Granada … My future home!

With strong winds, we arrived in Granada three days earlier than anticipated so we anchored in a bay right outside of the parish of St. Georges (Granada is divided into six parishes, or regions, each named after a Christian saint). If you have ever been on a ship at anchor only hundreds of meters away from a Caribbean paradise, while still having to attend classes, you know what it’s like. For the rest of you, imagine someone licking a cone of your favourite ice cream right in front of your face in the hot sun and not offering you a single taste. It was TORTURE!

Finally it was arrival time and we came dockside mid afternoon, ready for some highly anticipated shore leave. My first impression of Granada was that it was one giant reggae party. Even when we were at anchor, we could hear Bob Marley blaring out from beach parties, buses and bars. The first day we strolled along the Caranage (a sea wall in the main part of town) and each bought a book from the used bookstore. I chose Jane Auten’s Emma. We also bought a couple of groceries (including some exciting North American products that we hadn’t seen for five months such as Arizona Iced Tea and Mott’s Apple Sauce) and rode a reggae bus to the main beach. Although quite a tourist hub, it was still beautiful. It was sandy, the water was turquoise and perfect and we spend a lovely afternoon lazing about in the sunshine reading.

The following day the port program was going to St. Georges University. The university is an American accredited institution that is known for its medical and veterinary schools. The campus was BEAUTIFUL. We toured around and learned about the various programs. Next, we listened to a lecture on Caribbean history and after lunch we walked down to the marine biology building (which was RIGHT on the water and had yet another gorgeous ocean view) and listened to another lecture, this time about marine and land-based local wildlife. It was really cool. By the end of the day, we were convinced that St. Georges University in Granada was for us …

On our full day of shore leave, a group of students and I rented a reggae bus that drove us to the famous collection of waterfalls on the island – The Seven Sisters.  It was AMAZING. We were only able to hike to the first two waterfalls (the others are a lot more dangerous to get to) and we spent an hour or so jumping off the waterfall into an icy pool below. It was exhilarating.

After our waterfall adventure our guides drove us to Guave for a tour of the fish market. On the drive there we stopped multiple times along the road to learn about the various methods of agriculture, banana crops and nutmeg. (Did you know that cinnamon does not originally come in sticks? Cinnamon is the bark off a certain tree that is rolled up and dried). The fish market was really cool. There were numerous stalls selling everything from spice necklaces to smoothies (and of course, fish). Music was playing from a sound system that was set up throughout the market and drummers accompanied the beat. I drank a delicious guava smoothie and ate yummy salted plantain chips – it was all really good! We hung out for a while and then slowly made our way back to the ship, reggae music still blasting from the bus.

For our other port program, we went sailing on a catamaran (because we don’t sail enough, right?). We went snorkelling at a couple of spots around the island. One place we visited was an underwater sculpture museum. It was SO COOL. There were life-sized people carved and set up on the bottom of the ocean! We spent lots of time lying of the deck of the catamaran, just relaxing. It is something I feel I have almost forgotten how to do! Unfortunately, I may have only put on sunscreen once and … lets just say I got a little crispy. Whoops - I definitely learned my lesson!

Despite the sunburn, Granada was a truly unbelievable port. I am super excited to see the rest of the Caribbean! Dominica up next!