Mt. Carmel Waterfall

Hiking never was a real hobby of mine until moving to Grenada. Nature abounds here and I would be amiss if I passed on the opportunity to discover natural beauty. Apparently others agree with me. We, the SOs of Grenada, decided to make a trip to Mt. Carmel waterfalls. Twenty-something of us piled into a couple of taxis and took off on our hour-long ride up the northeast side of the island.

 Also known as the Marquis Falls, Mt. Carmel has two waterfalls. One is tall, majestic, and definitely one you don't want to jump from. It is the tallest waterfall on the island with over 70 feet of cascading water. The second midgets in comparison but holds popularity for its natural waterslide. The rocks have smoothed from either erosion or algae. Regardless, the falls made a great place to slide 'n swim.

 During our trip I was labelled a "cold baby." The title refers to my acquired inability to adjust to cold temperatures. It is true; I fear for when I return to Canada in May to find myself without winter clothes in a winter atmosphere. You laugh but 24˚ weather is no joke anymore.

Thankfully the hike and sunshine warmed me enough to dunk myself into the cool river water. Freshwater felt so clean compared to the salty Caribbean Sea. The pool was deep enough to swim in but had boulders nearby for some leisurely bathing.

Sliding, swimming, and chatting did not lack but we found ourselves with excess time so we seized the opportunity to lime on a new beach. La Sagasse beach hides itself away in a beautiful bay. The sand is finer than any beach I've visited and the water remained fairly shallow making wading a nice experience. Dozens of palm trees create shade for picnics and midday naps. La Sagasse is the quietest Grenadian beach I've visited and has a lovely beachside restaurant. The resort seems romantic, though I didn't tour the grounds. 

We limed for a couple of hours before making our way home. Despite the leisurely nature of our trip, I was exhausted and may have indulged in a three hour nap. :)

If you would like more information on La Sagasse resort, visit their website here. The rates are reasonable and seem well worth the price.

Monday Morning Story

I usually don't write about my random happenings in Grenada...but I've decided that some stories are too funny not to share. This morning provided such a tale.

Zoey loves her morning walk!

Backstory: Zoey and I try to walk down the street at least once per day. We typically prefer to walk in the mornings and I'm sure you would too, if you wore a fur coat. We have our circuit which passes several restaurants, the police station, and several resorts.

Today began with the 5:30am alarm screaming at Justin and me to get to the gym.  I may or may not have slept another 10 minutes before I was ready to head out the door. We fulfilled our exercise duties for the day, came home, ate breakfast, washed dishes. Justin made his way to school while I continued my morning routine walk with Zoey.

As we strolled toward the police station, a squad car was backing into his parallel parking spot so we crossed the street. The officer saw me walking past and beckoned me up to his car window. I did, and our conversation went something like this.

Police Officer: Are you in the School of Med?

Me: No. {smiling}

Police Officer: Are you in school?

Me: No. {still smiling}

Police Officer: You look very young.

Me: ..well..thank you?!?

Police Officer: No, really. You look sixteen or seventeen. You should be in school. {he says authoritatively, looking at me suspiciously}

Me: Oh! No, I'm twenty-two and my husband is in the school of med.

Police Officer: Okay. Carry on.

And the walk continued.

I couldn't help but laugh when Zoey and I turned the corner. I'm sure he just wanted to ensure that the youth population be properly educated and prepared to face the future. Too bad he chose the girl in gym clothes walking a prissy, little dog. Better luck next time, mon.

The Royal Grenadian Police Force

Just Keep Swimming.

I've been a neglectful blogger. For that I apologize. I'll make it up by showing you one of the best experiences I've had in Grenada. Can you guess what it is?

Snorkeling!!
Justin's parents travelled hundreds of miles to visit us in our tiny Caribbean home. St. George's University invites families to visit the campus for a bi-annual Family Weekend. Mom and Dad accepted the invitation leading us to a crazy, fun-filled week on the Isle of Spice.

Apparently, the Caribbean is one of the places to snorkel. Dad decided to purchase snorkel equipment before trekking south. Both have been excited about the prospect of viewing the world under the blue sea. Winds can create turbid water difficult for snorkeling so I was hoping their anticipation was not in vain.

It wasn't. The weather was perfect.
Seriously, perfect.

 Thursday marked Grenada's 39th year of independence. We decided to spend the holiday celebrating Grenada's natural beauty! Unfortunately, Justin had a big exam the upcoming Monday which left the three of us to have all the fun. And fun we had!

 Dad went extravagant by purchasing an underwater camera. Neither of us had ever used one but we were excited to become underwater photographers. We played around with the camera and ended up with some nice shots.

Here are some of the lovely scenes dad and I captured.

 Magazine beach provided the lovely waters for our dive. It's not as popular of a beach but seems to be well-known for the great amateur snorkeling spots.

 The three of us swam, ate, laughed, sun-bathed, and returned home tired and happy.

I'm definitely taking Justin next time.

If you want an underwater camera of your own, here's what I have.

The deep-down you.

They say people never change, not really. I don't feel that I've enough life experience to warrant a valid opinion, but I do feel that people coerce themselves to be different from who they think they are deep down. Sometimes they end up bringing out some of their person they just hadn't met yet. Most of the time their change is just for fun.

Take Justin, for example. College brought out the sweet, caring, nice guy in him. Marriage has brought out the...well, the crazy in him. He wooed me with his quiet ways and calm demeanor but now I also cry from laughter at his unexpected antics.

This is one of them.

Justin's parents make their way to Grenada next week so my dearest decides to welcome his family in the most shocking way imaginable. I mean, pretty much.

He decides that he wants corn rows. 

His puffy blonde hair has been growing since August for this one momentous day. With the help of a classmate, he endured hours of pain to become his true, beautiful self.

Before photo

Completion photo

Honestly I didn't think he would go through with it. My opinion concluded that the idea would be fun to think about but would never really happen. I was wrong.

I was cooking supper when he came home. Thankfully my brilliant man lured me away from boiling pots so I wouldn't hurt anyone...because I was shocked enough to drop anything that would have been in my hands.

Corn rows hurt. Just sayin'. I had a few in December to wow my parents with my Caribbean-ness. Wasn't worth it at all. The lady who did them claimed that the pain would subside as they loosened. Nope. Life was filled with pain; even sleeping felt like an accomplishment when hours were spent merely to find a comfortable head position. Like I said, not worth it.

With his whole head done, Justin's world was an uncomfortable one. Exams are coming up (already!) so vain distractions had to be eliminated. We took out the plaits one-by-one while I documented the process. (Solely for his parents' sake. Obviously.)

First braid out

The hilariousness of the photos made this experience completely invaluable, as was the "Badass!!" comment he received at school. Yeah, that's my husband.

In the end, we had to take an Einstein picture. It was a required part of the corn row process.

Do something that's not you just for the heck of it. You may be meeting a little part of yourself for the very first time.