Had a tour booked with ToursByLocals that was originally going to hike to the summit of one of the mountain peaks but the trail was washed out by rain, so we pivoted to a whole host of different activities instead per recommendation of my local guide Roger.
Morning Lap
Started the day with an obligatory lap to check the weather and view. We supposedly got into port around 8 AM but I was sleeping since my tour didn’t start till 10 AM.
Upon getting to deck 12, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was relatively cool and not terribly windy. Some really nice mist and fog in the distance as well…
Captain was chatting with a few folks and I overheard him say that we were the last ship to leave CoCo Cay and that we were lucky to not be super impacted by the storms that have impacted so many cruise itineraries in the Caribbean.
Touring the Island
First stop at Grand Etang. We drove up the mountain with some steep inclines and curves that were not for the faint of heart. Stopped to see a rainbow eucalyptus tree on the way, which was fun.
As we traveled i learned a lot about Grenada and their culture from my guide Roger. As we walked down to the lake, I noticed it definitely was cooler in the nice clear mountain air. We ran into a 4×4 tour but waited a few minutes for them to leave, and another tour was right behind us as well, seemed like one of the popular spots, but not a ton to see here, other than the one viewpoint.
Seven Sisters Waterfall Hike
Next, we went on a hike to Seven Sisters Waterfall. Lots of spices and fruit trees that Roger pointed out along the way as we walked down to the trail.
The trail itself was super muddy and slippery. I took a really nice time lapse of the hike with the GoPro as we traveled to the waterfall, traversing many inclines and treading through multiple streams as well (no worries…I didn’t lose any oxen or axels).
We were going relatively slowly and all was well until we came across another party walking in the other direction. To be a good human being, I tried to move to the side so they could pass and as I moved the world beneath me crumpled away (not really… just stepped on a slippery rock).
I did my best baby giraffe impression, trying to stay upright but at a certain point I bailed and tried to at least not land on my camera…I managed to try to raise it up, but still smashed the 200-600mm lens into a rock…
I popped back up…more embarrassed and worried about my camera and being muddy than anything else, but ended up trying to rinse off a little with a bottle of water and cleaned off my camera… while trying not to get dirt into the lens and body (or any more). To my surprise, I took a couple sample pictures and things look like they made it relatively ok! Disaster semi averted.
Not worrying about the camera anymore we trudged on and I noticed my right knee was giving me a little twinge… same knee that’s been giving me some issues all year (including at the stockholm marathon). A little annoying and painful for the rest of the day.
As we made it to the end we came out to a glorious stream and double waterfall. To get to the waterfall we had to slowly cross the steam… water came up to knee length but also helped wash off the dirt I had collected on me.
Ran into Jenny and Christian from the cruise (go their content out over at Instagram or Facebook) on the way.
The hike back was rough, which I knew it would be. We went downhill the whole way there, so of course we had to go back up the tall rocks on my bum knee carrying all the gear. It was tough but I had to get out of the trail either way, so I used my tripod as a hiking stick and we eventually made it dripping and drenched in sweat from the heat and humidity.
River Tubing!
Next Roger surprised me with a River Tubing stop… which was SO INCREDIBLY FUN. You sit on an inner tube and go down the river… almost like white water rafting without the danger.
The guides are amazing. They swam after and helped get us unstuck, pushed us in the right directions when there was danger and generally just made the whole time enjoyable.
Super relaxing and refreshing as the water was nice and cool and rinsed me off after the super hot and humid hike (and tumble in the mud).
Had some incredible footage here too, but at some point it looked the guide in front of me lost their tube, so my guide went forward to rescue them and I got a new guide (they basically swapped positions while the first guide got a new tube). He was also great but didn’t get the memo that I had a GoPro on me, so somewhere the second half of the trip it must’ve gotten dislodged and is at the bottom of the river somewhere (#losttoy).
Sob Sob. Not so upset about the GoPro…stuff can be replaced but no more footage of the hike and tubing, and it’s lost to mother nature…also…pollution).
We exchanged contact info and they said they’ll look when the water clears up in a week but I’m not hopeful that they’ll find it….sad day.
Monkeys
We made another stop just to double check and luck would have it that the monkeys were out and interacting with people! They live somewhere in the reserve but randomly will make appearances.
Very peculiar creatures, but looked very fluffy. I was good with photos without the touching and standing, but people really enjoyed the interaction. Interesting little fellow, and the guide there noted their blue balls :).
Last Stop: Chocolate
At this point, I was starting to feel not great. I don’t normally get too motion sick, but the combination of the aggressive starting and stopping driving up and down the mountain and curves as well as the altitude and my throbbing knee (and the humidity) was really getting to me.
I asked that we stop the tour and head back so i could lay down and take a nap. On the way, we did one last stop at a local chocolate company (not one of the big mass produced ones).
They showed me the whole process of seed to tree to harvest to sorting to grinding to curing to molding. All done by hand for quality control. Very interesting even though I don’t eat a ton of chocolate (yeah, I know I’m weird).
Afterwards, we went to the garden and got to see some of their plants including a ylang ylang, which definitely smelled familiar (apparently Chanel N°5).
Back to Boat
We finished the tour and went back to the city. Still had a little headache from the driving and heat, but we got back safely and ended the tour. All in all, a beautiful island, just a little too chaotic for my tastes (driving wise), and some unfortunate moments, but an enjoyable overall! Roger was a great guide. Find him over at Instagram.
Back on the Boat
I trudged back to my stateroom feeling more exhausted than I have in a long time. After cleaning the camera equipment and a nice shower, I went down to wander for just a bit. Normally the Starbucks line looks long and I don’t particularly get a ton of coffee but there was no one there, so I got a nice Iced Chai with Almond Milk and some of the snacks to tide me over.
It was nice to sit for a second in a stationary position (relatively) but when I got up I noticed that apparently I had bruised my tailbone somewhere. Maybe the car ride up and down, or when I fell, or maybe I hit a rock in the inner tube and didn’t notice…but sitting and standing is a PAIN now 😅. Took one more picture of Grenada in the sun and headed back to my stateroom about an hour before we were set to take off.
I ended up taking a 4 hour nap, which I didn’t realize how much I needed, but still woke up in time for dinner.
Food
Dinner was some of the old staples. The tacos were great again and the pork chop was so big and delicious, the pistachio creme brule was good too, but the star of the night was the panna cotta…can’t describe how good it was, but look at the jiggle.
Squatting
Still felt a little groggy and out of it, but set up at the pub to edit some photos and watch a couple games. Had the football game on in front of me, the Minnesota Wild game on my laptop and listening in one ear and listening to the music in the pub with my other open ear.
The pub tonight was particularly rocking tonight and had a really fun vibe all around with Daniel (the guitarist). One day I’ll get some footage, but starting to see some regulars there which I’m sure I’ll get to know over the next 9 months!
Also, incredible win by the Wild tonight..and the Timberwolves won too which I was following on the side (just the box score).
Running
Must have gotten a second wind or something from all the singing, cause I felt good enough to go try out my knee on a slow 5k upstairs on the track. It was super windy and humid but the knee held up OK (ish). We’ll see tomorrow morning how it feels.
Vibes
1 part joy – nice day in nature
4 parts sadness – exhausted, and sad to lose footage, and body hurts…
Feedback
Leave a comment or question if you have any thoughts! Anything you want to know about as we go around the world? Any things you want to share as feedback, or any images that particularly spoke to you. I’ll try to read all of them as time permits!
Matti 
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