Loving Life in Grenada
As you can probably tell from our previous posts, we are really enjoying life and having a lot of fun here in Grenada. I took this photo of Grand Anse Beach looking south, close to the spot where we set up our chairs under a palm tree each time we go to the beach - yes, those are our chairs under the tree. Grand Anse beach truly is beautiful.
We have been here for exactly 10 weeks now. On the one hand it feels like a very short time, and on the other it feels like we belong and have been here our whole lives.
We have met a lot of people and have explored some areas of the island, but have only just scratched the surface. We have taken bus trips to the Grenada east coast (Grenville), and to the west coast (Gouyave and also to Victoria). They were fun visits for us, but a car is needed to really do it justice so stops can be made along the way. We need to take time to explore more of the sights and maybe some of the wilderness. The southern portions of the island are more populated and there are many resorts and fun places to spend many hours and days. Each time we look at a map, talk to people, or drive by something new, we add several more places, or historical sites, that need a visit.
La Sagesse Beach is one of our more recent discoveries. It is a soothing and quiet place to spend time re-energizing, writing a book, or spending a dirty weekend focused on your lover!
Our trip to the island of Carriacou told us that we also need to repeat that visit many more times - it is beautiful there. There are many more places to visit still and we have an on-going / ever-increasing list of things to do.
We have shopped in many of the major grocery stores, fish markets, farmer's markets, and other shops for our household needs. We have met and spent time with other expats and locals who have lived here for years, and they all agree that Grenada is paradise. We feel very safe here. We have walked on a lot of streets in St. George's (the capital) and have interacted with many people there and in other communities on the island. We have also checked out many of the beach bars and restaurants that front along our favourite local beach area - Grand Anse Beach - yes, can you believe that we did that? ....amazing but true!
Now that we have been exposed to life in Grenada, we have found a big contrast between life in Grenada and Barbados. In our opinion, Barbados is a busy nation, full of commerce and industry, while alluring the rich and famous to their over-priced hotels. It seemed to us that Barbados is primarily targeting and catering to the very richest visitors and residential wanna-bees. Everything there reflected a very high cost of living, with an affluent, annually-returning tourist base. Some of whom may have an enhanced sense of self-importance. We certainly wondered how the long-time local residents could continue to afford to live there.
Don't misunderstand us though, there are beautiful places and some nice people in Barbados. If you are looking to take a two or three week vacation, with a healthy budget set aside for your stay, Barbados offers many ideal romantic get-away locations, that would spoil a princess. The setting of the beaches, water, and swaying trees capture the beauty of a "tropical paradise".
But visiting a place for a vacation is vastly different than moving there and calling it home. We are very glad that we went there first to discover what it's like to live there, so we could compare it to other places.
Having said that, we enjoy the feeling of daily life that we get here in Grenada far more than in Barbados. Aside from the occasional hiccups of a boring little volcano just north of the island, everything here feels so peaceful, calm and laid back. We have come to know that the people here are like that too. Life is easy here. Everyone is very friendly and helpful.
One of the immediate differences that people from the great white north will notice is what appears to be poverty on Caribbean islands. It seems to be everywhere when you first arrive. Then you realize life is different here and you stop “seeing” the poverty and the differences from Canada. You accept the new ways of doing things, and become comfortable with the culture and surroundings (...that sounds like an idea for a new post... update: see June 17). To us, Grenada not only looks like a tropical paradise in every sense, but also feels like it, where people can relax and be stress free. We are looking forward to more exploring and fun times here in Grenada.
The recent noises being made by international war mongers had us worried about perhaps being stuck without the essentials of life. But those worries were somewhat suppressed when we found a very recent study that praised Grenada for its sustainability. It was named one of the most sustainable places on earth by the Coordinator of the Global Health Response and Resilience Alliance.
The Health Initiatives Foundation, Inc. (HIFI) is a Washington, DC based non-profit corporation and works with the Alliance. They specialize in the prevention and management of large-scale social crisis in many parts of the United States, and many locations around the world. Their studies in Grenada focused on health and human security on the island and concluded that communities here are highly sustainable. “If for example the global economy collapsed, they’ve got food, they’ve got clean water, and they’re managing their waste." The discussions also looked at how Grenada "could be a model for other islands in the region, and to perhaps inspire other nations around the world to move in that direction”. Barbados did not get the sustainable check mark as there are far too many people in a small place and not enough natural resources to go around.
We absolutely love discovering all the spices and new foods that Grenada has to offer us newbies here. Please see a previous post (May 14) called "Extraordinary Grenada":
Nutmeg products of all kinds,
Delicious cocoa and chocolate stuff that we never knew existed,
Local turmeric and local cinnamon are much better tasting and more healthy than what we were offered in Canada
Fruit, fruit and more fruit - the flavours just seem to explode
Fresh fish direct from the boats - too many to list and most of them are new to our palates.
Local beer and rums!
Our skin loves feeling soft and moist, and we must say that our daily moringa tea has helped that along a bit. See a previous post for more info. We planted some of the seeds from the seed pods we brought home from Carriacou in the hope we can grow our own tea leaves. They are sprouting and doing well. Perhaps we can turn back the clock with the local fountain-of-youth foods and spices, and we will soon be younger than when we retired! Woohoo!
Yes, we feel we could easily make Grenada our new home. It's too early to tell at this point, as it would make sense to live here for at least a year before making such a big decision. We will also need to get confirmation that we can actually get status as residents - it sure is nice to spend time pondering over making this our our home one day. We have already been in touch with Grenada Immigration for getting info on what to do for visitor extensions of stay - we hope there are no hidden surprises. Initial discussions indicate all is well so far... more to follow in a later posts.
The cost of a long-term apartment rental here in Grenada is about the same as it was in Barbados for a furnished one bedroom, but our apartment is much nicer here than what we had in Barbados. As we mentioned in a previous post (April 11, 2017), we compared grocery costs and found Grenada to be about 75% of what we had to pay in Barbados. The cost of restaurant meals are a similar difference. For people on a fixed income, it's good to keep track of that sort of thing.
With all of that in mind, we have started talking about looking around for potential options that could lead to a more permanent place to live. That might be a bit difficult as the island real estate industry caters to university students who want furnished places so they can attend school for a few months or a couple of years. Locals seems to "share" their homes with family and friends so there is not a lot of selection, nor turn-over, in the rental market for unfurnished houses and apartments. We just might have to lower our expectations regarding location, interior finishes, neighbours, view, etc... no this photo was not taken here.
But, making a financial investment in fixing up an unfurnished rental unit was never part of the plan. I suppose it doesn't help that the university is in the same basic area of the island that we like (south-west), so we might have to continue renting furnished units... I suppose the search will become more of a serious quest if we actually get residency here. We did notice that Barbados has a better selection of unfurnished houses and apartments.
It's strange when you recognize that feeling of "belonging" when it hits you. Maybe we are just getting used to the idea of living in a warm place. We even joined a local group call Grenada Association of Retired Persons (GARP) and have met many new friends there. So far, it seems we have found everything we need here in Grenada for fun, groceries, general doctor services, feeling safe, and enjoying life. It makes us think that our “slow motion travel” days might be numbered. Although, there are many small islands to the north of us that we could visit on a day trip, or for a get-away vacation week from time to time, just to keep us exploring, taking photos, tasting new beers and enjoying fun things where ever we go.
No decisions have been made as yet, but we love it here so far. Cyndi seems to be smiling a lot these days, and she might even have picked a couple of palm trees that she really likes... Come and check for yourselves.