Grand Anse, Grenada

Sorry for my several months' abscence from Adventuring South! I have been in Portugal and busy with setting up a travel website (more news once it is launched). However, I still have posting to do for Grenada and St Lucia, and will be publishing more photos in the next few weeks.

Here are some photos of Grand Anse beach on Grenada. 

The beach is just around the coast from Georgetown and is Grenada's longest stretch of white sand. Being volcanic, much of the island has a rocky coast (the southwestern tip which is geologically older is also the sandiest). Grand Anse, because of the sand, is where many of the hotels are located, but it is all fairly low key and quiet, with hotels spread out in large gardens behind the beach (no high-rise complexes). When I was there, there were only a handful of tourists (May/June is still fairly low season), scattered between local families who come to Grand Anse for their daily swim and jog.

View of the coastline and green hills.

 The long stretch of white sand and calm clear seas.

Yellow Alamanda flowers.

Flame trees.

One of the dive shops, built in the traditional wooden style.

Oleander.

A beach bar.

Some of the delicious seasonal local juices. Umm, Tamarind and Golden Apple are some of my favourites.

At the end of the beach closest to Georgetown is an area where small wooden fishing boats are anchored and nets are laid out on the sand to dry. At the back of the beach, fishermen relax and laugh in the shade of Indian almond trees.

Bequia's northeast coast

From Firefly Plantation, I went on to explore a little more of Bequia's northeast coast.

First, I dropped by the Whaleboner silk screen printing workshop. The evening before, as I sat on a bar stool made out of a whale vertebrae (whaling is still permitted on Bequia), I had been served a beer by Angie, owner of the workshop and bar. She said I had to go in and take a look.

Amongst a pile of silk screens, propped up against a wall, I pick out one I liked. It turned out to be the first one made by her late husband, and is still used for printing on t-shirts.

 

Angie showed me how on a long piece of cotton, prints are made one by one, by scraping paint through the silk screen design. In the shop below there were several rolls, along with dresses, t-shirts, place mats and beach bags made at the workshop.

It was now time to see more of the coast, so I carried on walking and first got to the quiet Spring beach, below Firefly Plantation.

Further on, I got to Industry beach. Named after long-forgotten industries such as the production of lime (from the heating of crushed coral) and sugar, there is nothing industrial about Industry beach today. It's quiet, empty and with a landscape of farmsteads, rocky hills and turquoise waters.

After a snorkel from the rocks and before reaching the cliffs, I got to the Old Hegg trutle sanctuary. It was set up in 1995 by skin diving fisherman Orion King, who wanted to put an end to the declining numbers of turtles in local waters (eggs and turtles were hunted by locals). 

He started off by keeping a few hatchlings in tubs of sea water, to later release them (once they had grown and would have a higher chance of survival). Now, there are several large tanks, holding everything from newly hatched turtles to a few larger ones. When I was there, the keeper was busy putting gentian violet on the young ones, to rid them of infections. 

Most are Hawksbill, but there were also a few larger Green turtles.

Part of the mission of the sanctuary is to educate school kids as well as adults about turtles and the need to protect them. Some collecting of eggs and hunting still goes on, but apparently much less so, meaning that numbers should start to come up again.

Banana plantations and black sands

Fair Trade bananas are an important thing in Calibishie and the rest of the island.

Here they are, on the road from Calibishie to Hampstead Bay.

I loved this hut amongst banana palms and croton bushes.

Further on, the road passes through a beautiful forest area.

And then there is a track leading to the black sands and palm groves of Hampstead Bay.

This is where part of Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed.

At the far end, a river flows out to sea below cliffs.

I was the only person on this wave-swept beach.

Amongst the palm groves.

From the minivan bus, which I caught at the side of the road, on the way back to town after a day on the northern beaches.

Icaraí sunset, Rio silhouette

A colourful end to Sunday on Icaraí beach:

Last drinks order, hands on hips, as the sun sets behind Corcovado and Pedra da Gavea.

Altinho between friends, keeping the football up in the air.

Mother looks for something, young daughter looks on.

Multi-tasking: fishing and kissing.

Three friends. What they're talking about is anyone's guess.

Kite in the air.

And more kites in the air, moving this time.

Last game of volleyball, before it gets too dark.

And last game of beach football.

Coconut-water kiosk in profile.

 

Volleyball post and the last players.



The Sugar Loaf and Corcovado in a popcorn cart.



Must be serious now. Fishing, but no kissing.