Sharing Travel Experiences

Location Independent in Grenada

by Andy Hayes

Our location independent travels take us to another sunny destination this month: Grenada, in the Caribbean.

Island Paradise

Grenada is a chain of many islands and known as the Spice Isle – cinnamon, coca, ginger, and nutmeg being a few of the delicacies you’ll find here.  (If you like nutmeg, you can buy it in many forms – jelly, syrup, and even medicinal ointments!)   Grenada is also known for it’s rum – both the kind you can’t export (75% alcohol) and the kind you can. Be careful with the petro-infused stuff; you can get illicitly made drinks that can take down even the toughest of drinkers.  Don’t ruin your holiday!

A somewhat contoversial topic is the Flamenco dancing once can see at the Caves of Sacramonte.  Some say that local talent has been forced out and now these are no more than an assembly line production for tourism.  I won’t comment further except to say that you should check it out for yourself to decide.

Insider Secrets

I asked Lea Woodward, who spent some time in Grenada as a Location Independent professional, if she’d give us some insider perspective on this Caribbean island.

What’s the local life like in Grenada when you get beyond the palm trees and sunny shoreline?

Beyond the palm tress & beach life, we found Grenada a pretty enterprising island. From our local coconut seller (who halfway through our first stay introduced a broken fridge filled with ice to chill the water nuts & therefore charge more for them) to our cleaner who discussed frequent ideas with us to raise money for her local church, to the locals we first stayed with on our first visit who ran several businesses from home – life in Grenada isn’t just about being laid back, chilling on the beach with a sundowner in one hand and sunscreen in the other. It’s full of interesting, enterprising characters who are more than happy to let you into their lives if you stop to take an interest. That’s one thing I love about location independent professional (LIP) life…you get the time to get to know these people when you stay somewhere for longer as a LIP.

Jonathan also had a few interesting experiences training/playing football with a bunch of competitive Grenadians for a few weeks – none of whom spoke a word to him and weren’t averse to the odd hard kick to his shins when he managed to get past them!

What would be the Top 5 insider tips & must-see experiences?

• Go for a drive around the island, especially head up North where it’s much quieter and far less touristy. If you stop off at one of the towns/villages, it’s worth finding a local “restaurant” to eat at. I say “restaurant” in quotation marks since more often than not, they’re the front room of someone’s house which they open up at meal times, put a table with a few chairs out and serve just one type of meal to anyone who stops by. It’s a great way of tasting the local food and also chatting to people you probably wouldn’t otherwise meet.
• A visit to the waterfalls is also a nice change from the beach scene. Because most of them are in the interior of the island, the climate changes somewhat and is much fresher and more pleasant. Some of the waterfalls require a bit of a hike to reach but there are a couple which can easily be reached by car and, if you go in off season, you’ll have the place to yourself.  Check out Concord Falls, which was a previous Grenada travel recommendation by reader Sharon Hurley Hall.
• We really enjoyed Friday nights at Prickly Bay Marina – with a reggae band, pretty decent thin crust pizzas and a really relaxed vibe. It’s not necessarily a “locals” thing though, unless you count the yachting crowd as locals.
• If you stay in an apartment with a kitchen & can cook for yourself, the fish market is worth visiting to get something for your dinner. Fresh off the boats, you select whatever catch you like the look of, get it expertly gutted & skinned by the guys there and head home to enjoy some of the freshest fish around. It’s really good value too – and much better than the stuff you’ll find in the supermarket.
• As mentioned in Monday’s chocolate travel article, if you’re a bit of a chocolate connoisseur or you just want an excuse to eat chocolate, then pick up a bar of Grenada chocolate. It’s delicious (and only available in the UK by mail order from specialist retailers). You can also visit the Estate where they pick the cocoa beans – and while the chocolate factory is no longer open to visitors (at least it wasn’t when we were last there), it’s a good excuse for a little day trip out!
• Fish Friday is also a fun thing to do – head to the fishing village of Gouyave to enjoy all things seafood with a fun, pretty relaxed atmosphere. If you’re going for the food, make sure you get there early as they do run out of the best stuff and it’s a pretty long journey to make only to find the food has gone.

A great resource run by a local couple out there (a German expat & a local, I believe) is www.grenadaexplorer.com The forum is excellent and if you have any questions, they’ll go out of their way to help answer them. Or, of course, the STE travel concierge.

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If you think Grenada sounds like the place for you, why not visit the Location Independent website where you can pick up your copy of Little LIP Guide to Grenada.

If you want more help about location independent living, check out my review of X Marks the Spot, a fantastic book in which Lea and Jon Woodward talk about their experiences of relocating and becoming location independent.

Photos by Jason Pratt

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