The next leg....

Steps for the next leg of our adventure have begun. A while back we started talking about what we would do if we can't remain in Barbados and need to carry on with the Caribbean portion of our adventure. Our meetings with the Barbados Immigration folks confirmed to us that we need to move along. As much as we would like to stay right here in Barbados, and make this our new home, Barbados has created a lot of rules to screen potential new immigrants / residents. We spoke with an Immigration Specialist to get specific details of what would be needed to meet their residency requirements. It is very clear that they won't allow renters to live in their country on a continuous long term basis. In addition to providing medical certificates and police certificates, applicants must have a minimum of $4 million dollars to be moved to a Barbados bank account, or, have already purchased a home, paid their land taxes, and be able to prove they are financially sustainable, and not be a burden on Barbados as they age. The applicant must demonstrate that they have made significant financial ties to the island and have already committed to leaving their former home country to become a Barbadian resident. This takes a lot of time and is far too complex for us to go through the application process and then have an administrative decision made that we don't comply and be denied entry as residents. We have heard of others who have experienced this after 10 years of effort. So we are looking elsewhere to find our new home.

Our adventure is all about checking out other places so we can learn day to day living conditions in each place we go and also information on moving, cost of living, shopping, ease of immigration / residency. We are happy to report that we have found a place to stay for 6 months in Grenada, starting April 01, 2017 at Bougainvillea Apartments in the Grand Anse Beach area of Grenada. The six months we want to stay there will be subject to getting an Extension Of Stay from Grenada Immigration as the nice folks at the airport will only give us three months when we arrive. We can't get the extension ahead of time....fingers crossed that all goes well. Hopefully their residency requirements are easier to tackle than those in Barbados... again fingers crossed.

Grand Anse Beach is very pretty and will keep us happy and busy doing the usual beach related stuff with which we have become accustomed. It's a five minute walk to the beach.

Grenada is a very popular tourist destination but it has less visitors (stay over visitors - not counting cruise ships) arriving each year than Barbados does and so is less crowded. Grenada is about the same size as Barbados but has about 1/3 the population. Unlike Barbados (a coral island), it is a volcanic island and many of the homes are built on hills with a beautiful view. The capital city is St George's and is the home of St. George’s University School of Medicine. Many students arrive each year to study medicine and become doctors. Good to know in case you get sick. Some of the great stuff grown here, that have earned Grenada its nick name - The Spice Island - are nutmeg, cocoa, mace, cloves, vanilla, cinnamon and ginger.

It's a four minute walk from our apartment to the bank and grocery shopping, and a seven minute walk to a nice beach bar. There is a good restaurant across the street – Le Chateau – for those nights when my culinary skills are taking a break. There are also many other pubs and restaurants nearby to explore along with two shopping malls and a sports lounge with live music. Maybe I won't even get the pots out onto the stove.... :-)

Grenada is the southern gateway to the Grenadine Islands and island hopping is a favourite sport that we hope to be able to enjoy while we are there. Smaller islands are Carriacou, Petit Martinique, Ronde Island, Caille Island, Diamond Island, Large Island, Saline Island, and Frigate Island. North of these islands are the second half of the Grenadines and they are part of the nation of St Vincent. There are 32 islands and cays that make up St Vincent and the Grenadines. Nine are inhabited: St Vincent, Young Island, Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, Union Island, Mayreau, Petit St Vincent and Palm Island. That's a lot of places to explore... maybe we can visit some of them.