Concord and Fontainbleu Waterfalls Grenada (Part 2)

Feet dry……….but not for long!   

The water crossings varied from leaps across rocks to calf/knee deep wading. Some had large bamboo poles across as helpful handrails and some had very slippery rocks which resulted in someone getting soggy feet.

Our first glimpse of the Fontainbleu waterfall   

The sides of the valley got steeper and with the lush green vegetation we loved the wild atmosphere of the place and the feeling that we were almost the first people to explore this part of the valley. Eventually, we got our first glimpse of the Fontainbleu waterfall and we immediately decided that it was much better than the more commercialised Concord waterfall lower down.

Nicky enjoying the ‘swimming under the waterfall’ experience   

We had the place completely to ourselves and were able to swim in the pool right under the waterfall. The water was surprisingly warm and we both stayed in for 10 minutes but could have done so for much longer. Instead we towelled ourselves dry and then sat on a rock supping some beers we had brought with us. It was a brilliant experience and well worth the trek up from the bus stop.

Heading back down the valley   

We were pretty much done when we were joined by another group. Phil runs a couple of marinas on the east coast of the US and had fallen in love with Grenada when he had first sailed here. Now he has a house on the island and was showing some of his guests the waterfalls. We left them to enjoy it on their own as we had and headed back down the valley, on the way passing another 2 groups walking up, each with guides from the Concord falls. We think we got the better experience doing a DIY job.

Gouvaye

Back on the main road we waited to flag down a bus to get us a few more miles up the coast to the town of Gouvaye (pronounced Gwaave). Typically, we had just bought a coconut and were supping the water from where its top had been cleaved off with a machete when the bus turned up. We squeezed into the last couple of seats and tried to stop the coconut water from slopping out as the bus set off at top speed [Ed: there’s a theme emerging about the speed of the buses on all of the Caribbean islands we have visited].

Gouvaye actually turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. So much so that whilst we wandered up and down I didn’t actually take any pictures. More spices are grown on Grenada per square mile than anywhere else in the world and the island is the world’s second largest producer of nutmeg. Gouvaye has one of the Grenada’s 2 main nutmeg processing factory in it, a couple of rundown churches and lots of bars. For us it seemed to be missing something and so we didn’t stay too long, instead we took a bus back to St George’s.

View from the bar at the Grenada Yacht Club   

We’d left our dinghy on the Grenda Yacht Club dinghy pontoon and so it only seemed fair to stop and enjoy a beer at their bar. It has lovely balcony overlooking the lagoon and the marina on the far side. There are definitely worse places to relax and enjoy a cool one.

St George’s, Grenada