Your Tour begins on Carriacou.
So you're thinking about ...
making a visit or re-locating
a life.
Firstly, let's get to know
a little of the island flavor.....
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A dependency of Grenada, Carriacou seems larger than its 13 square miles.
The island's profile is marked by two high points of almost 1,000 feet, at the north and south ends of the island, with a wooded ridge running between them. Numerous small settlements stud the landscape. Red flamboyants and creamy white frangipani blossom among the mahoganies, acacias, sea almonds, and cacti. While it is at the sea, with its exquisite spectrum of blues, that makes Carriacou a holiday destination (the name is said to come from the Carib for "land surrounded by reefs"), the island's rich heritage, still evident today, is what makes it distinctive.
An impressive number of Amerindian artifacts have been found here, (recently a dig in Harvey Vale uncovered several complete human skeletons, burial masks, a drinking well and other remnants leading speculation toward a 1,000+ year old Taino site) including ceramic body ornaments and loom weights. Roads built by the French in the seventeenth century, now bowered by overrearching trees, crisscross the island and make wonderful walking trails. The cotton, sugar, and indigo plantations established by the English in the 1700s and 1800s may be long gone, but there still remain their great houses and outbuildings (in various stages of repair) in cow pastures and trackless woodlands. And in the Village of Windward, you can watch men with Scottish surnames build schooners the way their 19th-century forefathers did. But it is the island's African ancestors, who picked the cotton and crushed the cane, who have left the most vibrant legacy here -- the traditions and beliefs that define this remarkable island.
Hillsborough, Carriacou's one town, has an unprepossessing Main Street: some storefronts are empty, paint is peeling on others. But take a closer look and you will see its history in the stone and shingled buildings, balconied second floors, and the beautiful, dressed-stone remains of a lime warehouse, being carefully and conscientiously salvaged in an overgrown lot.
Carriacouans are industrious and most are self-employed, announcing their services in hand-lettered signs: They fix tires, make furniture, print menus, shoot passport photos, straighten ladies' hair, and record music, all in the span of just a couple blocks. The island's architecture shows both whimsy and practicality and says a lot about island life. Hand-sawn fretwork and hand-chipped stone embellish simple houses whose jalousied or glassless windows let in the cool tradewinds. Planters, recycled from plastic buckets, trim cottage stoops, and front yards are furrowed into rows of corn and pigeon peas. Though many of the islanders don't have much in terms of material goods, they express well-being. You will see babies delighting in their morning sea bath, men playing earnest games of soccer on the beach, and night-time gatherings at the crossroads for conversation.
Carriacouans also like to celebrate: "Fisherman's
Birthday" is a once-a-year, three day fête at which everyone seems
to join in the swimming races, tug-of-war, domino games, and dancing. For
Carnival, villagers competitively recite Shakespere, and at weddings, four-piece
bands play for intricate quadrilles which spouse will dominate. Even a
foreboding dream may be a cause for a festival: To avoid a drastic event
a "Maroon" is held with "smoke food," hymns,
and the playing of Big Drums.
Nonetheless, Carriacou is on most days a quiet place where you get up with the sun and go to bed with the moon's rising. Time has no meaning; thermometers do not exist. Cows cool themselves on the beach and braying donkeys graze at roadsides. And though Canute Caliste's naive paintings have been internationally recognized, he is proudest of his 23 children and more than 200 grandchildren.
Even with just a little over 100 "beds" on the island, Carriacou has an astonishing range of accommodations, from plain guesthouses with shared facilities to airy mountainside suites to private cottages and villas. Simplicity, however, is the order of the day: Closets are routinely minute, soap is the only amenity, showers are most often without temperature controls.
Carriacou has perhaps a dozen restaurants but a
multitude of eating establishments. However, daily research is required:
Stop by the restaurants, bars, and rum shops. Ask what they are cooking
that day, for even in season what you see on the menu is not necessarily
what you'll be offered - menus merely sggest the range of the cook's skills.
Since they rely on fresh foods, their repertoire is determined by availability.
Most, if not all produce is imported from Grenada, St. Vincent or Trinidad,
so don't expect California-size salads. But the fish is always wonderful
-- usually two or three kinds, almost always including the local specialty
lambi, or conch,
or lobster when in season (after 1 September)
.
Carriacou's obvious attractions are the gorgeous
waters - clear, warm, with white-sand seafloors, and there are always local
boat operators willing to take you to the many nearby, uninhabited off-islands
if you have already taken the time to explore the beaches around the island
itself. The close-in reefs abound with fairy basslets and stoplight parrotfish,
even queen triggerfishes and schools of squid. Extensive coral beds that
a snorkeler can reach from the beach provide hours of enjoyment. Explore
the island and find the santa maria trees whose fragrant leaves are used
in herbal remedies. Walk the often sylvan roads and trails. Greet the women
in their gardens, children wheeling hand-made toys, young men playing soccer
in the road. Aways take plenty of water and don't pass-up one of the 100
rum shops where you can get
- besides rum and conversation - beer and sodas
Visit the Sights on Carriacou
Visit Pam's Goofy Carriacou Page
1998
Up-date: Perhaps a new species discovered?
Harvey Vale dig reveals human skeleton, ancient burial mask and other
remains... will the site be a guesthouse before Christmas? Read: The Declaration
of the United Confederation of Taino People
Carriacou's world famous Big Drum Dance
Visit our Carriacou Artists and enjoy their Impressions of Carriacou
Read what Caribbean Travel and Life has to say about Carriacou
LAND FOR SALE
The
owners and managers of the businesses here on Carriacou Welcome
You! Carriacou
"The
Isle of Reefs" is often called the island
with one gasoline station and 100 rum shops. The 5,000 residents on this
little island just five miles wide and 15 miles long are hard at work to
take care of your every wish and the following commercial directory
will allow you the opportunity to see what I mean. PHOTOS The information
is organized into land-, sea-, travel-, music- and yellowpages-related
activities.
Click on graphics to enter:
'99
Carriacou Carnival
'98 Carriacou Regatta
'98 Parang Festival
Land
Activities
Sea Activities
Bardoni Bros. Ice Cream
Windward Bible Church
Walter Robinson II, Pastor
John
Smith comments on..
Ade's Dream Apartment
Hotel
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