Posted By: Sunset_Sammy
Day 16 A Busy Day and a Local Dinner - 02/18/2013 12:30 PM
Feb. 16 A Busy Day
I made breakfast at the hotel, tuna steak and eggs; then we took a bus to the ferry dock to pick up Kim’s unused ticket to Carriacou. We thought we might try to sell it but weren’t sure how to go about it; a local fellow asked if we needed help with our bags and I said “no, but we have a ticket we would like to sell for 100 EC”. He took off into the crowd and soon came back with a buyer, he upped the price a little to them and made his commission, it worked out pretty good for everyone. On the way back we got dropped off the Spice and Craft Market on the beach; Bob had invited us over to his sister’s house for dinner and I wanted to make sure we were still on as I didn’t get back to see him yesterday, he wasn’t there so we walked back to the hotel by way of the beach. Today we’re moving over to Mourne Rouge, so we went back and packed our things in preparation. Originally we would have been here three weeks already and I thought a few days at Mourne Rouge would be a nice break before we head off to Rodney Bay in St. Lucia, but now I wish we would have stayed on Grand Anse. We left our bags at the office and headed off to the beach, it was a slow day with no ships in port but Norm was already there when we arrived. We spent the afternoon on the beach and had the sandwiches Kim made from the leftover tuna and pork for lunch. It’s quite different on the beach on slow days, being a weekend there were some families there enjoying the day; we even saw some kids having swimming lessons. It was windy so we decided to get a couple chairs, they were going to give us the normal rate of 10 EC per chair, but then Norm spoke up and we got his special rate of 5 EC per chair, he rents then by the week so he gets a good deal. Towards the end of the day Bob came by, he had been clearing some land to build a house on since he knew it would be a slow day; we made arrangements to meet him and then packed up to go to the hotel. George was getting ready to take Norm and Lulu home so we rode with them and had him drive us from the Grand Anse Beach Palace to the Kalinago Resort on Mourne Rouge. We checked in, the rooms are spacious and nicely furnished; ours is on the lower floor and looks out to the yard and the beach. We showered and called George for a ride back to the Craft Market to meet Bob; he was there with his niece and nephew, so we got on a bus and headed for St. Georges. We got off at the lagoon and walked up the side road then onto a trail that led us up the hill to his sister’s house. His niece already had a large pot of oildown over an open fire in the yard, banana leafs draped over it for a lid, so we took seats on the makeshift benches between the trees while his niece, Kasha, explained how she makes her oildown.
![[Linked Image]](http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/sunsetsammy/Grenada%202013/P2161459_zps786eb957.jpg)
A Pot of oildown on the fire
It’s an all day process that starts with soaking the salt pork, bread fruit and figs together then draining and repeating until the pork isn’t salty anymore; it’s then placed in a pot with coconut milk, dashine, callalou, onions and carrots. The whole mixture is boiled in a large pot over an open fire, the fire has to be carefully tended and the pot is checked with a spoon to see if all the water has boiled off. Once the water has boiled off the fire is left to go to coals so as not to burn it as it settles down and the oil comes out, hence oildown.
![[Linked Image]](http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/sunsetsammy/Grenada%202013/P2161462_zpsa0d9f137.jpg)
Fish on the grill
After the oildown was done cooking Bob started to roast some fish in foil over the fire as more and more relatives arrived. He set up a small table on the porch of the modest house complete with flowers and candles for Kim and I. We enjoyed our meal, the best oildown I have ever had, surrounded by the smaller members of the family; everyone digging into big bowls of the delicious stew. We had glasses of fresh passion fruit juice and water dipped out of the rain barrel, since the rum punch I brought along was finished.
![[Linked Image]](http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/sunsetsammy/Grenada%202013/P2161465_zpsa016f49f.jpg)
With some of Bob's younger family members
After the oildown, Bob brought out the fish, grunts, which were surprisingly mild and cooked with potatoes, onions and local seasonings; his niece also made us some fresh coconut candy for dessert. I tell you it was really special to be there, we felt like part of the family, everyone came up and introduced themselves to us. The biggest surprise was a nephew who lives in Toronto, who was home for a visit; he comes to Buffalo to shop and shops at some of the same stores as Kim. Towards the end of the night the Jack Iron came out, I had a couple and then we got a ride back to the hotel with another of Bob’s nephew. We took a walk down the beach and had a nightcap on the patio before turning in.
I made breakfast at the hotel, tuna steak and eggs; then we took a bus to the ferry dock to pick up Kim’s unused ticket to Carriacou. We thought we might try to sell it but weren’t sure how to go about it; a local fellow asked if we needed help with our bags and I said “no, but we have a ticket we would like to sell for 100 EC”. He took off into the crowd and soon came back with a buyer, he upped the price a little to them and made his commission, it worked out pretty good for everyone. On the way back we got dropped off the Spice and Craft Market on the beach; Bob had invited us over to his sister’s house for dinner and I wanted to make sure we were still on as I didn’t get back to see him yesterday, he wasn’t there so we walked back to the hotel by way of the beach. Today we’re moving over to Mourne Rouge, so we went back and packed our things in preparation. Originally we would have been here three weeks already and I thought a few days at Mourne Rouge would be a nice break before we head off to Rodney Bay in St. Lucia, but now I wish we would have stayed on Grand Anse. We left our bags at the office and headed off to the beach, it was a slow day with no ships in port but Norm was already there when we arrived. We spent the afternoon on the beach and had the sandwiches Kim made from the leftover tuna and pork for lunch. It’s quite different on the beach on slow days, being a weekend there were some families there enjoying the day; we even saw some kids having swimming lessons. It was windy so we decided to get a couple chairs, they were going to give us the normal rate of 10 EC per chair, but then Norm spoke up and we got his special rate of 5 EC per chair, he rents then by the week so he gets a good deal. Towards the end of the day Bob came by, he had been clearing some land to build a house on since he knew it would be a slow day; we made arrangements to meet him and then packed up to go to the hotel. George was getting ready to take Norm and Lulu home so we rode with them and had him drive us from the Grand Anse Beach Palace to the Kalinago Resort on Mourne Rouge. We checked in, the rooms are spacious and nicely furnished; ours is on the lower floor and looks out to the yard and the beach. We showered and called George for a ride back to the Craft Market to meet Bob; he was there with his niece and nephew, so we got on a bus and headed for St. Georges. We got off at the lagoon and walked up the side road then onto a trail that led us up the hill to his sister’s house. His niece already had a large pot of oildown over an open fire in the yard, banana leafs draped over it for a lid, so we took seats on the makeshift benches between the trees while his niece, Kasha, explained how she makes her oildown.
A Pot of oildown on the fire
It’s an all day process that starts with soaking the salt pork, bread fruit and figs together then draining and repeating until the pork isn’t salty anymore; it’s then placed in a pot with coconut milk, dashine, callalou, onions and carrots. The whole mixture is boiled in a large pot over an open fire, the fire has to be carefully tended and the pot is checked with a spoon to see if all the water has boiled off. Once the water has boiled off the fire is left to go to coals so as not to burn it as it settles down and the oil comes out, hence oildown.
Fish on the grill
After the oildown was done cooking Bob started to roast some fish in foil over the fire as more and more relatives arrived. He set up a small table on the porch of the modest house complete with flowers and candles for Kim and I. We enjoyed our meal, the best oildown I have ever had, surrounded by the smaller members of the family; everyone digging into big bowls of the delicious stew. We had glasses of fresh passion fruit juice and water dipped out of the rain barrel, since the rum punch I brought along was finished.
With some of Bob's younger family members
After the oildown, Bob brought out the fish, grunts, which were surprisingly mild and cooked with potatoes, onions and local seasonings; his niece also made us some fresh coconut candy for dessert. I tell you it was really special to be there, we felt like part of the family, everyone came up and introduced themselves to us. The biggest surprise was a nephew who lives in Toronto, who was home for a visit; he comes to Buffalo to shop and shops at some of the same stores as Kim. Towards the end of the night the Jack Iron came out, I had a couple and then we got a ride back to the hotel with another of Bob’s nephew. We took a walk down the beach and had a nightcap on the patio before turning in.