Saturday, 10 Feb: The 7:30am alarm is very unwelcome this morning. Especially after a night of fighting a mosquito that seemed impervious to insect spray. But we have a mission to complete before we hand the car back at 2:30pm.
This morning we travel up the east coast aiming to see a chocolate factory and a cocoa plantation. On the way we swing passed the old Pearls Airport that was abandoned in 1979. It’s weird. There are still two planes sitting next to the old terminal, their wings and tails broken and covered in undergrowth. We drive down the runway that seems pretty intact still. And on the way out we spot the duty-free shack. Again over grown but we can clearly see the writing “Swiss Watches, Cameras, Jewelry, French Perfumes and Liquor”. So weird.
Once at the plantation, Belmont Estate, we discover it’s closed on Saturday. And then we also cannot find the chocolate factory – it’s not where it is supposed to be on the map 🙁
Disappointed, we head up a long steep and narrow road in search of hot sulphur springs. The road turns into a track, then ends, but no signs directing us to any hot springs. Today is not our day it seems! But on this track we spot wild banana, nutmeg and cocoa trees. All laiden with fruit. So we do some picking and have fun with the GoPro.
Then, on the way back down we spot the “lost” chocolate factory – Grenada Chocolate Company. Hurray! Unfortunately it’s also closed today, but a local guy offers to show us around. It’s a very small affair but the personalized tour is extremely interesting, understanding and seeing the full process from-bean-to-bar (raw bean to chocolate bar). Needless to say we buy a few bars as it is delicious.
Our improvised guide also mentions to us a rum distillery near by, where they crush the cane using a water-wheel. Sounds too interesting to miss. And we are not disappointed. Antoine Rum Distillery & Estate is the oldest working distillery in the Caribbeans. Unlike the distillery in Barbados, this one actually looks 200 years old. It’s amazing. You can almost smell the history. Traditional methods are still used for making the rum, including working waterwheel used to crush sugarcane. The mechanics of the water wheel are made in Derby, England and still working perfectly. And the copper distillers are still heated by an open fire underneath. It’s like walking back in time.
After a long drive back we have 40 mins to kill before the car return deadline. So we visit a nearby beach called BBC. Nice, but very touristy after the pristine beaches we have now seen in the north.
The car, an old RAV4, was rather beaten up giving us a hard ride over the rough roads and added to this the AC was not working. So, as we handed it back we declared ourselves exhausted and opted for a lazy hour or 2 by the small pool that comes with the mooring, in the True Blue Resort.
In the evening, Glen gets to work in the engine room, removing the thermostat from the generator. Sounds like a simple job, but like anything done the first time, it takes half the evening. Tomorrow we will run the generator hard and see if it still over heats. But Glen tests the thermostat in electric kettle and it seems to work OK. So most likely the issue is debris inside the heat exchanger. Let’s see.