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Caribbean Travel RoundupNewsletter - Paul Graveline, Editor |
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Trip 5/99 On May 8th, my wife Margo and I set off for a bit of adventure and fun - our first sailboat charter on our own. We had decided to go to the British Virgin Islands, where we had sailed as crew some years back with Margo's sister and brother-in-law, Nina and Forest. There are three sets of "Virgin" Islands. Going from West to East from Puerto Rico, one first encounters the Spanish Virgin Islands, of which the largest are Vieques and Culebra. Just East of those Islands are the American Virgin Islands - St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix - which were originally the Danish Virgin Islands. Adjacent to St. John are the British Virgin Islands, of which the largest Island is Tortola, containing the capital city of Roadtown. Other large islands in the group are Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke. The BVI's, as they are called, consist of about 50 islands and run in a northeasterly direction for about 40 miles. A number of smaller islands - Norman, Cooper, Ginger, Peter, Salt, etc. run parallel and south of Tortola, but about five to ten miles away, creating a 10 mile by 40 mile channel known as the Sir Francis Drake Channel. Adjacent to Salt Island is the wreck of the HMS Rhone from 1867, one of the best preserved wreck sites and in relatively shallow (40' to 80') water. The Rhone is the ship wreck that was featured in the movie "The Deep'. I looked everywhere for Jacqueline Bisset in a wet T-shirt, but I guess she's no longer hanging around there. The channels are volcanic in nature, so that they generally have very steep hillsides and rise steeply away from the water. The reciprocal of this formation is that the water becomes quite deep very close to shore. This makes for an ideal sailing area, since one doesn't have to worry too much about running aground in shallows. Since Margo and I had not handled a larger boat than our 27', nor had we any real experience in anchoring, we decided to combine some instruction in these areas with our cruise. We had arranged for an instructor for the first day and a half, before we would set off on our own. We were chartering a Beneteau 32' sailboat (We tried to get a larger one, but they were all reserved prior to our commitment to this trip). Beneteau is a French company and the largest sailboat manufacturer in the world. We flew to Tortola via San Juan on a Saturday, arriving around 6 pm. We were picked up at the airport by a taxi driver arranged by our chartering company. His name was Alexander and he evidently received his driving instruction from the "Bat-out-of-hell" maniac driving school. We enjoyed our 200 mph trip over the winding and twisting narrow roads from the airport to our hotel. We may have hyperventilated a bit, but it was really quite nice if you kept your eyes shut. We stayed at a Hotel called the Fort Burt, which was built on the site of an original fort built in 1653 by the Dutch. The fort was rebuilt by the British in 1953 and only rebuilt/converted into a hotel in the 1970's. It sits up on a hill overlooking the main harbor in Roadtown. Sunday we headed across the street to the marina where our boat was and to Tortola Marine Management (TMM) the chartering company we had chosen. We received a chart briefing about where to go and where not to, etc., etc., and our food arrived and Margo supervised it's loading into the boat. We met our instructor, a tall, thin fellow name of Tom, who has been living on his boat in the BVI with his lady companion for about ten years. Tom was both a former marine as well as a former policeman. He is very knowledgeable about sailing, but you might say he was not the embodiment of the "gentler, kinder" school of sailing instruction. At any rate, Tom soon had me backing out of our slip at the dock, turning to head out to sea, then turning and re-docking about six times or so, all the while I was becoming much more comfortable with the boat's handling characteristics under power. For you non-sailors, sailing vessels can be somewhat difficult to handle under power, particularly going backward, because the presence of a keel, in combination with the angle made between the propeller and the water, causes "prop walk" or a tendency of the boat to turn in a particular direction, usually different than the direction in which you want to go. It also requires a bit of finesse to stop a 10,000 pound boat exactly where you want it (without brakes), i.e., just short of ramming into the boat in front of you at the dock. We then took the boat out and sailed across the Sir Francis Drake Channel to Peter Island's eastern end. This is a gorgeous bay known as Deadman's Bay with a picture-perfect sand beach. The name comes from the supposition that Edward Teach, otherwise known as "Blackbeard", buried some treasure around here and then dealt "harshly" with anyone seeking his treasures. On the anchoring, Margo takes the helm and I handle the anchor, a job to which I am well suited, since it requires a weak mind and a strong back (to lift a 20+ lb. anchor and 20 feet of heavy chain - You try pulling that baby up out of the water two or three times in a row!). After successfully anchoring, and a few criticisms from Tom for failing to do things that he had somehow forgotten to tell us about, we pulled up anchor and headed back to the marina in Roadtown, where Tom went home to his boat and Margo and I went to the local restaurants. The following day was pretty much a repeat of the first, except this time we sailed to Norman Island, a bit further South and sort of behind Peter Island. There is a natural harbor at Norman Island called "The Bight", which is where we were. We picked up a mooring and ate lunch, then resumed our anchoring practice. We remember Norman Island from our previous trip. While we did not go there this time, nearby the Bight are caves at water level, which are supposed to have figured into Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island". I remember previously dinghying to the caves and snorkeling outside the caves with Nina and Forest. We completed our anchoring practice and sailed back "home" to the Marina - Charter Company base, where I again docked the boat. Another night of delicious West Indian food!! I think curried Conch (pronounced "Conk") was my favorite. The following day we set out on our own. I have forgotten to mention one of the primary reasons we kept coming back to the Charter Base to spend our nights - Joyce. Joyce is one of those West Indian woman of indeterminate age who made us a cup of very strong but very delicious coffee each morning. I want to return to Tortola if for no other reason that to have more of Joyce's coffee. After coffee, we headed southeast out into the Sir Francis Drake Channel and after heading in that direction for several miles, tacked (turned, for you landlubbers!) to a northeasterly direction. We were headed directly for Virgin Gorda and Tortola was on our left as we were heading parallel to her shoreline. We continued along the length of Tortola and past adjacent Beef Island (which is where the airport is. The two islands are so close at one point, that a short bridge connects them). We also passed a smaller island in front of the two called Buck Island. After some tacking back and forth to get ourselves in the right position, we turned 90 degrees and headed northwest along the "back" side of Beef Island. We finally came to our first overnight stop, called Trellis Bay. We dropped our sails and motored into Trellis and picked up a mooring. This was cause for celebration so we broke out our authentic West Indian food - hot dogs - and had lunch. Trellis Bay is a large U-shaped bay with a very small (1/2 acre or so) island in the center of the "U". This is Bellamy Cay (pronounced "Key") and the home to the Last Resort, a funky kind of restaurant/bar/nightclub. Since there was an occasional drizzle (more of a mist, really), we didn't go swimming, but instead relaxed on the boat and congratulated ourselves for having found the bay and mooring. While the islands only require "eyeball" navigation, those eyeballs can play tricks on you. Things do not look the same from the water as they do on a map. On a map, the different land masses are very clear and distinct. On the water, one island in front of another looks like one land mass and coastal indentations are never the same in reality as they appear on the map. Luckily, just prior to our trip Margo had completed a Power Squadron course on Piloting, and she was busy with the charts and taking bearings on various recognizable land features, so that we always knew where we were and she got us right to the place we were supposed to be. Amazing how that works. Henceforth, she will be known as "Margo, the Navigator". After dinner on the boat, we took the dinghy to the Last Resort for a drink and the evening show, consisting of a combination singer/joke teller. We also saw Vanilla, the white pet donkey who roams around this 1/2 acre island, who comes to an opening in the door so patrons can feed him. We thought the musical highlight of the evening was when the entertainer played his harmonica and all the dogs on the Cay (about 10 - 12) all started howling in tune (Not!!) to the harmonica throughout the song. Has to be experienced to be believed. Makes even rap music sound good. The one joke told by the musician (remember who is telling the joke) that I remember and liked was about three people who go to heaven and are met by St. Peter's administrative Assistant. The AA asks the first what he did on earth. He replied "I was a very successful lawyer and made a $100,000/year". The AA was impressed and turned to the next person, who said "I was a successful brain surgeon and I made $250,000/year". The AA was again impressed and turned to the third person, who said "I made $9,417 last year", whereupon the AA says "Oh, and what instrument do you play?". The following morning we bid farewell to Trellis Bay. We now had to thread our way between two islands - Great Camanoe and Little Camanoe. This was neither as easy nor as obvious as one might think, since the passage between them was narrow, with rocks on both sides. Beckoning seductively was the wide open passage between Little Camanoe and Tortola, a passage as shallow as it was wide, and one in which we surely would have run aground. After successfully making it through the passage, we headed southwest along and parallel to Tortola. Our goal for the day was Cane Garden Bay, a spot of reputed beauty and sand beaches about 2/3 of the way along Tortola's shoreline. The day was overcast and the winds were dead astern. Rather than risk an accidental jibe in the constantly shifting winds (when the wind gets behind the sail and causes the boom to swing violently across the boat, possibly damaging the mast and certainly anyone hit by the boom), we primarily motored along. As luck would have it, because of the difficulty in "reading" the different land shapes and determining our position, in combination with the fact that we were a good 1 1/2 to 2 miles offshore, making it difficult to differentiate areas on land, we overshot our destination, and went all the way to the very end of Tortola. Since this was our intended destination two days hence, we decided to rearrange our schedule and went into Soper's Hole, a narrow and very deep bay at what is known as West End . This refers not only to the geographic area we were in, but is the name of the small community around Soper's Hole. This area requires using a mooring, because most of the bay, except for right by shore, has a depth of around 70 feet, which is too deep for anchoring (The anchor lines wouldn't be long enough for that depth). After a lunch of brie and bagel chips (Basic food groups), we sat on the boat for a while, watching all our neighbors. Margo particularly enjoyed watching the ferrys from St. Thomas come and go and maneuver alongside the dock and customs shed. I was more interested in the 65' motor boat moored next to us, with a home port of the Cayman Islands. I figure that I've heard so many tales of the high rollers from the Cayman Islands, that whoever appeared would be of interest. Unfortunately, I never saw a soul on the boat; however, it was lit at night, so maybe the parties were below. After a while we took the dinghy to the wharf, which had a bunch of shops in colorful West Indian-style buildings - wood, but painted in very bright pastel colors. Shopping was a good activity, because we were again getting some drizzle. We went through all the shops and I bought the obligatory T-shirt. Of course, more important than the shops was the bathroom, which was a lot more comfortable than the head on the boat. When cruising by boat, you immediately start figuring how to hold out until the next onshore bathroom. This is not only a matter of comfort and size but (for those who like clinical detail) related to the boating dictum that nothing goes in the head that you haven't previously eaten. I don't eat toilet paper. You get the idea. After wondering through all the shops, we ended up at Pusser's, which is a chain of stores, as well as a legend of sorts. Pusser's is actually a contraction from the British sailors of old who were mispronouncing the word "Purser". The Purser was the most important person on a ship to a British sailor of the 18th century, because it was he who dispensed the rum, hence the modern term of "Pusser's Rum". We learned all kinds of things at Pussers, such as Grog is watered down rum (3:1). After a Painkiller (Rum and coconut and fruit juices), we returned to the boat, where Margo cooked up a Swordfish steak dinner. As I said earlier, we were "lucky" to have missed our intended destination of Cane Garden Bay when we went to Soper's Hole. The reason for this is that the following day, with the sun blazing in an azure sky, we backtracked into Cane Garden Bay. Here we found a picture-perfect bay with a beautiful sand beach all around. We immediately went to shore after securing the boat, found the on-shore bathroom, and then walked along the beach and stopped at Rhymer's for a drink (We think this is the same Rhymer who was up for election, going on at the time of our visit). After some more wandering, we went to Stanley's for conch fritters (Can't get enough of conch!!!) and a Painkiller. The (perfect) afternoon was spent alternating swimming in the water, basking in the sun, and swinging in a beach hammock. Cane Garden Bay was filled with kamikaze pelicans. These inelegant birds were everywhere. They would fly up in the air, circle around, and then dive bomb into the water. We did not see them catch any fish; they just seemed to enjoy dive-bombing. We returned to the boat for dinner, where we had the greatest tragedy imaginable - certainly of the entire trip. I set up the barbecue on the stern rail and got the charcoal going. Onto the grill went two beautiful NY strip steaks. When they were about 80% grilled to perfection, the grill twisted and before my disbelieving eyes, our beautiful steaks slid off the now wrongly-angled barbecue and into Davy Jones locker, where some lucky Barracuda probably thought he had won the lottery. Sadly, we had some salad and wild rice for dinner. Then back to shore to Rhymer's again, for some steel band music and some supplementary barbecued buffalo wings. And of course, another Painkiller. (In addition to conch, I really like Painkillers!). The following day we set sail for Great Harbor on Jost Van Dyke, which was northwest of our location. Jost Van Dyke is due north of St. Johns of the American Virgin Islands. We arrived early and needed three attempts to get our anchor set properly. As the afternoon wore on, more and more boats came into Great Harbor, looking for anchoring room, and the anchorage got more and more crowded, and the boats closer and closer to one another. The big attraction of Great Harbor is Foxy and Foxy's, the person and the place, both of which are legendary to cruising sailors in the BVI's. Foxy started sponsoring wooden boat races many years ago, and now wooden boats up to 70'+ in length come here for Foxy's races. In addition, Foxy's is the site of many an uninhibited party (according to legend), perhaps encouraged by Foxy's special formula drinks. I will say that the establishment Foxy's had the ceiling decorated with clothing accumulated over the years from many passers-by. There were many T-shirts, as well as bras and other items of underwear, both female and male. Foxy himself was singing and entertaining when we arrived. The place is very funky and it's hard to describe the atmosphere without your having been there. Let's just say it's different. After some chicken roti, which seemed to be curried chicken in a pastry thing (delicious!) and another Painkiller, we did some more basking in the sun and lying in hammocks (I'm considering pursuing a Ph'd. in Basking and Hammocking). I bought a Foxy's T-shirt. We went back to the boat for the evening, enjoying the boater's spectator sport of watching (ver-r-r-r-y critically) later arrivals attempts to anchor - "Where the hell is he going?" "He's not going to anchor there, is he?" "That's no way to do it." We noticed nearby the boat "Sea Cycle", where a woman was in a dinghy by the stern cleaning down the hull. We'll come back to Sea Cycle later in this narrative. Some of the boats here were magnificent. We saw, not just in Great Harbor, but in all the harbors we visited, a number of boats in the 50' to 60' size, and even bigger, which, based on their home ports, had crossed oceans to be here. We saw a number of British boats, one from Scotland, one from Austria, and one from New Zealand. One of the highlights that occurred around dusk was that someone got up on deck on a nearby boat (try to picture a harbor full of anchored sailboats, all gently swaying to the breezes) and began to play the bagpipes. Sitting in a Caribbean harbor at dusk listening to live bagpipe music is somewhat surreal. Margo immediately told me to find and buy an audio tape of bagpipe music to play on our next charter. The bagpipe music was not the only highlight of the evening. As the sun began it's descent, coming into the harbor was a large catamaran (two-hulled) which had a little seat on the very front peak of each hull. And as the boat came into the harbor on a diagonal path, perched in the seat on front was a young woman who appeared attractive, and attractively topless. She was faced in the other direction(from me), but I was able to deduce what was taking place when I noticed just about every head in the harbor whip around and follow the catamaran's progress through the harbor. I also noted the number of binoculars that suddenly seemed to appear from no where, all being used by males, who were following the progress of the boat (or at least the mermaid on the front) very closely. I have never seen so many binoculars in use in close quarters! Unfortunately, the boat then anchored about as far away from us as was possible. I never saw; only saw others who were watching. Quite a spectacle! The following morning, after coffee, we set our sails and headed south east, past Soper's Hole and on south of Tortola to Peter's Island, the site of our first day's anchoring exercises. We were headed back to Deadman's Bay because it was not only the closest point off of Tortola to the Charter Base, where we had to return by noon the following day, but also because Margo had fallen in love with the beach and it's beauty when she saw it from afar that first day. Adjacent to Deadman's Bay is the very tiny Sprat Bay, which is also the home of the Peter Island Hotel and Yacht Harbor Club. This is a very beautiful and tastefully done resort originally designed and built by Norwegians. The small bay is very shallow (as little as 7 feet), and has docks, as well as six moorings. We entered very cautiously and slowly and opted for a mooring. At this point, I recognized the place as one of the stops we had made some years earlier when we cruised the BVI's with Nina and Forest. Margo looked around at this beautiful resort, very posh and tasteful, in a unbelievably beautiful setting and said "Of course Nina would have come here". We went ashore and after paying our mooring fee and finding and using the bathrooms, we walked over the small hill to Deadman's Bay and went down onto the beach. Of course I ordered a Painkiller. This place is beautiful, but is not for those on a budget. Two drinks ran about $24. To stay in the Hotel runs from $600/day and up, depending upon the season (and maybe whether or not you are Norwegian). But what a place for a honeymoon!! We reverted to our normal mode of behavior - basking in the sun, swimming in crystal clear water, and lying in a hammock. Oh well, another day in Paradise. Ho-hum. After the sun started dropping (we were the last one's off the beach), we went back to the boat for a change of clothes and then, back on shore, we were able to use the showers (Oh, Lordy, at last!) and went for a luxurious buffet dinner, accompanied by some of the worse music ever heard in the West Indies, by what evidently was a pick-up band (They should not have picked them up; I would have left them lie where they were.) The following morning we reluctantly headed back to the charter base in Roadtown and the end of our trip. I even docked without hitting anything. Although Margo still has to master the clove hitch she did get us secured, even if all the lines were in her hands. As long as Margo stays on land, we were secure. After turning the boat back and packing up our stuff, Margo and I decided to take a little walk into the center of town. On the way back, we stopped at a resort club for some lunch (conch fritters, naturally) and I saw this fellow sitting at the next table and he looks familiar. I point him out to Margo, who claims he couldn't possibly be whom I thought, which was a fellow we met briefly in the Bahamas last January, when we sat under a thatched roof on the beach at Nipper's Bar in Guana Cay in the rain having Nipper's Sunday pig roast. So, after some prodding by Margo, I go over to the fellow and say "By any chance were you at Nipper's on Guana Cay in the Bahamas in the rain having a pig roast last January?" He looks puzzled, then thinks for a moment and then says "As a matter of fact I was". Well, sure enough it was who I thought it was. His name is Jeremy Selwyn and he and his friend Paula Cartwright, both from Canada, were cruising the Caribbean after having crossed the Atlantic both ways previously. We also discovered that when we were at anchor several days earlier in Great Harbor on Jost Van Dyke, and noticed the lady in the dinghy cleaning the hull of the boat "Sea Cycle" that it was Paula. We had anchored right next to them. Their next stop is St. Martin. Margo doesn't know how I recognized him, since all perpetually-cruising sailors seem to have white beards and dark tans. So what was the sum of it all? Well, Margo and I had a great time. We are both very, very tan. We also developed some skills and experience in the couple of areas where we were lacking - docking and anchoring - and now are able to better perform those functions. When we turned in our charter boat, we looked over some of the bigger boats that had just returned, trying to pick out our next charter. I think we found the boat. Next year we will do this again, and again with TMM, but to somewhat different ports of call, and with another couple. We discovered we need to change our provisioning list - more brie cheese, French bread, wine and bagel chips - less "regular" food. And next time, I hope I'm on the right side of the harbor when the catamaran pulls in. :-) Anyone know a good tape of bagpipe music??
Dear Interested Guests, Boy, if you are still interested in news about Eden Bay Resort in the Dominican Republic - you have a longer hang time than even Michael Jordan. If you will recall from the last update which I published shortly after the first of the year, we were attempting to put together a deal that would re-open the Resort as a "partial nude use" Resort. Contract negotiations continued from October through mid March with some very good contracts being written and terms "supposedly" agreed to. At the final hour, our collective nemesis, Mr. James Robinson, requested major changes that were totally unacceptable to all the other parties and in my opinion blew the deal. The current situation with the Resort is this: 1) The Homeowners' Association in seeking judgments for non- performance & fraud has filed lawsuits. Suits also have been filed to begin foreclosure on the Resort's units that are in arrears for past dues. 2) The Condo units are still being maintained and the Homeowners' Association is providing security. The Resort properties that have not been stripped of furnishings and equipment are in major disrepair. 3) Some of the Homeowners are requesting that the Association provide utilities so that they may use their property, but thus far, this has been deemed too expensive for the low occupancy. 4) Another Resort Management Company is interested in the property, but the Association will not get involved until a signed contract is agreed to between that Management Company and the Resort Company headed by Mr. Robinson and his partner General Beauchamp. And even then, we will only participate with the Management Company in a lease back arrangement for our units. At this time it is not known what amount of nudity if any would come from such an arrangement. There is another General Meeting scheduled for October 9th of this year. One owner has been buying up units for pennies on the dollar from those unit owners who have become too frustrated to hang on. He may end up with enough votes to change the structure of the Board and he does have the financial backing such that he can go head to head with Robinson & the General. The other Homeowners have advised him that if he would strive to get the Resort re-open as a fully clothing- optional Resort as originally intended, he could expect their backing and support. Of course, the one thing that could straighten this whole mess out is if someone had the money and a good lawyer to come in and remove Mr. Jim Robinson from the picture. He has indicated at various times that his holdings are worth anywhere from $300,000 to 1.2 million (depending on his whims at the times he is approached). Of course his holdings come with a lot of debt which he has been reluctant to itemize and which has scared away a few potential investors. We, the Association could deal with the General (and I'm sure that eventually he could be bought out too). The property is perfect for a clothing-optional Resort. Our engineers have estimated that it would cost $800,000 to get the Resort property back in shape. The individual units may have some recovery costs since utilities have not been provided for almost two years, but those costs would be the individual unit owner responsibility. So for as little as two or three million and the help of a proper Resort Management Company, someone could have a stunningly beautiful upscale clothing-optional Resort property that would rival Club Orient &/or the Jamaican partial nudity Resorts. Anyone out there interested? If so, please contact me and I will put you in touch with the proper people to consummate such a deal. Seriously, hope is pretty dim, but one never knows what might occur at our October General meeting so keep hanging in there and wish us luck. I'll try to be more prompt with my next update. Yours, Tom Fernstrom Eden Bay Homeowners' Association
We went to La Terranas, and the hotel was called El Portillo Beach Resort. The hotel was great, friendly, helpful staff, and well maintained. Devastating beach, truly lovely, good snorkeling and watersports, the rooms were average. The only downer was the food, bloody awful is being really generous! We hired a car and drove around to lots of places. The island is very lovely, but ruined by the garbage tossed willy, nilly, just anywhere. We went on a boat trip to "Los Haitsis National Park", and had a 2 hour boat trip through a "sea of garbage", the likes of I have never seen anywhere in my travels, and definitely not in the Caribbean! We were told that the people toss the garbage into the rivers, and since it rains frequently and heavily, and there are many rivers, it all rushes down into the ocean, yech! Too sad, even virtually isolated beaches were spoiled like this. We did find some good places to eat once we rented a car, but nothing to get too excited about. The hotels (aside of Santo Domingo and Puerta Plata), are generally far from towns, ours was only 15mins of horrendous road, but way too far to walk. Well, despite all that, plus bad stomachs (never had it even in Mexico!), we still had a good time , got great tans, and came home skinnier than we went! Forgot to mention, good beer, good rum, lousy white wine, drinkable red wine.! The friendly people helped a lot.
When : Travel Dates - August 18 - August 21 1999 Where : Hacienda Resorts - Hacienda Tropical Who : Pam and Larry Kimberly Agent : Liberty Travel / Prieto Tours Arrived at Puerta Plata from JFK on the 18th, after making our way through Customs / Immigration found ourselves outside besieged by taxi / tour operators - Spanish would REALLY help here as we ended up tipping 3 different people over the course of 50 feet and 5 minutes. Finally were escorted to the tour bus to take us to the hotel where we waited over an hour for the rest of the people to be boarded! Hacienda Resorts was the last stop (of 5 stops) on the tour bus route which added to the length of time it took to get to our destination. Upon arrival at the Tropical we found that we were not listed in the hotel computer as having a room! I must say that the desk clerk handled this EXTREMELY well, checked us in, put on our annoying little ID bracelets, and offered us the run of the resort - lunch, pool, etc. asking us to return in about an hour and a half. We ate in one of the many beautiful restaurants (Chinese this time - quite good!), walked about the place poking and peeking into all of the nooks and crannies, then returned to reception 1 1/2 hours later where we were told our room was ready! We didn't figure all this out till afterwards but it seems they didn't have a confirmed room for us but instead placed us in a corner suite on the third floor over looking the pool / beach on one side and the complex on the other - beautiful. After a quick shower and change I answered the door to receive the maid who had brought us a very nice fruit platter with the local "Dominican Gasoline (rum)" and a couple of sodas all complimentary. All inclusive resorts have various meanings in different locations we've found but here everything really was all-inclusive. 7 pools - at least 2 with float-up bars, 7 different restaurants of differing menus, non-powered water sports, activities, dance lessons, and drinks. Really quite nice! Not many Americans have discovered D.R. as yet but Europeans are quite another story. Mostly German speaking tourists with a mixture of English and Spanish tossed in - all in all very "Continental". We plan on going back possibly in April of 2000. We stayed, as mentioned, at Hacienda Tropical located in Puerta Plata on the North shore. It seems that the water here is "Atlantic" not "Caribbean". I was looking forward to some snorkeling but found the water to be less than good for this as the visibility was limited. I'm told that the south shore is much better and looks more like the Caribbean - crystal clear with powdery white sand beaches. We'll see next time! Cab fares are fairly reasonable but don't hesitate to negotiate! The people are friendly all over and we never felt "in danger" any where we went, unlike Jamaica or Paradise Island Bahamas.
Trip 7/99
NOTES ON GRENADA
After two super weeks in Grenada (July 1999) I'm happy to report a
general absence of machete weilding muggers. (Plenty of machetes in
evidence in the interior, but none that caused anxiety).
Weather was fine for the most part with a few short downpours.
It's a beautiful place with great beaches, nice, people, courteous
service, spices, rum... quiet and unspoiled by tourism for the most
part. Probably not for those looking for nightclubs and casinos...
We stayed at the Spice Island Beach Resort on Grande Anse and
thoroughly appreciated our garden view apartment, with swimming pool
and whirlpool Jacuzzi! No-one we spoke to had any complaints there,
apart from one comment that it was a bit sedate for teenage children.
The Spice Island restaurant is limited in its menu, but food was
always excellent and well presented. We avoided buffet nights.
Entertainment at Spice Island was basic. I found perverse pleasure in
the overwrought arrangement of Celine Dion's theme from "Titanic" as
rendered by the regular steel band - and also the Wednesday evening
reggae band's spirited rendition of the anti-aids anthem "Put A
Rubber On Yer Willy" (honestly!).
But it's all courteously and efficiently run, with enough Caribbean
laissez faire to make it relaxed and peaceful, but backed up by
modern management practice and technology if you need it ("browse the
net: $10 per hour").
Grand Anse beach was generally quiet, with some jet skis and a banana
boat emerging when a cruise ship was in harbour at St. George's.
Hawkers sell spices, spice necklaces, woven baskets & hats, T-shirts,
sun dresses and wraps. And shells. They are generally polite and take
"no" in good humor. "Be happy with your money, man..." was as pithy
as it got...
Snorkeling off the beach was good and safe, and there were a number
of dive outfits offering training & excursions.
Exploring the island was fairly straightforward - it's not that big
and not overly developed. Loads of tours available, although we self-
drove a small jeep. The roads can be rough, but they're not
unmanageable. If you're into trekking there are advertised routes.
The only town with any concession to tourism is St. Georges, and
that's mainly on Market Days, when taxis, buses, spice and fruit are
hustled in force.
But the general mood of the island was relaxed and amiable, except
for Annadale Falls, inland, where - again, on Cruise days - the
hawkers are very pushy and it's all a bit unpleasant. The guys who
jump from the rocks to the pool expect contributions from everyone,
especially those with cameras - and they're fairly threatening if you
haven't paid the price. Unpleasant, but mildly so...
Grenada is very quiet and has little in the way of nightlife - and
the gourmet experience hasn't quite reached it yet, but overall food
was good, if unadventurous. Good coffee is impossible to find...
The only restaurant deserving a rave review is CICELY'S (Blue
Horizons Hotel), with a good menu and an adequate wine list.
Delicious meals both times we visited. It's not a beach restaurant -
it opens to the garden of the hotel - and it could use some ceiling
fans, which wouldn't spoil it's open decor at all, but would help us
overweight Europeans through the humidity... For company during our
first visit we had a one-eyed cat and a lizard eating flies on the
post by our table.
A close second would be CANBOULAY. Superb setting on the hill behind
Grand Anse, good food and good service (even if too many waiters and
waitresses wanted to cover the same tasks...). Canboulay picked us up
from our hotel and dropped us off again afterwards - a good thing,
because the taxi fares were exorbitant for very short runs ($25EC for
a 10 minute one way trip - a fellow guest was charged $40EC for the
same journey!)
The one restaurant where we felt we couldn't even leave a tip was The
AQUARIUM. Great setting, nice enough food (although another guest at
our hotel described it as "ordinary"). But the service was abysmal.
We booked and were shown to our table. My seat gave me a view of a
collection of stainless steel racks destined for a new freezer.
Behind them was darkness. I moved my own place setting to a view of
the restaurant and garden. Decor was pleasant (wooden), with a few
tacky areas like a "pirate cove". Service was slow. For larger groups
it might be OK, but we found that staring at our empty plates for 10-
15mins at a time was irritating - and then for courses not to be
delivered together.... I received my crab cakes and my wife was told
"Soup will be along in a minute." I contemplated my steak for almost
5 minutes before her snapper arrived. I did complain mildly after the
meal and the owner CORRECTED me! - "The service isn't slow... the
KITCHEN is slow..." Go figure... Even a minor apology would have made
me feel better... ah well..
We had breakfast at THE NUTMEG on St. George's, which has since
closed for renovation (it probably needs it). The orange juice wasn't
'real", but the service was cordial and the view of the Carenage is
spectacular.
La Belle Creole served pleasant food, but was host to only 5
customers all evening (off season indeed!).
Carib beer everywhere - very nice!
If, like us, you process your holiday photographs where you are,
rather than risk constant x-ray exposure at airports - DON'T use the
1 hour photo in the Grand Anse Shopping Centre (blue cast & dark
prints). Use the MODERN PHOTO STUDIO at the Grand Anse roundabout.
Print quality is much better. We reprinted two films here so we had a
direct comparison. No contest.
If you want a quiet break in a laid back and picturesque tropical
environment, Grenada is ideal - we found it preferable to the hustle
and bustle of Barbados... but go soon. There is evidence of tourist
development everywhere, especially the south west, (a huge, ugly blue
thing being built in the grounds of the Renaissance Hotel, a big
shopping complex in the field of grazing cows and land crabs at Grand
Anse...).
It looks as if it will become a typical Caribbean tourist mecca in a
few years time.
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