked.  In one sense that may be a good thing.   I was wondering how I’d feel watching it pull away with all our family heirlooms tucked inside.

When we first talked about sending a container down to Grenada, I thought it would be a big and complicated deal.  We talked with our friends, Dan and Alison, who had shipped a container to Ireland and they were pretty nonchalant about the whole thing so I realized it would be much more doable than I had anticipated.

We started by meeting with a freight receiver when we were in Grenada in September and asked him how his operation worked – how to meet the container, work with customs and get our belongings to our house.  He was very matter of fact – no problem, they do this every day, etc. and gave us pointers on how to ensure the transfer was smooth – excellent records of what is in each box and accurate receipts for all purchases.  We also asked him which shipping companies he liked to work with best and chose one of those, Sea Freight, to handle our shipment.  Michael then worked with Sea Freight in Jacksonville and all conversations seemed easy and straightforward.

All the way through the process, I was keeping an extensive spreadsheet of what we were bringing.  I set aside 200 numbers for items we already owned.  For these items I listed the box number, what was in the box and cross referenced it to an appraisal list we had generated for insurance purposes.  Boxes 200 and up were reserved for new items we bought.  I recorded the price we paid plus had both the original receipts and copies that I placed in a binder so it would be easy to answer any questions the customs officer may have.  My understanding is the customs officer will arbitrarily pick a box, we will need to say what is in it (from my spreadsheet) and they may or may not open it to validate what we say.  We can bring anything that is over 1 year old into the country without paying duty.  Everything else will be charged duty.  It is important to keep clear records to pay the correct duty and to be able to distinguish new verses older items.   All in all, we have 306 boxes/items.

This is the first load from Middelburg with all our 'precious' items. This 10' by 10' load looks tiny in the big moving truck. The green bubble wrapped item is a gorgeous carved Buddha.

This is the first load from Middelburg with all our ‘precious’ items. This 10′ by 10′ load looks tiny in the big moving truck. The green bubble wrapped item is a gorgeous carved Buddha.

We started out reserving a 20 foot container but as the boxes built up, we changed to a 40 foot container.  Michael had rented storage space from a nearby location that could accommodate a 20 foot container on site which would have made it easy for us to fill the container where we were storing a lot of our purchases.  Unfortunately, they were unable to fit a 40 foot container on their property so Michael had to scramble for an alternative location.  This was harder than it may sound. You can’t just drop this huge box on a street and many commercial parking lots either aren’t big enough or don’t allow trailers to be dropped on their sites.  Michael tried working with the Atlantic Beach police department who were uncharacteristically unhelpful.  I’m not sure if the officer was just having a bad day but after Michael explained what we were trying to do, stating he wasn’t planning to park on the street and did they have suggestions for us, he got a lecture that we couldn’t park on the street.  DUH, that’s why he was there.  They offered no alternatives.  Oh, well.

The last load.

The last load.

Anyway, after a couple of frustrating, nerve wracking days and lots of conversations with lot owners, the local Kmart graciously agreed to let us drop the trailer at their location and leave it for a couple of days so we could load it.  Michael scheduled the main loading day for Monday, November 30th with Tuesday being the day to complete any final packing, building braces for the back of the load so it wouldn’t shift and scheduling the pickup of the container from the lot.  From there, it would be taken to the port and loaded on a cargo ship leaving for Grenada on December 8th.

Our plan is to leave Jacksonville on December 9th, rent a car and drive to Miami with Mick and then catch a direct flight to Grenada on December 10th.  The container is scheduled on arrive in Grenada on December 16th and we need to be there to meet it with the freight receiver and get it cleared through customs.  We are leaving our car in storage in Jacksonville.  It will be filled with a few totes of winter clothes, kitchen essentials and our To Go box (the first day and travel essentials like wine glasses, dog bowls, silverware, etc.).  This is the first time we won’t have a storage unit – almost everything will be in Grenada or in the car.  I wonder how we will do without our hammocks.  Right now that seems like the biggest thing I’ll miss traveling with while in the US – but with the stands, even broken down, they take up a lot of room.

Our extraordinary loading team. MaryBeth, Michael and Asher. I didn't get a photo of DWigth who helped with the first load from Middleburg.

Our extraordinary loading team. Marybeth, Michael and Asher. I didn’t get a photo of Dwight who helped with the first load from Middleburg.

Michael reengaged our crack loading team from when we left Jacksonville, Asher and Marybeth, to do the heavy lifting and one of his photography buddies, Dwight, also lent a hand for part of the day.  They started out by emptying our long term storage unit in Middleburg.  This is where we had all our art and keepsakes stored for the past year and a half.  It’s a bit of a haul from Atlantic Beach but it is above the flood plain which is hard to do in this part of Florida.  Usually, we rent U-Haul trucks because they have a low floor making it easier to load, but for this move we rented from Penske because their trucks have a lift gate and a high floor which would line up with the container floor.  This way we could back the Penske truck up to the container and essentially walk flat across from the truck to the container.  This worked beautifully.

Look at the height of the floor of the container. It's about 5 feet off the ground!

Look at the height of the floor of the container. It’s almost 5 feet off the ground!

The Penske truck with a lift was the same height as the container floor, allowing us to easily walk items from the truck to the container.

The Penske truck floor was the same height as the container floor, allowing us to easily walk items from the truck to the container.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After off-loading the Middleburg items and stopping for a quick lunch, we started loading items from one of our local 10 by 10 foot units.  We got most items packed and transferred in one load and then went back to finish that storage unit and emptied the second unit at the same time.  When we were done, the container was filled about ½ way to the roof and 95% to the back door.  All in all, it took 9 hours including driving between locations and lunch.  A good day’s work.

That evening, we went through our house and added any last minute items to our final boxes.  Our goal was to ship everything possible via the container so our suitcases would be able to accommodate any last minute items and Michael’s essential photography equipment.  On Tuesday, we loaded the last couple of boxes, Michael’s tool chest and Michael constructed a braced barrier so items wouldn’t shift during the voyage.  The container was locked and sealed with a special, numbered zip tie and off it went.

We have a few days to finalize everything in Jacksonville – final doctor’s appointments, a short meeting at the bank, the Beaches Photography club’s holiday party, one last shoot for Michael, one more haircut, facial and mani/pedi for me and then we are off to our new home and to collect our belongings.

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Filed Under: Grenada, The Arches, Travel Tagged With: Grenada, The Arches

Research, Procure, Pack, Repeat ~ Buying (everything) for our Grenada home

December 5, 2015 by Candi Licence 2 Comments

I am a researching, packing machine.  Every day, I spend several hours researching “the best” of something, then we go out and purchase it, come home, pack it well and drop it off at the storage unit – rinse, repeat.  Either that, or we buy items online making us either best friends (or worst enemies depending on the day) with our UPS and FedEx delivery men.

These are the packages that greeted us today

These are the packages that greeted us today

If it’s a nice day and nothing too heavy is delivered, I’m sure we’re friends.  If it is raining, the cartons are heavy or bulky (or both) OR we are receiving 5 or more boxes necessitating multiple trips from the van, I’m guessing we’re not their favorite customers.  Every day we come home from shopping to a new pile of boxes on our doorstep.  We often get two deliveries a day, mid day and then again in the evening.   Sometimes, we can see our front door – sometimes, not!  I’m pretty confident we are adding a significant uplift to their route.  We only have 4 weeks to get everything we need before we fill our container and send it off with a kiss and high hopes that it arrives safely, with everything intact.

We arrived in JAX on October 31st and moved into a new house the next day.  We were fortunate to be able to get a short-term house rental in Atlantic Beach, the town we formerly lived in for 6 years.  I had fantasies of seeing all our old friends, hanging out on the beach a bit and doing whatever we missed before we left on our grand adventure.   The reality has been a bit different. We’ve been very focused and very busy getting everything ready for shipment.

First, we concentrated on furniture. The former owners left a skeletal amount of furniture – couple of bedroom sets, a comfortable (but ugly) sea-foam green colored couch, plus a kitchen and patio table with chairs.  These were perfect for our 2 week stay at the house – just enough to get comfortably by  – I called it ‘upscale camping’.  These were all things the owner either didn’t take back to the UK with her or couldn’t sell locally.  We know this because as people asked us which house we bought, they’d say oh yes, I bought her __XXX__.  (Fill in the blank … table, couch, chair, lamp, car!, etc.)

Furniture stores in Grenada leave a lot to be desired. Furniture, although “new”, tends to be rejects from other parts of the world that never sold – meaning they are usually of inferior quality and generally scream the 80’s in both styling and colors.  Plus, furniture is really expensive due to the high duty placed on each piece as it is imported.  Because Grenada is a poor country, the primary way the government gets money to provide services is through VAT and customs duty – and some items have a 100% uplift.  (This means if you import a $40,000 dollar car and it costs $4,000 to ship into Grenada, it will cost an additional $44,000 in duty or $88,000 total)  OUCH!  We did try to buy the owner’s car, but it was already sold when we saw the house.  DARN!

This is the living room furniture we were able to buy in Grenada

This is the living room furniture we were able to buy in Grenada

Our good friend, Marion Pierre, hooked us up with the owners of a villa that had recently been purchased and who were planning to remodel and buy new furniture.  They were selling off the contents by room.  We wanted the living room couches so we also got some tables and lamps as part of the deal.  We bought a new kitchen set that was lovely, plus another patio table and chairs and some miscellaneous side tables.  Even if we don’t use everything, this was a deal for us because it took off some of the pressure to purchase and transport everything from the US and we didn’t need to pay duty on those items.

The first couple of days, we scoped out the used furniture stores in JAX for good deals.  There are some really great stores with lovely items, all at unbeatable prices.  My biggest issue is that we hadn’t really figured out how we were going to configure the huge living area (30 feet by 30 feet) so it was hard to visualize what to purchase.  We did buy a gorgeous Asian room divider screen, a recliner and a rug.  After procuring the couches and other miscellaneous furniture in Grenada, we knew we’d have enough to be comfortable enough for our first year.  I also think we will have some furniture locally built.  There are some great craftsmen in Grenada.  We’ll just need to be really clear about exactly what we want as they tend to build traditional, formal English furniture that is beautiful, but not our style.

Our Middleburg long term storage unit. We're hallway through repacking - the good news is Michael is still smiling!

Our Middleburg long-term storage unit. We’re hallway through repacking – the good news is Michael is still smiling!

Next, we started sorting through our storage unit in Middleburg.  This is where we kept all our precious things when we began traveling.  If you’ve read from the beginning of our adventure, you’ll know we sold most of our things, just keeping Art and family keepsakes like crystal and silver.  Everything I had read about traveling said “sell everything else”, otherwise you’ll open your unit sometime in the future and wonder, “Why did I keep THAT – And pay to have it insured – And pay storage fees?”

Mick, our 'attack' dog, guarding the storage unit while we packed.  Note the computer on the gas grill that holds our master inventory list by box number and describes what is inside each box.

Mick, our ‘attack’ dog, guarding the storage unit while we packed. Note the computer on the gas grill that holds our master inventory list by box number and describes what is inside each box.

Since we were planning on traveling exclusively for 10 years, we were pretty brutal in deciding what we stored.  The great news is almost everything in the unit will be going to Grenada with us.  The bad news is that if we had known how quickly we would succumb to Grenada’s allure (we thought we’d rent for the next few years until we s old our big property) we would have kept a lot of the practical things like blenders, pots and pans, etc. and wouldn’t have had to rebuy all those day-to-day items.  Everything was fairly well packed already so it only took us 2 days to go through everything and add additional cushioning in the boxes and super pack things like the crystal.  The contents are now ready and just waiting to be loaded into the container.

Our repacking table and command center.  The tall box in the middle is the packing table.

Our repacking table and command center. The tall box in the middle is the packing table.

Now we started focusing on “the list” – everything we thought we would need in our new home that we didn’t already own.  This was our one time opportunity to bulk ship everything into Grenada via container – keeping in mind this was probably the only time we might get a break on duty as first time home owners and knowing that whatever we didn’t buy we might need to do without – because it either isn’t available on island, would be ridiculously expensive and possibly of inferior quality or we’d have to ship the item individually with high shipping costs on top of any duty.

Michael, bless his heart, focused primarily on all the infrastructure items and I focused primarily on beauty and fun.  (The best part is that I think we each thought we got the good end of the deal).  Michael’s list had things like – fans, pressure washers, tools, wheel barrow, gas grill, stereo speakers, photography stuff, TV’s, ice maker, wine cooler, etc.  My list had thing like – dishes, glasses, bedding, towels, kitchen stuff, drawer handles, curtains, candles, pool floats, etc.  The weirdest thing I had to buy was plastic ware.  Plastic items are outrageously expensive in Grenada for some reason.  IE – a Brita pitcher is about $28 here and $100 there, regular plastic storage bowls are also 4 to 6 times as expensive.  It’s crazy, so I purchased every possible plastic thing we’d need from here.  Even with duty it will be much less expensive.

My mind just about blew up with all the decisions we had to make and the speed that money fled our bank account.   Twice I had to pay off our credit card early so we’d have enough head room to purchase more. With no additional career income coming in, this was pretty sobering.  It’s very much like thinking about everything you’ve bought over the past 30 years for your house and rebuying it in a month.

We had rented an additional 10’ by 10’ storage unit for all the new items we purchased and soon after, we rented another one (not that we had a lot of stuff or anything …..)  With everything having to be packed well enough for shipping, the space filled up quickly.  We also some purchased items for friends like a TV and a table saw so they could piggy back on our shipment.  This way, they will pay US prices and will not need to pay separate shipping, just duty.  I’m blaming the need for the third storage unit on them.

We also swapped out the 20 foot container we reserved for a 40 foot container – but that is another story. Stay tuned.

 

 

 

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Filed Under: Grenada, The Arches Tagged With: Grenada, The Arches

Coming Home ~ Our First Visit to Our New House

December 2, 2015 by Candi Licence 3 Comments

Michael and I had only seen our new house once, for about 45 minutes, before we made an offer and left the island in April ~ I now know why police are concerned about eye-witness statements.  We THOUGHT we remembered what the house looked like but our memories sometimes clashed, had major discrepancies and lots of blank spots.  We had a few pictures to rely upon, but they were few and not that great, so it was with wonder and trepidation that we entered the property for the second time as homeowners.

Eureka! Our instincts were right on, even if our memories were somewhat flawed.  The house is lovelier than we remembered.  That being said, some of the details were quite different from what we remembered.  The living room is square – not rectangular, the eating area of the kitchen is smaller (but still quite adequate), the bathrooms in better shape, etc.  What was (and is) wonderful is the feel of the place is right on.  The pool and patio area – while needing some upgrades to make it more attractive – are both wonderful and the view is even better than I remembered.  There are lots of mature plantings and tons of flowers, all in bloom when we arrived.  And those beautiful arched windows and doors (the house is called “The Arches”).  Yes, we made a good decision and we both felt right at home the first day.

Our beautiful arched windows, hence our house's name "The Arches"

Our beautiful arched windows, hence our houses’ name “The Arches”

Our beautiful pool, now saline - soft and wonderful (and warm)

Our beautiful pool, now saline – soft and wonderful (and warm)

When we arrived, the house was in great shape.  Lots of upgrade work had been completed, Nadica had spent a week cleaning everything and the house was shining.  Absolutely the best change was the pool.  We had the pool converted from a chlorine to a saline system.  This is heavenly.  Chlorine smells, makes your skin feels dry and a little itchy, but saline feels soft and luxurious both while you are in the pool and after you have gotten out.  We jumped in the first night, watched the night sky unfold and were completely charmed.  Another wonderful thing about the pool is that it has a solar heater.  This might sound crazy to our “northern” friends but it is delightful because the pool never feels cold so I know we will use the pool at least once every day.  It is always inviting.

The owner left a few key things in the house – a couch and a couple of chairs, 3 beds, a few lights, 2 dining tables with chairs – all which were greatly appreciated.  It was just enough to give us places to eat, sleep and relax.  We picked up our 5 boxes of “essentials” that we store in Grenada ~ things like sharp knives, a large fry pan, glasses, ice-cube trays, beach towels, and our hammocks, etc. ~ all the little things that make a rental house feel more like home.  We also brought some items from the US with us that we knew we would need right away – place settings for 4, silverware, sheets (!), towels, etc.  Between what the previous owners left, our stored items, and the extras we brought in our suitcases, we were fairly set for luxurious house camping.

We had 2 weeks to acclimate ourselves to the house, make plans for what we wanted to change and figure out what we would need to bring back with us on our December trip.  As you might guess, this involved a myriad of details as well as some strategic and tactical planning.  Michael started out by working through the original punch down list with the contractor and then started a new phase 2 list.  The house has mostly UK electricity and we knew we wanted both more outlets and US electric added.  My job was to identify where outlets should be added and which voltage each outlet should have.  Michael immediately started working on getting our internet up and functional and then worked with a network specialist to figure out how to make the whole property have wireless access.  Michael had researched and purchased all the necessary components and now we needed someone to get them all working properly.  In the meantime, we had working wireless in the kitchen which became our electronic headquarters for the 2 weeks.

This patio glass is all stationary which blocks the trade winds. We want to trade out for bigger windows that open to the luscious air but can be closed if there is a storm

This patio glass is all stationary which blocks the trade winds. We want to replace them with bigger windows that open to the luscious air but can be closed if there is a storm

I also hired COCOA (Caribbean Office of Co-Operative Architecture) to help us make some design changes.  COCOA had designed all the buildings for our resort project and I was pleased to work with them again.  Bryan Bullen, one of the firm’s principals, came over and we discussed ideas.  The key things we wanted to change included creating more airflow in the living room and kitchen, making the pool/patio area more inviting and changing the back wall to enhance the view.  I was also hoping for some ideas on how to stage furniture in the 30 by 30 foot living room and how to integrate the two courtyards leading to the house to make the front entrance more welcoming for guests.

Michael’s phase 2 punch down list for the contractor included changing the windows in the arched living room doors to increase air flow, opening up a door in the hallway, blasting a new entrance door near the garage, installing the new electrical system (cutting through concrete block walls), moving cistern tanks, changing the water feature in the living room so it could be viewed both in the house and from the patio, plus removing a lot of external, non-working wiring and pipes and others details to make the house look nicer.

Our new car. It's a monster but is in great shape and can go just abut anywhere in style.

Our new car. It’s a monster but is in great shape and can go just about anywhere in style.

We also bought a car, Nadica learned how to clean and maintain the pool, Michael did some photo shoots and met with the engineering company to discuss how to expand and transform the guest cottage into a photography studio.  All in all, it was a pretty jam-packed 2 weeks.  We generally ate out since we didn’t have much in terms of cooking supplies (one large fry pan and one medium saucepan).  This gave us the chance to see our restaurant friends as well as have some good meals.  We didn’t do any of our normal visiting with friends, there just wasn’t time, so we have a lot of catching up to do in December.

One thing that kept bugging us is the height of the living room ceiling.  It is 10 feet high slanting to about 9.5 feet, stained dark brown with large joists and makes the living room feel very low and claustrophobic.  The low ceiling also captures and retains a lot of heat.  We’ve discussed a number of ways to try and get more airflow into the room so it will be cooler, but nothing has felt like the right answer.  Michael recently decided that no matter what we did, we probably wouldn’t be really happy with the result so we are now exploring raising the walls a few feet and putting in a peaked roof.  The engineering firm is working out what would need to be done, creating the detailed drawings, and estimating costs.  Ultimately, we know this is the right answer and are waiting to see if it is feasible to tie these new higher walls into the other roofs and if the price will be somewhat reasonable.  Fingers crossed, stay tuned.

i'm not sure you can get a feel for the hight of the ceiling from this picture but it feels low and oppressive. Plus it captures and retains a lot of heat ~ there is a reason the Caribbean has high ceilings in most buildings!

I’m not sure you can get a feel for the height of the ceiling from this picture but it feels low and oppressive. Plus it captures and retains a lot of heat ~ there is a reason the Caribbean has high ceilings in most buildings!

We are now back in the US in the Jacksonville area for a short stay.  We’ll get our annual medical checkups while we are here and start the process of buying and then shipping our things to Grenada.  We’ve started a huge list of what we need to bring – everything from kitchen supplies, to couches and a gas grill.  We’ll need to go through our storage unit to decide what we’ll ship down, add items that we have been taking with us during our US travels and then buy everything else.  All this will be loaded into a container and shipped from the port in Jacksonville in early December to meet up with us shortly after our arrival in Grenada in December.  (So happy we previously lived in a port city)

For the past couple of years, when someone has asked us “Where do you live?”, Michael and I have looked at each other, laughed, said we didn’t live anywhere and then told our nomadic story.  The last time he was asked, Michael said, “We live in Grenada, West Indies and travel 6 months each year”.  I LOVE the sound of that!  We’ve got lots of planning to do, lots of things to do, lots of excitement to have and then back to our new home country and residence for a glorious 6 month stay.  YAHOO!

Sunset taken from our driveway. We'll need to be vigilant to see the sunsets since our house focuses east ~ but this eliminates the searing afternoon heat form our living spaces. Ah, the trade offs!

Sunset taken from our driveway. We’ll need to be vigilant to see the sunsets since our house focuses east ~ but this eliminates the searing afternoon heat from our living spaces. Ah, the trade offs!

Filed Under: Grenada, The Arches, Travel Tagged With: Grenada, The Arches

The Ultimate Challenge ~ Remote Project Management in a Third World Country

November 29, 2015 by Candi Licence 5 Comments

Sunrise from our patio

Just another day in Grenada. Sunrise from our patio, YUM!

Traditionally, trying to get ANYTHING done remotely in Grenada has been a challenge.  We’ve had a lot of experience over the years working with contractors, consultants, etc. working up plans and getting projects completed and have learned extreme patience.  You can think you have a plan for work getting done, can have update calls where promises are made and then arrive in Grenada only to find that nothing has even been started.  Face to face has seemed to be the only “reliable” way to insure work is getting done ~ and even then, it can be a challenge.   AND after the work is finally completed, then you have to plead to get an invoice so the bill can actually be paid.

Now we have bought a house and want to get work completed right away.  We planned to travel to Grenada in mid-September to see what we purchased and to begin figuring out what we would need to ship down via an ocean container for our December visit.  Michael’s goal was to get the key items that were identified in the engineering report completed prior to our September visit.

We made a conscious decision not to work with previous contractors based on history and Michael began soliciting ideas from our network of Grenadian friends and business associates.  Our attorney gave us the name of a general contractor she uses regularly and has been pleased with, so Michael contacted him.  This would be a good test before we made any major changes to the house.  We had a rocky start.  Of course, it was Carnival season.  Not much gets done in Grenada … prior to … during … or directly after … the 2 weeks of Carnival that takes place in early August.  UGH! Emails had been exchanged but we couldn’t get a conference call arranged.  Finally we made contact, Michael had a good conversation about what we wanted, he left the call thinking the contractor was aligned and we came to agreement on a work plan and pricing.  The contract included upgrading the electrical system including replacement of the electrical main wiring to an underground system, replacing electrical outlets, rerouting water and other plumbing work, generator maintenance, new fans and air conditioners, etc. ~ the list goes on and on.

All of Michael’s business experience running remote teams across multiple countries has really been an asset for us.  He knows how to speak and write clearly, to make milestone checkpoints and to listen critically for what people are saying when they are communicating “progress”.  Everything sounded like it was moving according to plan and we eagerly awaited our arrival date to see the house again and to determine the progress and workmanship.

When we arrived in Grenada, we were pleasantly surprised that 97% of the punch down list that Michael had provided from the Engineering Report was not only completed, but was well done.  YEAH, success!  The contractor was unhappy that he hadn’t gotten it 100% completed, but he had some very reasonable delays that prevented him from finishing and Michael was very happy with the amount that was completed and the quality of the work.  YEAH, again!

All projects in Grenada are complex.  Workers have limited skills so you need to contract with a wide variety of people to get a project completed.  Workers may or may not have the tools they need and may or may not have transportation to the site.  Our house has an electronic gate so getting people in and out of the site also needed to be managed.  Oh, and then there is the ever-present problem of “parts” or supplies that may or may not be on the island and sometimes have no projected ETA on when they might arrive.  Therefore, hiring the right General Contractor is essential and we were thrilled we found someone who listened well and could be counted on to produce great results.

We also continued a contract with the Property Management company that worked with the previous owners.  Their job was to pay all the utility bills, manage and pay any “household” staff – like pool maintenance, house maintenance and maid service and be the local contact if anything needed to be done.  This came in very handy as we made the transition.  For example, we wanted Nadica to clean the house and get it ready for our arrival.  Kim, our property management contact, made sure Nadica knew where the house was, drove her there the first time, gave her keys so she would have access, bought all the cleaning supplies she would need, introduced Nadica to other people working at the house and in general, showed her around and made sure she was feeling comfortable.  Kim also was able to accept payments from us and pay the general contractor and his workers.  This has made things much easier for us.

On our end, Michael was researching networking equipment that would need to be brought with us to Grenada.  We want wireless access to be available anywhere on the property and since the buildings are concrete block, we ended up needing a commercial set up.  After extensive research, Michael determined the necessary components needed and is now a local distributor of this networking gear!

Michael also researched and bought special locks that allow us to give each person their own code to get onto the property and into the house that we can turn on and off via the internet.   This would allow us to give a plumber access, for example, to do some specific work on a specific day and then turn off that access when they have completed the job.  It will also record when people enter and leave the property.  Pretty cool!

We would also like to have great wine while we are in Grenada but we haven’t been able to find any good sources, so Michael will also be looking into becoming some kind of wine distributor.  This has given me the idea of creating a “Straley’s Favorites” storefront where we import things we like but can’t get locally and selling off extra inventory to others on the island.  In addition to wine, this could include specialty cheeses, great olive oils, etc.  We’ll have to see if this is feasible or just a crazy idea.

So far, the remote project management has worked brilliantly due to Michael’s great organizational and communication skills as well as his determination.  I don’t think I’d be prepared to try this without him, so big kudos to Michael for making this seem easy.   This, plus a great General Contractor that keeps his word has made us much more confident in making larger changes to the house while we are off island and we’ve created a large list of improvements that will make the house even more wonderful than it is already.

Filed Under: Grenada, The Arches, Travel Tagged With: Grenada, The Arches

Proceed at Your Own Risk ~ Driving in Grenada (Part 3 of 3)

April 16, 2015 by Candi Licence Leave a Comment

There are two road maps of Grenada, the Tourist map and a very detailed Government map.  The tourist map is totally worthless and only shows about five major roads.  You cannot get anywhere interesting with this map.  The government map is a gem and is prized like treasure once you find one.  Even though it was published in 1985, it is still highly accurate.  It has EVERY road on the island on it.  We usually carry two or three of the government maps with us because if a tourist sees us looking at one, they run over and start negotiating to purchase it.  We always give them away or sell them at cost, but I’m convinced we could make a good side business out of marking up the price.

The tourist map, with minimal roads displayed, makes it hard to get anywhere reliably.

The tourist map, with minimal roads displayed, makes it hard to get anywhere reliably.

The government map, on the other hand, has every road and shows every curve.

The government map, on the other hand, has every road and shows every curve.

Most roads do not have any signage so I need to depend heavily (and completely) on the map. It is extremely accurate and shows every curve in every road so as we travel along, I’m tracing our path with my finger and watching for buildings that might have a town name on them.  This way I can confirm where we are and we only get slightly lost if we are in unfamiliar territory.  I find a town name, notice it’s not on our way and we turn around or I realize we are further along or not quite as far as I thought and recalibrate.   This year, I’m proud to say I’ve hardly used the map.  I know my way around and can usually figure out how to get somewhere I haven’t been to before with little trouble, but let’s be clear, I NEVER drive without maps in my purse and in the car.  We are even successfully taking shortcuts now!  Grenadians are often surprised that I know where their hometown is, even if it is way off the main roads or out in the country.  We’ve driven everywhere and probably to some places most Grenadians have never been to!

This is an example of a yellow road - 2 lanes, if you dare.

This is an example of a yellow road – 2 lanes, if you dare.

The government maps show 4 kinds of roads.  Thick red roads are major arteries – two lanes, YOOHOO!  Orange roads are secondary roads and are whimsically thought of as 2 lane roads – if there is nothing on the sides and both cars are creeping along, you can pass each other.  These roads may also be major ways to get between 2 places.  Next, are Yellow roads.  They are one and half lane roads, are usually paved (but not always, and not in all places) and then there are the little red roads – my personal favorites.

Little red roads mean ADVENTURE – tourists rarely travel these roads, the roads can stop at any time or they can take you to the best places – deserted beaches, tiny villages where you can find wonderful things and have a chance to talk to people for hours, old plantations, waterfalls, rivers, etc.  Little red roads start out with concrete or blacktop, then become broken up pavement, then grass, then small boulders and might go over small streams.  It’s reminiscent of the old print advertisement for either Range Rover or Land Rover that shows their vehicle bumping down a rutted road in a muddy stream and says “in some parts of the world, this is not off-road driving”.  YES, my kind of road – particularly when Michael is driving, bless his heart.  I didn’t really realize what I was putting him through until I started driving and my better sense would say – don’t go down that road, you might never get back and realizing he always did AND we got back.  That’s my wonderful guy.

The best little red road story starts one day when we went into the rain forest looking for an old plantation that had been turned into a delightful plant nursery.  This lovely place is a whole different story, but as we were coming back I saw a significant shortcut to get to St. Georges that would cut off at least 30 minutes of driving.  So off we go.  The road turns from concrete to blacktop, the blacktop begins to break down, the road then turns to dirt, then to two furrows of dirt with grass growing up in the middle, and, finally, really tall grass is growing in the middle.  All this time we are driving up, up, up to go over a mountain with St. Georges directly on the other side, tantalizingly close. As the road goes up, it keeps getting narrower and we begin to wonder if it will go all the way through, but there is no one to ask – no shops and no houses except a really tiny shack hanging off a cliff a ways back, but it was all closed up and no one was home so we couldn’t ask for directions.   I keep thinking if we just go a little further we’ll be good – it’s like a mirage.  It would be OK to keep driving on if we were sure it went through, but we didn’t know if it will just stop or get wider and head down the other side of the mountain.

Finally, Michael has had it – the first and only time he says we’re turning back.  This is a figure of speech.  The road is way too narrow to turn around.  In fact, I can touch the mountain on my side and Michael is inches from the steep drop off.  I wiggle my way out of the car – I can hardly get the door open a foot and I contort and then inch my way to the back of the car, leaning hard into the side of the car and feeling the bush brush my back.  I then begin directing Michael back down the mountain – 2 inches to the left, three inches to the right, as he slowly descends the curvy road.  Finally, I see someone driving a pickup truck up the road near the shack we had passed.  I tell Michael to stay put and I run down to meet him.  Even before I open my mouth, he gives the answer to my unasked question when he says, “Darling, what are you doing in this godforsaken place?”  The “road” ahead hasn’t been navigable by car for over 10 years.  Oh well, we continue to inch back down the mountain until we get to the shack and can turn around and drive normally.  My shortcut only took an extra hour and a half, but what an adventure!

The Government map is great navigation tool, but I also have to be very vigilant since the main roads and the secondary roads that lead off of them often look the same size and both are well-traveled.  And because the roads are so curvy, it’s often hard to determine the direction of the main road.  Often I’d look at a junction and tell Michael to go straight because looking at the map and then the roads it was obvious to me which way to go to stay on the main road.  He’d bellow in amazement that straight wasn’t an option (he’d be right) and I soon opted for saying ‘go up’ or ‘go down’ because left or right was often not accurate either.  You are always going up or down in Grenada, almost nothing is flat anywhere.

This picture shows 3 examples of steep roads.  The big road is the one we live on, the curvy one in the background on the left goes to a new development, and if you look hard you cn see a road coming down from the cell tower - it goes almost directly straight up.

This picture shows 3 examples of steep roads. The big road is the one we live on, the curvy one in the background on the left goes to a new development, and if you look hard you can see a road coming down from the cell tower – it goes almost directly straight up.

In addition to curvy, narrow roads, Grenadians have built roads straight up that make you dizzy just looking at them – forget actually driving on them.  They are that steep.  First you wonder how anything can drive up or down the road.  Then you get brave and try the road and are afraid your car will flip backwards before you reach the top of the hill, never mind that the road might curve right at the crest and if you could actually see something besides sky, you would know to turn your steering wheel sharply to the left or right to follow the road as you go over.  We were on one such road a few years ago and it began raining really hard.  We stopped for a moment and the car started slowly slipping backwards because we couldn’t get enough traction on the scored concrete with our balding tires to stay in one place.  So, what did Michael do?  He just slightly turned the wheel and let the car keep slipping until we backed into a wall, then turned around and inched down in first gear.  The seat belts were the only thing keeping us from falling into the windshield.  Unbelievable!

It's hard to show perspective in a picture but notice that the houses are close together and that the roofs are at the base of the next house

It’s hard to show perspective in a picture but notice that the houses are close together and that the roofs are at the base of the next house

There are a couple of roads close by that I’m getting my courage up to drive over because I want to see what is at the end.  On one, I can see a group of houses and this is the only road in and out so someone is definitely driving on this road.  I almost had a heart attack watching a full-sized cement mixer head down with a full load the other day – inch by inch.  I never saw him come back up but I’m hopeful he’s not still down there.  (There is actually another place that has a large construction truck stuck at the bottom and odds are it will rust out there since they can’t get it back up the hill.)  The very steepest roads are often not 2 lanes wide (although they accommodate 2 way traffic by having one person pull over to let the other person pass) – if there is room to pull over.  Otherwise, one car has to back down part of the way until they reach a spot to be able to pullover so the other person can pass.  This can be a common occurrence depending on where you are driving and is nerve-racking to say the least.

My other favorite driving story is going down a narrow, curvy road and trying to inch around parked cars at a popular bakery.  This road had huge, deep drains on either side to move the immense amount of water that comes down during a big rainstorm.  I’d estimate the drains to be about 16 inches deep and 12 inches wide.  None of the drains have grates over them, you are just supposed to stay out of them.  As we were inching by, trying to follow the other cars, we dropped our front left tire into the drain, effectively bottoming out the car.  (This was probably because Michael was trying to keep a complete 2 inches of clearance on his side.)   Michael and I looked at each other wondering how we would ever get out of this situation while a bunch of Grenadians stood by laughing.  Then 8 or 9 men walked over, picked up our car, set it gently on the road, patted the trunk and we were on our way.  Amazing!  (They have since widened this road because the big trucks travel on this road, but now everyone parks along the sides so if feels just as tight as it used to.)

I’m laughing as I finish writing this because I’m wondering if anyone will drive here after this description, but we do it all the time, day and night, and other than being on hyper alert, it’s a Grenadian experience in and of itself.  This year, due to the economy, there are less drivers on the road.  The price of gas is just too high for most people to be able to afford it – so their cars sit and wait for better times.  I’m sad about this, but thankful because this makes it that much easier to get around.  I’ve been driving a lot by myself this year because Michael has had non-stop photo shoots and I’ve gotten really good and relaxed about driving .  I’m hoping my ability to navigate tight spaces and my increased confidence will make driving easier when the roads fill up again next year, “please God”, as the Grenadians say.

Happy Motoring!

Filed Under: Grenada, Travel Tagged With: driving, Grenada, travel

Proceed at Your Own Risk ~ Driving in Grenada (Part 2 of 3)

March 31, 2015 by Candi Licence 2 Comments

Driving at night is another challenge. 95% of the roads have no signs so it helps if you already know the way to where you are going. There is no such thing as a center line to imply two sides of the road, often no streetlights and I never realized how much I relied on the white line on the side of the road to provide a clear boundary. Here, the edge of the dark road fades into more darkness and you never know what is lurking a few inches off the side of the road. Is it an uncovered drain, a sharp drop off, a sleeping dog? Are there potholes lurking (usually) or people walking (of course)? It’s the things that move – people, cars and animals that are most scary and have the most potential for disaster. Often a dark person, in dark clothes, is walking on a dark road while oncoming cars are blinding you with their headlights. Getting around at night, on foot or in a car, is not for the faint at heart.

The windshield is always blurry, covered with years of road grime and rubber from ancient windshield wipers. I know it sounds like an easy fix, to just wash the windows, but experience tells me it won’t help. We’ve washed our windshield multiple times this trip – with Windex at first, then vinegar and newspaper, then a green scrubber with a lot of elbow grease and a mixture of grease solvent and bleach – and the windshield doesn’t even look marginally better. So, as headlights are coming at you and are refracted by the dirt and therefore blinding you, you try to instantly memorize the curves and obstacles ahead, keep your eyes slightly diverted from the glare and remember, once again, how convenient that little white line on the side of the road would be in keeping you safe and on track, if only there was one. Driving at night is a series of starts and stops with many slowdowns in between and we always sigh with relief when we pull safely into our driveway.

If you are not inclined to drive, you can always opt for the shotgun seat. This is the Seat of Terror. You see and experience all the same views but with no control over the outcome. I first realized this when Michael’s Mom came to visit. Being polite, I seated her in front on the way home from the airport so she would have an unobstructed view of our beautiful island. The next time we went out, I offered the front seat again and she recoiled in terror and loudly proclaimed that she absolutely did NOT want to see where we were going, thank you very much. I think if I had a blindfold available she would have gladly taken it. Now I still offer visitors the privilege of the front seat but with more caution.

Grenada is a volcanic island and there is a beautiful dormant crater in the center of the island, high up in the rainforest. Of course, since this is Grenada, there is also a treacherous road that weaves its way up and over the mountain to the other side of the island linking the 2 largest cities – St Georges, the Capital on the west coast and Grenville, a large fishing and commercial center on the east coast. Since these are the two largest and most populous cities, and this is the only major road through the mountains that connects the two coasts, this is also the primary bus route between these cities and to other towns on each side of the island.

Buses are privately owned and operated and the more trips they make in a day, the more money they earn. This encourages trips at literally breakneck speeds over curvy, wet mountain switchbacks. If you are in front of them, they relentlessly tailgate you, inches from your bumper and constantly try to pass on the wrong side of the road, swerving back as a car comes around the next curve – and they also beep at you to speed up. Conventional wisdom says just pull over and let them pass – even if you have to do this many times. The only problem with this idea is there is often nowhere to pull over. Once in a while, you’ll see a place where the road is marginally wider but no sane person would stop – and you do, anyway. Finally relieved that the maniac behind you is leaving you in their dust, you start up again and within minutes there’s another bus taking its place. Buses don’t run on Sunday so that’s the most “relaxing” time to drive over the mountain and to enjoy the rainforest and the Grand Etang Lake at the center of the country. Recently, Grenada has tried to introduce the concept of a bus schedule which has slowed the busses down considerably. Now they are only a hair-raising nuisance on this treacherous road.

It’s a tossup on whether you want to be on the mountain side or cliff side of the car. On the mountain side you can literally reach out and almost touch the wall as it whizzes by. If you are lucky enough to be on the cliff side you have two choices – looking out the side window at the sharp drop off, inches from your door, OR watching out the front window and seeing the places where the road surface is disintegrating and falling away down the cliff. Otherwise, you have the pleasure of looking face to face with the driver careening towards you from the other direction, on a road you are sure is too small for both of you to fit. On each trip, you get to experience both sides and after many trips I sadly think the inside wall is only marginally better. The upside is the breathtaking views of the rainforest, other mountains, valleys and vistas all the way to the seas, every way you look.

In either case, you often get a wet, slippery road. It is the rainforest after all. Believe it or not, this is a ride I look forward to each year and encourage others to take for its dramatic beauty. You only get to enjoy the view if you are not driving. There is no time to take your eyes off the road for an instant if you are the driver. And as the navigator, you still need to be watching all the curves and side roads so you can make instantaneous decisions on which is the “main” road.

Then there is the concept of guard rails – be careful what you wish for. There are very few guard rails in Grenada. When you do see one, you notice it because it usually means the road has rotted away and they are trying to give you a chance of not completely falling off the road. The road is narrower at this point and often just a little bit soft as you drive by. Lovely. Guard rails are overrated anyway.

In one of our earliest trips to Grenada, when we were going from St. George’s to Grenville and back in the same day, I got us lost on the return trip. It would be way too easy if there was only one road, but no, there are multiple roads that veer off towards tiny villages.   These roads often don’t look any different from the main road. Plus, on this trip, when I realized we were off the main road (about 30 minutes later), I thought we could take an alternate road to St. Georges, based on the map. Of course, after following it for another 30 minutes or so we realized it was no longer useable so we had to backtrack for an hour and start again. By now it was getting dark and we were probably over an hour away from the edge of St Georges if you were driving in daylight, 2 hours in the dark – if we don’t get lost again. With a trusty flashlight, reading our map, I try to navigate Michael to safety. The only thing possibly scarier than looking off the cliffs during the day is seeing your headlights disappear in the darkness at night and trying to figure out where the road is going to turn next. Buses are still whizzing by, but too fast to use them as a beacon to follow for more than 1 or 2 curves, then back to the blackest black. Where are the guard rails and that little white line on the side of the road to guide us?

Finally, we pass a group of men and stop to check that we at least are on the right road and one person offers to jump in the car and direct us. We hesitate – do we want to pick up a stranger in an unknown place, when we don’t really know where we are going, or continue on our own? Michael and I look at each other and I open the back door to let him in. Of course, he is a great guy. Most people in Grenada are delightfully wonderful and the people are the main reason we loves this special place. He leans way into the front seat between us and directs us left, right, left, right, left, left, down, down, down the mountain and into town. After dropping him off, we head back to our villa. It is about 8:30. Michael has been driving on and off since about 10 AM, with the last 2 hours driving in the pitch black. He just sits in the driveway, staring into space while I try to pry his fingers off the steering wheel. No exaggeration. We go inside, I make him a Gin and Tonic and he doesn’t speak for 30 minutes. I still remember this trip in full detail 20 plus years later. I’m sure he does as well. We have never made this trip at night again.

 

Filed Under: Grenada, Travel Tagged With: driving, Grenada, travel

Proceed at Your Own Risk ~ Driving in Grenada (Part 1of 3)

March 29, 2015 by Candi Licence 2 Comments

The worst time to be driving in Grenada is around 5:00 PM on a Friday.  People are hurrying to get home to start their weekend, they have just gotten paid and are in a party mood, plus all the large construction vehicles are barreling through town and taking up more than their share of road.  These large trucks are filled with workers just barely hanging on and spilling over all the sides.  It feels like a recipe for disaster.

This is one entrance to the Sugarmill roundabout when it's NOT crazy.

This is one entrance to the Sugarmill roundabout when it’s NOT crazy. Notice the long line of cars in the distance, waiting to enter and multiply it by 4 other roads converging into the roundabout.

I think the worst specific place to be at 5:00 on a Friday evening is at the Sugarmill roundabout – a 2 lane roundabout that connects the arteries that lead to the Airport and the University, the main road into and out of Saint George’s (Grenada’s Capital and largest city), the main road to the Southeastern side of the country where the most people live and a major side road to one of the largest and oldest tourist areas.

And then there is me, …. trying to navigate through the madness …. I didn’t plan this …. I tried NOT to be here on this day, at this time, but the inevitable business delays that happen conspired to have me be exactly here – at exactly this time.

Coming out of the roundabout one morning.  Notice theman waking his wheelbarrow .... in my lane.  No sidewalks here.

Coming out of the roundabout one morning. Notice the man on the left walking his wheelbarrow into town …. in my lane. No sidewalks here. No pressure, just watch out for him, the kid on the bicycle, and unforeseen surprises while being tailgated by a bus.

Imagine this scene – the roundabout, which is England’s answer to managing traffic without using a traffic light, is 2 lanes wide with four feeder roads converging.  Everyone (hopefully) is driving on the “wrong” side of the road, going around the “wrong” way – clockwise.  In addition to what feels like all of the country’s traffic trying to funnel through this insane intersection, add the following to the congestion – a major bank, one of the largest gas stations on the island, a supermarket, lots of small shops including the popular Fish and Chips take out plus multiple street vendors on the sides selling barbecued chicken, roasted corn, soups, drinks and anything else they think people with fresh money in their pockets may want.  This is also a major bus interchange with buses only sometimes stopping in their designated places.  Other times, they just stop in the road, blocking traffic.  Of course, this means there are a large number of people walking or running to catch a bus home. There is a cross walk right at the roundabout – but only across one road.  On the other sides, people just make a run for it.

And yes, at least one "learner" added to the mix to make things interesting.

And yes, at least one “learner” added to the mix to make things interesting.

And then, in someone’s wisdom, there is always someone learning how to drive.  The learner is always boldly identified with a large red L hanging off the back of their car.  They are clearly terrified and completely unpredictable – either jutting out into the traffic at the worst possible moment or squandering their chance by sharply braking for no apparent reason, distracted at something happening on the other side and missing a golden opportunity to head into this complicated dance of vehicles.  Logically, this makes sense, they will have to drive through this mess as an independent driver so they should get experience, but it makes everyone an emotional wreck.

Couldn't get a snap of the man with all the goats but here is another very familiar sight.  You can see goats anywhere all the time - being walked to and from a tethering place.

Couldn’t get a shot of the man with all the goats but here is another very familiar sight. You can see goats anywhere all the time – being walked to and from a tethering place.

Oh, and did I mention the goats?  Some man is taking his goats’ home for the evening and of course has to pass directly through the center of the roundabout.  He has the 7 adults tethered on individual ropes and is weaving them through the congested cars.  OK, that’s not too bad but he also has an uncountable number of baby goats as well.  Baby goats are rarely tethered since they will not stray far from their parents.  They are like the terrified learners and they dart and lurch unpredictably between all these cars, trucks and people.  Miraculously none get squashed and if you have the ability to step back and watch the scene as an observer, it is quite funny and amazing.  However, I don’t really have that luxury as I’m in the middle of this mess trying to navigate through it without killing myself or anyone else.  I finally shoot through the other side and feel like I’ve been expelled from a white water river current.   Now I just have to get through the valley and past the major marina construction site and then I’ll only have to contend with everyone racing home in one of two directions.  Piece of cake.

Here is a typical view on the major road around the island.  In the US, this would be equivalent to a parkway.  The left lane is entirely blocked by a parked truck so you wait for the cars to stop coming in the other direction and then race around the parked car before more cars come.  It's often a game of chicken.  Do NOT play against busses, taxis or trucks - they always win.

Here is a typical view of the major road around the island. (In the US, this road would be a four lane expressway – in each direction.) The left lane is entirely blocked by a parked truck so I wait for the cars to stop coming in the other direction and then race around the parked car before more cars come. It’s often a game of chicken. CAUTION: Do NOT play against busses, taxis or trucks – they always win.

Driving is on the left and my steering wheel is on the right.  Most major roads are just barely 2 car widths wide (the others are smaller), there is no room for parking and no sidewalks so everyone walks in the street and people park anywhere they can.  This necessitates a complex dance of cars moving in opposite directions, continually stopping and swerving around human, animal and vehicular obstacles.  Many people run small shops along the road, sometimes out of the front of their houses, and on Friday night everyone is cooking and trying to pry a few dollars out of the hands of people passing by.

The Jamaican Jerk Chicken man is no exception and is well-known for his fabulous barbecue so people are pulling over, lining up, and now the road is barely one lane wide with traffic backed up in both directions.  If someone is slow to start up, everyone in the opposite direction guns their engines and starts a short convoy, nose to tail, trying to weave through the congestion.  Inevitably, a person or animal bolts out into traffic, cars stop, and then the folks waiting impatiently in the other direction careen through the small gap that has opened up.  This can happen five or six times in a short distance.  And if someone has called in a dinner order, they may stop right in the active road while someone runs their order out to the waiting car.  I’m sure the Jamaican Jerk man has somehow planned this – you have to stop, you get a brief moment to catch your breath and then smell his wonderful chicken.  Hmmmm, is there room to pull over and stop?

This is the Jamaican Jerk Chicken stand when  it is closed.  There is no way to take a picture, and live, when he is open.  It's that crazy.

This is the Jamaican Jerk Chicken stand when it is closed. There is no way to take a picture, and live, when he is open. It’s that crazy.

After maneuvering through this portion of the road, I get prepared for trucks.  Really big trucks, road hog trucks who know they own the road and take advantage of it.  I’m talking about full size cement mixers and huge construction trucks that make you wonder how they navigate the road at all, let alone when someone else is on the road – and with cars parked on both sides of the road, never directly across from each other because the road isn’t wide enough – but, of course, never all on one side because then where would the fun be?

This is a medium sized truck with a "reasonable" number of people in it.  And most are sitting down for a change.

This is a medium sized truck with a “reasonable” number of people in it. And most are sitting down – for a change.

The best you can hope for is to see one of these monsters on a straightway.  Yes, this means they will coming directly at you – fast and partially on your side – but at least you see them and can choose where you’re going to run yourself off the road so you can live for another day.  Next best thing is they might have a lead vehicle that is waving a large red flag letting you know a huge truck is following right behind or the big truck has the courtesy to be beeping as they round the curve – both clear signs to get out of the way, now, however you can.  Worst case is that the truck is by itself, the driver wants to get home, he is driving like a wild man and you round a curve with him coming right at your windshield, on your side of the road because these trucks don’t corner well and you pray as you swerve out of the way, hoping not to hit anyone or anything during your evasive driving tactics.  After passing, you don’t even have time to take a breath before the next obstacle presents itself.  It’s kind of like a fast paced video game except you don’t get a second life.  Drinks, anyone?

It astonishes me that I now feel “comfortable” driving in this madness.   Comfortable is not the right word really.  I’m always super alert, cautious, while trying to drive fast at the same time so people don’t pass me (by swerving into the other lane and essentially playing chicken).  Will they get by before the next curve?  Even with me braking to give them more room, will they pass before the car barreling towards us hits them and/or me?  You know, the one with the bus hugging its back bumper, trying to decide if he can pull out and pass at the same time.  I think I’m now at the point where I’m an “average” driver – definitely no longer the slowest, absolutely not the fastest, but holding my own.

When we first came to Grenada about 25 years ago, Michel drove and I was the navigator.  My job was to remind him to keep to the left side of the road and point out which way to drive around the roundabouts, as well as read the map and try to interpret the squiggly lines to determine which road was the “main” road and which road was the “secondary” road when everything looks like a secondary road.  After time, you kind of memorize the paths through and in your mind you see yourself going left around the roundabout before you get there.  It’s also helpful that other vehicles are driving in the correct direction and you go with the flow.

After a few trips, it made sense for me to start driving.  We started in a remote area with no traffic – a perfect place to begin to think about shifting with my left hand (no automatic jeeps in those days), signaling using my right hand (your automatic reaction is to signal by depressing the left lever and thus turning on the windshield wipers – again) and, most important, staying left.  We approached a small roundabout – no cars anywhere – and I made it to the correct road on the other side.  Michael smiled and said “Good job.  Next time drive around the other way.”  Yikes, with no context from other cars, I drove right, instead of left, around the roundabout.  It could only get better, right?

(Next up, Driving in Grenada – Part 2.)

Note: Special thanks to Michael for being willing to stand in the roundabout early one morning to take photos and then trying to capture more road pictures by shooting through the front windshield while I was driving.  I’d never ask him to do it on a Friday evening unless I was psyched to collect insurance money.  This was definitely above and beyond the call of duty!

Filed Under: Grenada, Travel Tagged With: driving, Grenada, travel

Canboulay, J’ouvert, Mas ~ Carriacou Carnival 2015

March 27, 2015 by Candi Licence 1 Comment

Huge speakers mounted on trucks and pounding out Soca or Calypso music, gyrating bodies covered in paint or used motor oil (!), costumed paraders dancing in the streets – day and night, local food, and fun, fun, fun.

One (!) of the trucks blasting Soca music on the streets day and nigh during Carnival

One (!) of the trucks blasting Soca music on the streets day and night during Carnival

One of the Mas dancers strutting her stuff

I’ve always been enticed by the costumes, color and music of Carnival.  Trinidad has the region’s largest and most extravagant Carnival.  It also sounds pretty rambunctious and overwhelming, attracting thousands from around the world.  Grenada and many other islands celebrate Carnival in other months, a different time from the traditional pre-Easter celebration, to lure visitors that they might not be able to attract against Trinidad’s pageantry and extravagance ~ and it’s a great excuse to have multiple times of the year for a grand fete (party).  The New Orleans Mardi Gras is the US equivalent of Carnival.

The Carnival Queen first runner up dancin' to the music in one of the Mas (parades)

The Carnival Queen first runner-up dancin’ to the music in one of the Mas (parades)

Carriacou, an island directly north and part of Grenada, celebrates Carnival in early March.  Since we are here for an extended length of time this year, we decided to take a few days to experience Carnival.  There is a long build-up to Carnival with events occurring over a couple of weeks.  During this time, a Carnival queen is crowned and Soca and Calypso bands compete for the title of best band.  The culmination of Carnival is a series of events including Canboulay – a traditional family and friends feast, J’ouvert – a huge early morning street party and a number of Mas (es) – costumed parades. Mas is short for masquerade.

I was late in planning our trip to Carriacou.  I hadn’t see a rental that stood out and after seeing a 2+ week-long schedule, I wasn’t sure what days we should attend, and we didn’t want to leave Mick in Grenada for too long.  When we got to Grenada, I kept asking people but didn’t get good information other than every rental was probably booked solid.  Finally, I heard about Karen Stiell who runs Simply Carriacou, a tour service and rental agency.  Karen knows everything a visitor would want to know about Carriacou.

I expected this charming shop to be serving rum but it is actually a custom made sandal shop

I expected this charming shop to be serving rum but it is actually a custom made sandal shop

Fingers crossed, I contacted Karen and hoped she had an insider’s tip or could produce a miracle.  Karen laughed when I told her we wanted to come to Carnival and were looking for a place to stay.  She said, everything had been booked for months.   Carriacou is a small island with about 7,000 residents and the population swells to about 14,000 for Carnival.  (As we would find out, many Grenadians don’t even look for rooms and they just sleep on the beach.)  HOWEVER, about an hour earlier she had received a cancellation of a nice 2 bedroom apartment right on the edge of town.  It was $85 a night if we used one bedroom, double that if we used both bedrooms.  I didn’t even ask for pictures, I just gave her my credit card number.  Yahoo!  We booked Saturday through Tuesday.

Diane, getting ginto Carnival mood with her hair "platted" (braided) by Nadica

Diane, getting into Carnival mood, with her hair “platted” (braided) by Nadica

Next I contacted our Connecticut friend Diane, who had threatened to come to Grenada, to let her know our schedule and she booked her trip to encompass those days.  I made a quick call to Karen to secure the second bedroom and we were set.  Our plan was to take the Osprey ferry, a large boat that carries about 150 people and takes between 1.5 to 2 hours, to go from St. George’s, Grenada to Hillsborough, Carriacou.

We bought our tickets in advance and got to the ferry dock around 8 AM to be sure we would get a seat on what would be a very crowded 9 AM boat (which didn’t leave until after 10 because so much cargo had to be loaded).  Everyone was in a great mood and started the party right then and there.  Diane and I went up top to the open air section so we could see all of Grenada pass by and Michael stayed downstairs because he thought it would be less rough lower in the boat.  It’s been consistently very windy the whole time we’ve been in Grenada so the Caribbean Sea was very rough, with water splashing up over the sides and getting us wet on the top deck!  The boat was rocking and rolling with the waves but most everyone was having a (wet) blast.

Sooo True. Grenada and Carriacou are filled with wonderful people.

Sooo True. Grenada and Carriacou are filled with wonderful people.

The ferry dock.  Can anything be more picturesque?

The ferry dock. Can anything be more picturesque??

We passed a couple of deserted islands and finally pulled into Hillsborough harbor.  We met up with Michael who ended up having a rougher trip than we did because he was up near the front of the boat and everyone was being literally tossed about, out of their seats.  We grabbed our bags and started looking for Raphael, the apartment owner.  He said we were easy to spot because he’d seen my photo on my email. Cool!  We jumped into his vehicle and got a short tour of the town.

Hillsborough is basically 2 long streets that parallel the beach for about a mile and a half.  Most of Carnival was going to take place near the ferry dock and our apartment was at the far end, right across from the beach.  Raphael lives on the top floor of the house and has converted his lower floor into a sweet 2 bedroom apartment.  It was clean, airy and perfect for our short stay with a lovely covered veranda in the front of the house which was great for liming and people watching.  Raphael was a perfect host and we got to know him pretty well over the 4 days.

After settling in, walking to a grocery to get provisions and relaxing on the porch for a bit, we headed out to get some dinner.  I was concerned about finding a place with room to eat so I had called ahead to make reservations at what appeared to be the largest restaurant in town.  The woman was very nice but a little hesitant.  Upon arriving, I realized we were probably the only people who had EVER made reservations!  It was a buffet style set up where you ordered what you wanted, paid and then they gave you a number and they brought your food to the table.  The woman who had taken our reservation also greeted us and guided us upstairs to a roof top deck.  We were the only ones eating up there.  She took our orders and served us like a regular restaurant.  The local food was filling and good.

As we ate, more people came up and were looking over the railing to an open air dance club next door. The beat was pounding, everyone was moving to the music and when we looked over the rail, we saw that they had sprinklers high up in the air that would spray on the dancers below and it was called a Wet Fete (Party)!  I thought about all the times I’ve danced in the heat and have gotten really sweaty and thought this was an excellent idea.  Some of the women had shower caps on their hair so they would still look good later or the next day.  It looked like a lot of fun.

“Official” Carnival wasn’t starting until Sunday night so, Sunday morning, we took at taxi to Paradise beach for the day and hung out on a large, secluded beach with good shade, lovely water, and gorgeous islands offshore.  It was picture perfect and there were only a few people on the beach. We had a great, relaxing day.  Canboulay is the first event and is where local families and friends come together and cook a huge feast on Sunday evening and eat together – usually starting around midnight. We were lucky and got invited to a Canboulay feast.

Just another day in Paradise - Paradise Beach, Carriacou

Just another day in Paradise – All the beaches in Carriacou are spectacular.

Before we headed out to Carriacou, Diane and I had an appointment to get our nails done at Nail Tee’s.  Diane said she wanted to try Manicou (Mongoose) and the salon owner, Louise, invited us to her sister’s house for Canboulay because she always serves Manicou – And Mutton, And Iguana, And Chicken, And Pork, plus rice and peas – a literal feast.  We were thrilled to join.  When Sunday came around, Louise and a friend picked us up at the house at about 2:00 AM.  Diane ended up backing out – she was just too tired.  Michael and I had a good time – good music, good food, good company and killer rum – literally – a local brew that tasted like gasoline so I stuck with water.

About 3:30 AM, Michael and I walked home to grab some sleep before J’ouvert began.  J’ouvert is an early morning street party that goes from about 5:00 AM until noon. Trucks with huge speakers drive throughout town, blasting music and “calling” people to follow the trucks and begin dancing.  When they passed our house, there was no sleeping though it – the windows were vibrating hard from the volume of bass.  The trucks all converge in the center of town and everyone has a big jump up (dance party).  What makes J’ouvert special is that people get covered with paint.  Karen and Louise both told us to bring one set of clothes to wear that we’d be willing to throw out after the party.   It was controlled chaos.

J'ouvert Morning - pounding music, paint, dancing and fun!

J’ouvert Morning – pounding music, paint, dancing and fun!

The Oil men represent the devil.

The Oil men represent the devil.

What's with the fish!?!

What’s with the fish!?!

Michael took a chance with his good camera and got some fabulous shots.  Overall, people were polite and didn’t get you covered with paint unless you wanted to be part of the action.  Diane and I climbed up onto one of the rooftops to watch the craziness from there and got home relatively unscathed.  At one point a bunch of men came through the crowd, completely covered with motor oil and horned helmets, representing the devil.  They were so cool looking.  After the party, the trucks drove to the beach with everyone following them (blaring music, of course) and everyone jumped into the water to rinse off.   Then they headed back home to eat again and then slept until the first Mas (masquerade parade) begins.  I didn’t see the sea water after the rinsing, but my image is of a rainbow of colors floating across the waves.

Carriacou 2015 02 16 - 0375Carriacou 2015 02 16 - 0301Carnival in Carriacou is a pretty laid back affair and it was hard to nail down what was happening, where events were occurring and at what time.  Before we arrived the schedule kept changing, major changes – like events being moved between days.

Carriacou 2015 02 16 - 0343Carriacou 2015 02 16 - 0448-2I finally stopped trying to figure things out and decided we’d just go with the flow.  For example, the first Mas was going to start – at the airport, at the playing field, on the main street, in the outdoor concert arena – all depending on who you asked.  (And none of these locations were necessarily near each other.)  And it was going to start at 2:30, or 3:30 or 4:30, (It started at 5:00), so there were a lot of people hanging around the streets comparing stories for quite a while.  I thought I’d be smart and check at a couple of places where I knew the masqueraders were dressing but they didn’t have any better idea.  It all kind of fell together in the late afternoon and the big trucks started around town again, each blaring their favorite music with costumed groups following them dancing.  All in all, a very fun time.

It wasn't easy getting pictures of the night Mas but imagine a ton of people with day glo headdresses, necklaces and sparklers.  It was stunning

It wasn’t easy getting pictures of the night Mas but imagine a ton of people with day glow headdresses, necklaces and sparklers. It was stunning.

Later in the evening, when we were sitting on our porch, an evening Mas came through and everyone had those glow-in-the-dark sticks as headdresses, torches, sparklers and necklaces.  They were dancing down the street following yet another truck with huge, booming speakers with DJ’s on top whipping up the crowds into quite the frenzy.  What a lot of energy!  It was great seeing this gyrating crowd, moving to the music with the lights dancing.

Tuesday morning is the Shakespeare Mas and I didn’t completely understand this until it was over.  It is a battle of wits using only lines from Shakespeare plays.  It starts in a designated place in the country where costumed actors recite Shakespeare to each other, entertaining the crowd and sometimes whacking each other with sticks if the other person makes a mistake(!)   They move onto the next spot (with the crowd following them), more costumed actors join and the spectacle continues.

The Shakespeare Mas.  Fanciful costumed actors swapping wits via lines from the Bard's plays.

The Shakespeare Mas. Fanciful costumed actors swapping wits via lines from the Bard’s plays.

This Shakespeare actor was fabulous!

This Shakespeare actor was fabulous!

his Shakespearean character's job was to ring the bell loudly and vigorously if the other actors were going to stat hitting each other.  I think it was to alert the crowd to back off so no one got hurt.  Amazing!

This Shakespearean character’s job was to ring the bell loudly and vigorously if the other actors were going to start hitting each other. I think it was to alert the crowd to back off so no one got hurt. Amazing!

At some point, it kind of turns into staged fights with Shakespeare thrown in from time to time.  I could not really understand what they were saying so it was mostly the costumes, the gestures and the enthusiasm that was intriguing.  Everyone finally end up in the center of town.   I’m glad we walked to one of the outer spots where it was fairly uncrowded so we could see.  By the time they got to town, there were so many people watching, it was impossible to get close enough to really see anything.

The ridiculously fabulous view from the cafe where we ate breakfast and lunch most days.  The extraordinary food matched the view.

The ridiculously fabulous view from the cafe where we ate breakfast and lunch most days. The extraordinary food matched the view.

After that, we grabbed a bite to eat at a lovely seaside restaurant, packed up and Raphael drove us to the ferry.  After we left, there was one final Mas, late that afternoon, which was a repeat of the first Mas.  The ferry trip home was much calmer – we were riding with the waves instead of against them, and a lot of people slept – a very different atmosphere from the trip up.  All in all, a great time.

Now we are talking about going to Trinidad next year to see the spectacular extravaganza they put on if we can connect with a local to guide us.

 

 

Filed Under: Grenada, Travel Tagged With: Carriacou Carnival, Grenada, travel

“Eat Local” ~ John’s Oceanview Restaurant

February 11, 2015 by Candi Licence 1 Comment

“Hi John, it’s Candi.  We’re coming to eat lunch on Saturday.  How do we get to your place?”

       “Turn right at the Laura Spice sign, make another right and then a left and go up.”

“OK, so after I take the right at Laura Spice, I take the next right ….”

       “No, there’s a left first – call again on Saturday and I’ll give you better directions.  Oh, and look for a bridge and a rum shop.”

Ah, yes, getting directions in Grenada is an adventure.  Very few roads have any signage and each local person has very different definition of distance, what is considered a “turn”, or what constitutes a landmark, (not to mention what constitutes a road) but we are not worried.  We no longer get lost, it’s just that sometimes it takes us longer than expected and we have to turn around a bunch of times … but we definitely are not lost.

I used to get stressed if we couldn’t find a place easily, now it happens less because we know the island so much better after coming for 25 years, but also I realize that getting there is part of the adventure and know to keep my eyes open along the way ~ for whatever.

This is John.  He is always smiling.

This is John. He is always smiling and ready to make sure you have a good time.

John, a server at La Sagesse Restaurant, told us he has a side business cooking local foods in a shop at his home every Saturday and suggests that we stop by for lunch.  So off we go, trying to find his house in the country.  I know the sign for Laura Spice so we drive there, turn right and then I call John for the next steps.  He says good, now turn right after Laura Spice and I realize, once again, how imprecise language can be.  We’ve turned at the sign and now we come to another right turn to get to Laura Spice.  John said turn right after Laura Spice – does this mean we should turn here, pass Laura Spice and then take another right OR does he mean we pass this right turn to Laura Spice and take the next right?  You get the idea.

Of course we choose the wrong route.  We turn right and head down a road that gets smaller and smaller.  It’s not paved but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything.   I fondly remember a magazine ad years ago for Land Rover or Range Rover that had a full page photo that showed their vehicle wading through a mucky road and small stream with the caption “In some parts of the world, this is not considered off road driving”.  I love this ad and had it hanging in my office for years.  We get to Laura Spice and see a man walking.  He doesn’t know John (a definite clue we are not in the right place, because in Grenada everybody knows everybody who lives close by) and he says there is only one more house on the road, so back we go to the “main” road and continue on our way.

“Hi John, It’s Candi. We’ve passed the second turn for Laura Spice, now what?”

        “Make a left turn, go over a bridge and look for a rum shop.”

We don’t see any left turns that I can identify but come to a small bridge so I mentally check off that landmark and start to look for a rum shop.  A couple of miles in, there it is.  We stop and I jump out of the car.  Before I say hello, the owner says …. “John called, you are doing fine, just head up and to the left”.  In Grenada, up means UP.  We are headed deeper into the mountainous interior.  We come to a shop that is cooking local food.

“Is this John’s,” I ask?

       “Nope, keep going up and he’s on the left. Can’t miss him.

“Hmmmm……”

Actually he’s right.  We go a bit more and there’s John waving us into his driveway.  He’s got a lovely spot, high on a hill, beautiful view (and breezes) for his house and a small rum shop and restaurant.  A bunch of local guys are “liming” (relaxing) in the shop and having a drink.  Music is blaring (as it is in all Rum shops) and the guys are singing along.  Fun!  As we sit down at one of the two tables and order lunch, Michael takes pictures of the men who are hanging out and having fun.   The Grenadian people are handsome (or beautiful) and always have a sweet smile on their face.

Johns Restaurant  2015 01 17 - 0016

Local guys "liming".

Johns Restaurant  2015 01 17 - 0019

A captivating group.

 

 

 

Nadica and me, at John's restaurant.  One of the local guys is waving in the background.

Nadica and me, at John’s restaurant. One of the local guys is waving in the background.

“We” consists of Nadica (our very good Grenadian friend whom we’ve known since she was about 10 years old, now almost 29); her eight year old daughter, Mikiah (my Goddaughter); Michael and me.  Nadica and Mikiah are coming to our house to spend the weekend and we’ve picked them up on our way to John’s so we can share lunch together.

Goat curry, Turkey and Manicou.  Plus salad, rice and peas and local veggies.

Goat curry, Turkey and Manicou. Plus salad, rice and peas and local veggies.

Lunch today is curried Goat, Turkey and Possum.  The Grenadian name for Possum is Manicou or Manicoo~ (I’m not really sure of the spelling).  I love curried Goat and John’s recipe is delicious.  The turkey is good, but I don’t particularly like the Manicou.  I’m an adventurous eater so that’s not the problem, I just didn’t think it had a great taste, not bad though either – just not a favorite.  (I’ve eaten Iguana here and that is very good.)  John offers Michael a Carib, the great local beer, I’m having water, Nadica’s having Orange Juice and Mikiah is having an Arizona Watermelon drink.  As with most Grenadian meals there’s fresh salad, pigeon peas with rice and wonderful local veggies on the plate.  Garlic bread tops off the meal.

The lovely view from John's restaurant, high up in the mountains looking towards the Atlantic Ocean

The lovely view from John’s restaurant, high up in the mountains looking towards the Atlantic Ocean

It’s fun seeing John’s place and having lunch here.  I love the Grenadian entrepreneurial spirit.  John has taken a nice piece of land with a beautiful view and in addition to building his house, he’s created this bar and small restaurant.  It’s obviously a gathering place for locals and John is enticing the more adventurous tourists to take a walk on the wild side by driving deep into the country for a totally enjoyable, local food experience.  I love Grenada – beautiful country, great food, wonderful people and always fun adventures that turn into unforgettable memories.

You can reach John at 473-406-6273 or  Johng0067@gmail.com

 

Filed Under: Grenada, Restaurant, Travel Tagged With: Grenada, Restaurants, travel

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About Candi and Michael

Michael and I retired early in 2014. We stored everything we couldn't part with (art and prized possessions), sold most everything else, packed a trailer and started traveling full time. We rented a fully furnished house, in a place we always wanted to visit, lived there for 3 months and then we moved onto the next place. We stayed in Grenada for 3 months and ended up buying a house. Now we are modifying the plan a bit and we will live in Grenada and travel part-time. Read More…

Where are we now?

We are both in our home in Grenada.

 

Recent Posts

  • SpiceMas 2022 ~ “D Return” August 25, 2022
  • Shipping Barrels and Extreme Friendship ~ COVID-19 in Grenada December 16, 2020
  • Trying to Patch our Virus Free Bubble ~ COVID-19 in Grenada November 22, 2020
  • Reunited ~ And It Feels So Good! ~COVID-19 in Grenada July 13, 2020
  • The Corona Tango ~ One Step Forward, Two Steps Back ~ COVID-19 in Grenada June 27, 2020
  • Running in Circles, Nowhere to Go ~ COVID-19 in Grenada June 24, 2020
  • Holding Down the Fort, Part 2 ~ Rescue and Recovery/Order Restored ~ COVID-19 in Grenada June 18, 2020
  • Holding Down the Fort, Part 1 ~ Havoc Reigns ~ COVID-19 in Grenada June 14, 2020
  • Sounds of Silence ~ COVID-19 in Grenada April 12, 2020
  • COVID-19 in Grenada April 6, 2020
  • Small Country ~ Big Sadness February 28, 2020
  • Planting Seeds and Creating Sparks ~ Art and Love in Grenada May 22, 2019
  • Down to The Wire ~ Finishing (?) the Patio March 25, 2019
  • Pouring a Patio Extension ~ How Hard Can It Be? March 8, 2019
  • A Day in the Life ~ Picking up Sheila’s Birthday Cake April 9, 2018
  • I’m Famous! ~ (Almost) March 29, 2018
  • A Lesson in Patience ~ The Refrigerator Saga December 11, 2017
  • Taking the Plunge ~ The 2017 Ultimate Travel Writer’s Workshop October 25, 2017
  • Coming Home ~ Sweet, Sweet Home ~ First Impressions March 6, 2017
  • One Roof On, Another Roof Off ~ And Other Changes March 11, 2016
  • The Best of Grenada Sailing Week ~ The Workboat Regatta February 26, 2016
  • Two Steps Forward, No Steps Back ~ Making Progress February 23, 2016
  • Walking the Plank ~ to Dinner February 4, 2016
  • Taking the Inside-Out Concept to the Extreme – No Roof ( … for now ….) February 1, 2016
  • And So It Begins ~ Raising the Roof, Literally! January 26, 2016
  • The Calm Before the Storm ~ Christmas Season in Grenada January 15, 2016
  • Free at Last ~ Clearing our Container through Customs December 26, 2015
  • Best Laid Plans ~ and Murphy’s Law December 16, 2015
  • A Moving Adventure ~ “Bon Voyage”, Container December 14, 2015
  • Research, Procure, Pack, Repeat ~ Buying (everything) for our Grenada home December 5, 2015
  • Coming Home ~ Our First Visit to Our New House December 2, 2015
  • The Ultimate Challenge ~ Remote Project Management in a Third World Country November 29, 2015
  • Living the Dream ~ Buying a house in Grenada September 24, 2015
  • Proceed at Your Own Risk ~ Driving in Grenada (Part 3 of 3) April 16, 2015
  • Proceed at Your Own Risk ~ Driving in Grenada (Part 2 of 3) March 31, 2015
  • Proceed at Your Own Risk ~ Driving in Grenada (Part 1of 3) March 29, 2015
  • Canboulay, J’ouvert, Mas ~ Carriacou Carnival 2015 March 27, 2015
  • “Eat Local” ~ John’s Oceanview Restaurant February 11, 2015
  • Gourmet Grenadian ~ Boots Cuisine February 5, 2015
  • Our First Adventure ~ Welcome to Grenada January 29, 2015
  • Making Home ~ Settling into our Villa in Woburn, Grenada January 27, 2015
  • Canine Captain ~ Mick’s Travel Adventure January 23, 2015
  • Operation Grenada ~ Moving Ourselves to the West Indies January 21, 2015
  • Imagination Revealed ~ Dale Chihuly’s Glass Inspirations December 31, 2014
  • Delectable Ritual ~ Savouring the Sunset December 21, 2014
  • Dinner on a Sandbar ~ Blue Moon Beach Grill November 26, 2014
  • Best Beach Getaway ~ Ocracoke Island November 10, 2014
  • Whirlwind Tour ~ Showcasing the Essence of the Outer Banks November 5, 2014
  • Wild Mustangs ~ An Outer Banks Adventure October 18, 2014
  • Marvelous Moondance ~ Full Lunar Eclipse October 15, 2014
  • An Unexpected Gourmet Delight ~ Mike Dianna’s Grillroom October 12, 2014
  • Personal Chef on Call ~ Chez Michael October 8, 2014
  • An Enchanted Sanctuary ~ Elizabethan Gardens October 5, 2014
  • Fun Music and good food too! ~ Cravings September 30, 2014
  • Chasing the Light ~ Shooting the Bodie Lighthouse at Daybreak September 23, 2014
  • Learning to Fly ~ The Wright Brothers in Kitty Hawk September 10, 2014
  • Creating Home, Again ~ Arriving in the Outer Banks September 5, 2014
  • Farewell Key West ~ C & M “On the Move” August 25, 2014
  • Beautiful Birthday Memories ~ Dinner at Cafe Marquesa August 4, 2014
  • “A Key West Locals Secret” ~ New York Pasta Garden July 29, 2014
  • The Square Grouper ~ And Other Fish Tails July 26, 2014
  • The Locals Hideaway ~ Boca Chica Beach July 24, 2014
  • Tantalizing Tapas ~ Santiago’s Bodega July 21, 2014
  • Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This ~ Moonrise/Sunset Sailing July 18, 2014
  • Happy Wife, Happy Life ~ The Key West Jewelry Bar July 8, 2014
  • ‘Hunker Down’ with Bill Blue and Friends July 3, 2014
  • Local Color ~ Mr. James Chapman July 1, 2014
  • A Mid Summer’s Night Dream & Spectacle ~ Summer Solstice June 25, 2014
  • Savory or Sweet? ~ Key Plaza Creperie June 19, 2014
  • “A Great Place …. if You Can Find It” ~ Hogfish Bar and Grill June 19, 2014
  • ONE HUMAN FAMILY and the Key West Pride Parade June 18, 2014
  • Cajan Delights at the Blossom Cafe June 14, 2014
  • Candi and Michael’s Honey Moon June 14, 2014
  • Hunting for Iguanas June 4, 2014
  • Rainy Day and Café Solé June 2, 2014
  • Exploring Key West May 27, 2014
  • Really settling in May 25, 2014
  • Market Day Delights May 22, 2014
  • Namaste ~ Our Key West home May 17, 2014
  • Arriving in our Key West Paradise May 16, 2014

Tag Cloud

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