Time in Grenada and GND-SVD-BGI (Barbados) on LIAT

 6 Countries in 6 Days Caribbean Trip, Barbados, Grenada  2 Responses »
Jul 132012
 

Upon landing in Grenada, immigration was fairly quick and friendly, and soon I was in the arrivals area.  I knew the hotel/lodge I’d chosen based on TripAdvisor reviews was a little bit out of the city, so I’d e-mailed and asked the hotel to arrange a driver due to my late arrival hour.  I’m glad I did, because the Lance Aux Epines Cottages were definitely in a much quieter and residential area.   It was a small property definitely geared more towards self-caterers, and if you choose to stay here I’d probably say that a car is essential.

When I got there around 830pm the office was closed, but the hotel driver and the security guard knew where my welcome packet and key had been stashed.  The driver was also kind enough to point me to the nearest restaurant about 1/2 mile down the road which should still be open for a bit.  The Red Crab was about a 15 minute walk away, and probably one of the most amusing restaurants I’ve ever been to.  I had some jerked pork and a couple of rum punches, and sat watching a very strange mix of people.  Grenada is home to a large medical school full of (primarily?) Americans, and there were several here.  I wouldn’t highly recommend the food, but for location since it was the only thing in walking distance it definitely was a good find!

Back to the cottage (which by the way was huge – nearly 100 square meters I’d guess) and watched a little TV on the iPad before bed.  The rooms are not air conditioned, except for the bedroom, which worked out just fine.  Close the door overnight, and I was nice and ice cold to sleep.  It was quite nice having a coffeemaker and full kitchen in the unit, and this would be a fantastic place to stay as a self-caterer for a longer trip with friends or family.  The housekeeping staff will even go grocery shopping and cook local meals for you in your unit!  How’s that for a bonus!

I didn’t have much to do until my early afternoon flight, so decided to head out onto the hilly and humid roads for a run.  I made it a total of nearly 8 miles which was awesome given the oppressive humidity, but about 1 mile from finishing the skies opened up and an absolute torrential downpour ensued.  To the point that once I got back I spent the next two hours sipping more coffee, wishing I had access to food and, um, wondering how I was to get back to the airport.  See, it was Sunday, and everything (including the hotel office) was closed.

Decided to wander out at noon, and hope I could find someone who could help me arrange a taxi for some lunch and then the airport…or, since checkout was noon, I was hoping my driver would pick that time to wait around for me.  All the worrying was for nothing, because the hotel owner/manager had come in on a Sunday especially to welcome me and check me out (despite things being pre-paid) and take care of things.  The driver would be happy to take me to lunch, then come back in a bit over an hour to drive me to the airport.  Perfect!

I can’t say enough about how kind the staff were here.  It was probably not the best choice for me for a quick overnight, but for anyone on a longer stay I can’t recommend it highly enough.  Everything did, however, work out great in the end.  Based on many recommendations, I ‘d wanted to get lunch at BB’s Crabback, but unfortunately they were closed on Sundays….as were 90% of places on the island.  I decided to go with TripAdvisor reviews, and settled on the #5 rated restaurant in Grenada – “Umbrellas Beach Bar” which was near the airport, and whose site made clear they were open for lunch on Sunday.  Confirmed with the owner of the hotel and he was pretty certain they were, so off I went!

When I got there, it was a bit questionable.  There were several staff around at 12:15, but not a customer in sight.  I’d read this place could be packed with a long wait for a table, so I wondered what I was missing.  One of the staff quickly shouted “FIRST CUSTOMER!” and they scrambled I decided to take a seat at a high table at the edge of the restaurant near the lanai, so I could enjoy a view of the ocean while I ate:

It’s pretty easy in the picture to see just how heavy the rain had been.  This was nearly an hour after it had stopped, and there were still large ponds of water everywhere.  However, there was a nice breeze out, and after my run I was absolutely starving.  However, as was becoming tradition on this trip, it was tip to start with some rum punch!

Continue reading »

Touring around St Vincent and SVD to GND (Grenada) on LIAT

 6 Countries in 6 Days Caribbean Trip, Grenada, St Vincent, Uncategorized  No Responses »
Jul 122012
 

Having arrived in St Vincent, it was already quite late.  However, it was quite easy to get a taxi to my hotel, the Paradise Beach Hotel and check-in was swift.  The AC was strong, and it was still an hour til closing time at the hotel bar on the beach…which was filled mainly with Trinidadian businessmen trying to impress anyone that would talk to them.  It made for a few interesting discussions!  Now, a few thoughts on the hotel:

The restaurant was odd.  Yes, they served food, but it doubled as the hotel bar and patio.  However, when asked, the bartender could produce a menu and breakfast, dinner, snacks…you name it.  More than adequate, and the two meals I ate there were very tasty.  Rooms were clean (but spartan) and the AC was strong enough to keep cool, so overall it was a bargain for the price paid.  I would definitely stay here again, although you really need a taxi to get anywhere.  That said, when asked, the hotel staff could easily arrange taxis to get you anywhere you needed.

I finished off the evening watching reruns of the Tour de France Prologue, and a couple local beers, while trying to explain cycling to the Trinidadians.  They found it “a challenging sport, but I could never wear all that elastic clothes.”  Hmmm!

Local brews consumed, I passed out for almost 10 straight hours due to sheer exhaustion.  It was time to rise, and start the day.  It took me a good hour to get moving, but when I did I found “breakfast” was just at the bar.  Sat outside watching the waves, and when the bartender brought the menu I just skipped it…and told him to bring me what he’d eat for breakfast.  Turned out to be a perfect choice!

Salt fish, hot peppers, and some local bakes (bread rolls) which I swear weighed at least a pound each they were so dense…but OMG it was delicious.  Coffee consumed, I was ready to try and arrange a day of touring!  Oh, but first I caught up on a bit of internet time, while enjoying the view from breakfast:

I must admit…it was 10am, and I was just not feeling it.  I don’t know if it was jet-lag, the 10 hours of sleep was too much, but I was absolutely exhausted and sluggish.  I’ll admit taking an hour nap post-breakfast, before stopping by the front desk and asking to arrange a tour.  She got to work on it, while I headed back to the bar for more wave-watching and a couple of delicious diet cokes.  Soon, a torrential downpour started, and I was informed that my tour could begin at 12:30 and the driver was mine for $50 to take me wherever I wanted for up to four hours.  Perfect!

Continue reading »

Come over to the dAArkside!

 6 Countries in 6 Days Caribbean Trip, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent  No Responses »
Jun 252012
 

A few months ago, in the midst of declaring bankruptcy and seeing the mess the United/Continental merger was causing, American decided to offer top-tier elite status to disgruntled United elites. Well, you didn’t really have to be disgruntled – I mean, I haven’t seen too many negatives myself, although I know many others have. A quick call, and I was American Executive Platinum through February 2013, with 8 systemwide upgrades good on any fare on top of it.

I mainly took them up on it because I doubted American would be around in another year, and who knows it might come in handy. Well, about a month ago they upped the ante: If you fly 55,000 qualifying miles (instead of the usual 100,000) by December 31 they will renew status (with 8 more systemwide upgrades) through February of 2014. Now…this is interesting. I already have 80,000 of my needed 100,000 United miles booked, and if I plan carefully another 55,000 on American should be possible.

To that end, I started looking at trips for July 4 where I could use American. With the 4th falling on a Wednesday it was a bit awkward, but since I had the Friday before off, by taking Monday/Tuesday off I could get a 6 day trip for the price of 2 leave days…a downright bargain!

So, I started exploring destinations that I’d always missed on United (either because they don’t fly there, or do in very convoluted ways) and where American was strong. I don’t plan for this status to last much more than 18 months so time to make the most of it. Generally, that meant exploring the Caribbean and South America.

First idea was the Bolivia-Peru-Ecuador trip I want to do soon, but that will take much more than six days, and with the dates less than a month away reasonable fares and systemwide upgrade seats were long gone. Plan two…caribbean. This is where I struck gold…I found a way to squeeze in six countries in six days by flying into St Lucia and out of Antigua. The route looks like this:

So the plan is to hit St Lucia, St Vincent, Grenada, Barbados, Dominica, and Antigua in six days.  There’s things to see, but I think for most of them one day will be plenty.  None of the flights are over 90 minutes, so most of my time will be spent exploring.  Anyone who has recommendations of things to see I’m all ears!

I don’t know why I feel like this is such an AAdventure…all domestic airlines are pretty much the same…right?  But, now I feel like I’m cheating on the United much like I originally felt like I was cheating on Northwest when I started flying United about seven years ago.  We’ll see if there’s any difference…and what the plusses and minuses are.

I still need about 21,000 miles on United and 37,000 on American and partners this year…anyone with fun (but short…vacation time is low) suggestions they’re more than welcome!