Concord and Fontainbleu Waterfalls Grenada (Part 1)

Grenada has several waterfalls which our guide and pilot books suggested were worth visiting. We asked about bus times at the Tourist Office in St George’s and decided that we should aim to visit the Concord waterfall and the Fontainbleu fall a bit of a hike further up the same valley. The buses on Grenada are minibuses, which run to no set timetable, departing the main termini when they have enough passengers on board. We took our bus from the bus station in St George’s and headed up the coast road on the west side of the island. We were dropped at Concord, almost at the bottom of the high-sided valley, and set off up the inland road.

Charcoal Burners   

It was not a busy road and for the first kilometre or so we walked past lots of local houses. It was real mix of older houses like the one pictured above, many on stilts because of the slope, plus some bang up to date ones with electric gates at the end of their drive. We even chatted to one lady who sang the British national anthem for us as she had done every day when she had been at school!

It was warm work walking up the slope but not a warm as the charcoal burners’. The smell of freshly made charcoal enveloped us as we turned the corner where they had their charcoal pit right beside the road. Whilst we spent the day walking up to the waterfalls, they spent it raking out and bagging up the charcoal from the latest production run.

From about a kilometre up the road the houses began to peter out and the scenery became much wilder-looking although there were small farmed areas on either side of the road. The river became the main feature in the valley but we were still walking on a metalled road.

Concord waterfall   

Arriving at Concord waterfall it was immediately clear that it was geared up for visitors arriving by taxi. Refreshments were available and there was a small charge for access to the pool under the waterfall. We were met by a guide/security guard who explained that trekking further up the valley would involve water crossings. We could go it alone but a guide was recommended as “many tourists get lost and turn back”.

Looking down the valley from Concord waterall   

Working on the basis that all we had to do was follow the river and eventually we’d get to the waterfall we turned down the offer of a guide service. However, the advice that we would face at least 6 water crossings, only one of which actually had a bridge because most of the bridges had been washed away when hurricane Ivan hit in 2004

Cocoa (L), coconuts, bananas and nutmeg surrounded by bright red mace   

The road stopped at the Concord waterfall and so, after our first calf-deep wade across the river [Ed: barefoot, we should have taken beachshoes!], we were on a track which was cobbled in places. The track wound its way up, past more cultivated areas. We realised that all the produce we saw would have to be carried out on the same route we were taking. We saw cocoa, coconut and banana trees and, in one remote area which was not part of a farm, nutmeg trees. Several of the peach-like fruit had fallen and split revealing the nutmeg encased in bright red mace. Irritatingly, I had just bought a bag of overpriced nutmeg from the market in St George’s and here we could (and did!) just pick up a handful of them off the ground.

St George’s, Grenada