Chocolate, rum, rainforests and a fishermen’s barbeque are just some of the highlights of James Litston’s visit to Grenada.


Cocoa Tree

“Try to imagine how it was before”, says Telfor, pausing on the muddy trail to gaze across a verdant valley. Telfor Bedeau is Grenada’s leading hiking guide and we’re deep into the towering bamboo thickets of the island’s rainforest interior.

To my untrained eye, the greenery looks pristine; until Telfor points out the splintered trunks standing proud of the undergrowth – evidence that mighty trees once cloaked the mountainsides. “This forest was a magical place”, he says, “before Ivan flattened the lot.”

Ivan, of course, was not some over-zealous lumberjack but the terrible hurricane that devastated Grenada back in 2004. Happily the forest, like the island’s tourism industry, is recovering well – but its lush depths and secret waterfalls are something that few tourists get to see.


The beach at St. Georges

In fact, many visitors hardly even venture beyond their sun-loungers, let alone outside the resorts to discover the real Grenada. Those that do, however, will find an island full of unique experiences – and Telfor knows every last one of them, having spent the last 46 years hiking Grenada’s 120 square miles.

“Actually I’ve covered more than 13,000 miles over the years”, he says with a smile. “I’m 69 now, so I just want to make it to 15,000 before I retire.” For a man who celebrated a recent birthday by rowing unaided around the island, I suspect he’ll take this challenge in his stride.

Our mountain hike takes us through a fragrant plantation of nutmeg and bananas whose produce I encounter next day at the lively, open-air market in the capital, St George’s. Among baskets of locally grown nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon are all kinds of exotic fruits and vegetables, plus bottles of home-made hot sauce and the odd souvenir.


Some Grenada fauna

It doesn't take long before I'm swept up in the bustle and banter of the marketplace. The charming, larger-than-life stallholders seem universally good-natured and are every bit as intriguing as the goods they sell. One vendor wields a machete to nonchalantly hack into a green coconut so I can drink the juice straight from the shell. Another struggles to contain the crabs that doggedly try to escape from his basket; while yet another demonstrates how to make the perfect hot sauce, using seemingly lethal amounts of cayenne pepper. All in all, it's a colourful, authentically Grenadian experience and a real highlight of my trip.

The same can be said for Fish Friday, a fisherman’s end-of-week barbecue that has grown into Grenada’s most talked-about street party. The celebrations kick off every Friday evening in the seaside village of Gouyave (40 minutes north of St George’s), with around two dozen stallholders setting up shop for their weekly cookout. Tantalising aromas hang in the smoky air as the cooks prepare fish kebabs, fragrant stews, roast lobsters and fried breadfruit.


A patriotic Grenada girl wearing 'the flag'

With a steady supply of local Carib beers to wash it all down and a soundtrack of hypnotic African beats provided by a live ‘soca’ band, there’s a real carnival spirit – enough to tempt a few tourists to join the locals in some enthusiastic booty-shaking. It’s all great fun and a good deal more authentic than the entertainment staged at most hotels.

There are more foodie treats to be found on the other side of the island. Getting there is an adventure in itself, with terrifying hairpin bends and the vertiginous inclines of Grenada’s single-track mountain highway. But the fruits of this region make every twist and stomach-flipping turn worthwhile.

First off is the chance to buy super-strength Rivers Rum direct from the historic distillery where it's produced. It’s a fascinating, step-back-in-time sort of place. Neither the process nor equipment have changed since the day the distillery opened in 1785 – even down to the water wheel that powers the machinery to crush the sugar cane.

A tour of the distillery ends with a chance to taste (and buy) the fiery brew. It's so alcoholic, however, that the regular version is too flammable to be taken on the plane. I opt for a bottle of the weaker ‘tourist’ product – at just 69% proof!

From here, it's only a short hop to another local, small-scale manufacturer with a superlative product. The Grenada Chocolate Company’s tiny, solar-powered factory may not look much, but it nevertheless produces some of the finest organic dark chocolate in the world.

What makes Grenada chocolate so special is the quality of its key ingredient – an unusually high grade cocoa grown literally on the factory's doorstep – combined with a small-batch production process. A tour of the factory reveals how the cocoa is fermented, dried and roasted before being mixed with sugar then refined and poured into moulds. The finished product is then wrapped in vibrant, parrot-bright packaging and shipped around the globe.

I buy armfuls of the stuff for friends at home, but later back at the hotel, I demolish the first bar while lying contemplatively by the pool. With sightseeing, shopping and a rainforest hike all in the bag, I contentedly pat myself on the back for squeezing so many fantastic experiences into my short visit. Settling into my sun-lounger, I celebrate by cracking into a second bar of my deliciously rich Grenada chocolate. I just hope I can make it home without eating them all.

Factbox

British Airways (www.ba.com) flies twice-weekly to Grenada from London Gatwick, via Barbados. For more information on Grenada, log on to www.grenadagrenadines.com and www.grenadachocolate.com


The beach at Grand Anse

Eco-friendly Petite Anse

New for 2010 specialist tour operator, Just Grenada, is Petite Anse Hotel, a small, eco-friendly hideaway situated in a dramatic beachfront location in the undiscovered north of the Spice Island. Each of its 11 cottage-style rooms has stunning views from its private terrace of the unspoilt coast and the ocean towards Carriacou and the Grenadines.

Petite Anse (Little Cove) is set in lush, tropical gardens with a pool, jacuzzi, bar and restaurant serving an imaginative menu based on locally-grown produce – much of it from their own gardens. Ever conscious of saving resources it also has its own complete water recycling system.

Eco-conscious couples will find Petite Anse an ideal location set as it is in an area perfect for nature walks and also close to the beaches upon which turtles return to nest each year. (Trips may be arranged.)

Winter prices start from £820pp ex U.K., based on two adults sharing and include return flights with Monarch Airlines from Gatwick, private airport transfers and B&B accommodation. Visit www.justgrenada.co.uk