my island in the sun

And so the trip began.

(quite obviously it began on a really good note)

Once morning came and we could actually see two feet in front of our faces (Night time means night time there.  The only lights you see are from the stars and the houses of those still awake... otherwise everything is pitch-freaking-black!) we ventures down the small hill to our secluded beach.  As you can see from the sign, the beach is thataway (Points to the left while flexing).

The property had maybe 5 or 6 donkeys.  The first day is the only day we saw them in the 'pen'.  They spent most of their time mowing the lawn of the grounds.  The baby was so dang cute.  (He's the one on the right smilin')  We filled out our customs paperwork and said we weren't in close proximity of livestock.  Don't say anything, eh? 

This is the view.  This is the only view you need, right?  Sit down, drink a glass of juice and/or a cup of coffee and just take in mother nature.  We had no mosquito bites at this time so it was really easy to just kick back outside and enjoy.  

This is the previously mentioned private beach.  The view is from the lodge's grounds.  

No big deal.  Just a jungle of basil at our disposal.  Whaaaat?

A room with a view.  (I'd say!)  Yowza!  

This is a cashew tree.  You can see a green fruit and what looks like a chocolate covered nut attached.  That fruit is edible and delicious.  The cashew is in a thick casing that it needs to be broken out of and dried for awhile before it becomes edible.  Almonds are similar.  We had fresh almonds from a tree on the beach, though.  Gahhh.  I totally appreciate the prices of these things now.  It's a lot of work!

Mangos!  Not ripes yet but still totally tempting, yes?  We ate 6 mangos in 2 days.  Mangos and tropical islands treat each other well.  

I live in San Diego where my street is lined with palm trees but I can't get enough.  I still can't believe I am a San Diego resident.  I really can't believe I just got back from Grenada, either.  

This is what Bruno (the French chef) made for us our second night there.  Banana soup, will you marry me?

This was the second course.  

I finished half.  I was dying by this point.  Sensory overload of awesome.

This is where your chocolate comes from.

They sell to top names like 'Lindt'.  We got to try some beans that weren't quite done drying.  It was crazy learning how it all works. 

Ready to be shipped.  Oh and they're organic!  Sweet.  (Literally)

Now comes the point in the story (aside from the several bug bites I had by this point) where I get totally bummed.  Our kitchen had next to nothing to work with and what I did have was... well... ridiculous.  This pot tipped over unless something was inside.

Not so bad with what we had to work with.  We picked up some goods at the local grocery store.  That was fun.  White pasta and 6 brands of par broiled white rice?  Yes please!  Minced dried soy chunks and ketchup to be used as tomato sauce? Mmm!  (I say that sarcastically but the jerk spiced ketchup was actually really good.  And yes, I will admit that I used it in my pasta sauce.  What of it??)

Waterfall number 1.  Scott went swimming in the pool below it (hidden by greenery in the photo) but I stayed on the rocks to ensure all of our goodies weren't ripped off by our nice 'tour guide'.  He was really informative and friendly!  (Especially at the end when he requested 70 dollars for his 'services')

*cough* pathetic *cough*.  Oh Grenada, I wont miss our homemade meals together.  

This is my new favorite tree.  Cocoa!  They were everywhere.  Seriously.  Every.  Where.  And I loved it.  

 

See the pretty purple pod?  That's going to transform into a beautiful bar of chocolate some day.  *sigh*

Nutmeg shell ground cover.  Ha!  Genius!

We visited this cooperative and learned all sorts of things about spices and fruits.  Scott and I agree that it was one of our favorite activities.  (Much further up on the list than, say, getting turned around in the middle of the rainforest...)

St. George's!  This is where all the tourists go.  

Ummm I guess we went there too.  We were tourists.  

Cool soda is manufactured in St. George's.  Cool, eh?  

Our attempt at making dinner again.  This time I added some mustard as the base of my sauce.  (I say base but the sauce really consisted of nothing else...)

Mmmm

Waterfalls number 2 and 3.  Kenny was our impromptu tour guide.  There's something about walking into the jungle with a man and his machete.  (I don't know what that something is but there is definitely something about that scenario, yes?)  

Walking back to the car after surviving the falls expedition.  In about 10 minutes my butt will get bit 3 times.  Let's just concentrate on the beauty of nature to get our minds off of the bites COVERING MY BODY though, ok?

This is what nutmeg looks like right off the tree.  The outside fruit isn't sweet enough to eat alone.  It's used for marmalades and such.  The alien-like pinkish/reddish fingers covering the shell of the nutmeg are what we fancy chefs call mace.  Weird, right?  

My favorite fruit stand.  I only ate one bite of one of the bananas but it was a damn good bite.  

We made it across the island without turning back 3 times and only had to ask for directions twice.  I didn't take any photos while inside the heart of the island because I was too busy concentrating on the end of my life.  I thought we were goners.  Anyway, the whole point of the trek was to visit Gouyave.  We drove through without stopping.  Ha!  We did stop at this pretty little thang once outside the city limits though.  

An accidentally awesome photo snapped while Scott was driving back to the studio.  Perfectly framed, yes?  

Our last night we ate at the lodge again.  #1 We didn't want to buy more food and waste half of it.  #2 We just didn't want to buy more food.  #3 The meals they cooked for us were divine!  

We have decided that we are going to start using breadfruit in place of potatoes where possible.  The texture and the taste can't be given justice by my description.  

Must.  Finish.  All three.  Courses.  

So we're back home now.  I'm glad to be back but I'm sad the trip is over.  For the most part, everyone was really nice.  The fresh fruit was so good.  The air felt good to breathe.  The night felt like night.  The insects chirped from dusk till dawn.  It was stressful but totally relaxing.  We learned a lot.  We didn't get burnt. (Although I'm quite freckly now) and we got engaged!