isl a nd in the sun

the authentic Caribbean endures on Grenada,

but change is in the air for this classic beauty.
st ory by M AT T HEW PHENI X pho t o s by macdu ff ev erton

More than a third of

Grenada’s 90,000
citizens live in the
capital, St. George’s.
Despite 350 years of
tropical storms (and
occasional strife),
the city retains its
timeless good looks.

54    
 K
yron Adams knows Grenada.
He was born here back in 1947, and
he grew up in St. George’s, right across
from the new and exclusive Port Louis
marina, where he now lives and where
he works as a security guard. In 1955
he rode out Hurricane Janet, a storm
that flattened about three-quarters of
Grenada’s iconic nutmeg trees, and he
endured Mother Nature’s wrath again in 2004, when Hurricane
Ivan pummeled the island, killing 39 people and leaving nine-
tenths of its homes in ruins. He saw the former British crown
colony proudly establish its independence in 1974, and nine
years later witnessed a savage Marxist coup d’état — and a
liberating invasion by 7,000 U.S. Marines.
“We had a lot of setbacks in this country,” he says. “We had
two hurricanes; we had revolution; we had strife. But we’re still
going good. We still remain the same: unspoiled.”
Adams was there too when the cameras rolled in 1957 for
a big-budget Hollywood film called Island in the Sun, based on
Antoine Beach, a best-selling novel by Alec Waugh. The film itself is a campy,
on the rugged
Atlantic coast. tangled mess, but it remains memorable for one bona fide
Below: Nutmeg star turn: Grenada’s dazzling portrayal of the fictional island
puts the spice
in the Spice Isle. of Santa Marta. The opening sequence depicts a winsome,
widescreen vision of a Caribbean island and a way of life that

it’s a winsome vision of a caribbean island and a way of life that are now mostly forgotten.
are now mostly forgotten. It’s a Technicolor glimpse back to
a time before the incursion of mass tourism and the arrival
of megaclass cruise ships, when attending to crops was more
pressing than attending to tourists.
Adams remembers how Grenada was in those days, and to
my surprise, he tells me he doesn’t see much that’s changed. “It’s
still the same thing I knew as a little boy,” he says, looking out
over the water toward St. George’s and the Carenage, a harlequin
queue of squat buildings that defines the city’s vibrant harbor-
front. “It’s more advanced, yes; it’s a little different, but it’s nice.
Everybody likes it.” He smiles. “We’re just getting along fine.”

Fifty-odd years have passed since Hollywood came and

went, but Grenada’s first city remains a dead ringer for the
character it played in Island in the Sun. Architecturally, St.
George’s is a happy hodgepodge of West Indian and European
influences: stucco walls colored peach and cream and water-
melon, with roofs of red clay tile or corrugated metal; steep
cobblestone streets linked by a warren of narrow alleyways;
and an array of churches — and one stately fortress — made of
appropriately solemn limestone. Its vibrant harborfront curves
around a lovely protected anchorage, within which sherbet-
colored fishing boats and gleaming motor yachts commingle.
All that’s missing is Harry Belafonte crooning the title song. A footpath leads to
Mount Cinnamon’s
Grenadians agree that the best views in St. George’s are private beach bar.
had not from some swank resort or chic eatery, but rather Above: Mount Carmel
waterfall, the tallest
from the town hospital, the town jail and the town cemetery, of many on Grenada.

56    
 Famed for its silken
sands and tranquil
waters, Grand Anse
beach, just south of
St. George’s, is home
to most of Grenada’s
resorts and hotels.

Sauteurs

River Antoine
Rum Distillery
Gouyave

grenada
Grenville

Grand Etang
Forest Reserve

St. George’s

Point Salines
Int. Airport

this two-mile crescent of sugary sand is the most postcard-perfect of Grenada’s beaches.
 the funds to repair it. But by and large, formerly roofless homes
have roofs again, and formerly denuded trees have leaves; and
the island’s hotels have long since rebuilt and reopened — and
in most cases look better than they did before the storm. Despite
its swift recovery, though, Grenada hasn’t been able to pick up
quite where it left off on September 7, 2004.
Before Ivan, the tourist trade was a secondary consideration
on the island, if that. Agriculture was king. Grenada’s dark, vol-
canic soil is spectacularly fertile, and its wild middle is a crush
of tropical greenery: trees heavy with cacao pods, mangoes,
bananas, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg — especially nutmeg.
This historically prized seasoning arrived here from its native
Indonesia during the 19th century, introduced by spice traders.
It flourished, and Grenada soon emerged as the world’s second-
biggest nutmeg producer. Just how much does it mean to this
nation and its 90,000 people? That’s a nutmeg pod on the flag.
But with the nutmeg industry so traumatized by Ivan (most
estimates suggest at least 60 percent of pod-producing trees were
obliterated in the storm), the government has spent the last few
years courting tourism investors. New hotel and resort proper-
ties have opened, and more are on the drafting table, though the
world’s economic doldrums have clearly slowed things down
in recent months. By most accounts, developers seem keen to
preserve the island’s oldfangled charms along with its matchless
natural beauty. But change is change, and as the bleached bulk of
a lone cruise ship weighs anchor and fills the basin of St. George’s

by most accounts, developers seem keen

to preserve the island’s oldfangled charms.
each of which occupies a supremely covetable tract of hilltop harbor with the bellow of its horn, I can’t help but think that as
acreage. No matter: You don’t have to be infirm, incarcerated the business of tourism gains momentum here, something’s got
or interred to appreciate this city’s panoramic grandeur. There to give. How much longer will the Grenada of today resemble
is hardly an open window or patch of sidewalk from which the island in the sun that Kyron Adams knew as a boy?
you can’t catch a glimpse of cool Caribbean blue.
On the whole, Grenada is devotedly easygoing, but St. COLUMBUS SPOTTED GRENADA in 1498; before that it was
George’s is another matter: It’s brisk and busy, the air permeated inhabited by the Carib people. European influence here passed
by city noises and cooking scents. The Grenadian people seem from France to England and back again for decades, until the
perfectly pleased to welcome visitors to their island, but as a visi- French at last officially yielded to the English in 1783. The
tor, I can’t quite shake the sense that they wouldn’t have missed comma-shaped, 121-square-mile island is 21 miles long and
me if I hadn’t shown up. Fishermen would still sell fresh-caught 12 miles wide. It fronts the smooth Caribbean Sea on the west
jack off their boats along the Carenage; kids in dark uniforms and the roiling Atlantic Ocean on the east. Its rain-soaked mid-
with striped ties would still trudge to the schoolhouse every section, which includes the Grand Etang Forest Reserve and a
morning; and fruit sellers would still jam shoulder-to-shoulder dormant volcano, 2,756-foot Mount Saint Catherine, is green
into Market Square to hawk papayas and breadfruits and coco- and untamed and dramatically hillocky, its jungle laced with
nuts. Look up at imposing Fort George: Built by the occupying fast-moving rivers and lazy streams and populated by troops of
French between 1705 and 1710, it straddles a volcanic spine 175 long-tailed mona monkeys, a species brought over from Africa
feet above the waters of St. George’s harbor. What is it today? during the height of the slave trade.
A museum? A cheesy tourist trap with a gift shop and a frozen- The island’s cove-carved perimeter is more or less paralleled
drink bar? Not on your life: It’s the police headquarters. by a single road and strapped across the middle by a couple of Asian themes with a
Five years after Ivan, the physical wounds inflicted by the others. The main road is understandably nameless; it’s generally twist of Italian style
at elegant Laluna.
storm’s 160-mile-per-hour winds appear almost entirely healed. just called de road, as in “Just follow de road.” It goes two ways Opposite: A working,
396-acre plantation,
Yes, vivid reminders of Ivan’s fury linger, such as St. George’s — dis way and dat way — so getting lost on it requires some Peter de Savary’s
128-year-old Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, which genuine determination. That said, road signs are a rare sight Mount Edgecombe
harvests a bounty
stands defiantly roofless as parishioners slowly but surely raise along de road, and Grenada’s 650 miles or so of paved byways of tropical produce.

60    
can be squiggly, steep, unnervingly narrow and occasionally lineup of beach resorts and hotels: the Grenada Grand, the Patrons of Grenada’s
acclaimed Aquarium
less than billiard-table smooth. It’s safe to say that driving a car Allamanda, the Coyaba, the Spice Island, the Flamboyant and, Restaurant dine on
some of the island’s
or a sport-utility vehicle is not for the faint of heart, so rentals my first stopping place, Mount Cinnamon. best fish and lobster.
should be approached with an ounce of caution. Even without Built in 1970, the property was known as the Cinnamon Hill Opposite: Far below
Maca Bana Villas,
a rented ride, though, getting around Grenada is surprisingly Hotel until 2006, when British developer Peter de Savary snagged Magazine Beach
delights snorkelers
simple. Hop aboard a tour bus to sites outside of St. George’s, or it for a song. The following March, it reopened — refreshed, with a superb reef
hail a taxicab (they’re everywhere). Or if you’re really intrepid repainted and refitted — as the Mount Cinnamon resort. The right off the sand.

(and really frugal), join the locals and cram yourself into one hillside property consists of seven one-bedroom suites and 14
of the privately operated minibuses that crisscross the island, two- and three-bedroom villas, all with dazzling views of Grand
horns honking and stereos thumping, with hair-raising haste. Anse. Inside, each one features its own candy-shop color palette
Tourists tend to stick close to St. George’s and Grand Anse, so and a raft of natty touches specified by de Savary himself, in-
the island’s outlying towns — such as second-city Grenville on the cluding ginormous four-poster beds, groovy shag carpeting, and
Atlantic side and the west-coast town of Gouyave (pronounced retro-style refrigerators by Italian appliance-maker Smeg. There’s
gwahv), the island’s fishing capital and the site of a rousing a tidy spa, a colorful restaurant, and a bar, Savvy’s, that’s named
Friday-night fish fry — tend to be considerably more rustic. for the youngest of de Savary’s five daughters, Savannah.
Don’t be deterred; the island’s people are famously warm and De Savary (or “PdeS,” as he likes to be called) fancies himself
approachable, and its far corners are terrifically explorable, one of the most fervent champions of the old Grenada — and
with out of the way treasures such as the big nutmeg processing one of the architects of the new. A spry 65 years old, he made
center in Gouyave and, north of Grenville, the River Antoine his fortune in the shipyard and oil-trading businesses and later
Rum Distillery — among the world’s oldest, dating to 1785. demonstrated a genuine flair for high-end hospitality. He created
Grenada’s geologic origins are volcanic, but it nevertheless the St. James’s Clubs in London, Paris, Los Angeles and Antigua;
has several exquisite white-sand strands, most with fine small the Carnegie Club at Skibo Castle in Scotland (Madonna mar-
reefs right off the sand. Just south of St. George’s, and doubt- ried there); and the Abaco Club at Winding Bay in the Bahamas.
less the most postcard-perfect (and most visited) of Grenada’s Lately, he’s turned his attention to a passel of properties on Gre-
beaches, Grand Anse is a lazy, two-mile crescent of sugary sand nada, an island he visited with his parents as a child. He sees
with a limpid swath of blue on one side and, on the other, a it evolving into a sumptuous redoubt for the beautiful people,

de savary sees grenada evolving into a

21st-century take on the St-Tropez of the 1950s.

62  
 sort of a 21st-century take on the St-Tropez of the 1950s. Mount The fresh fish, simply prepared, is predictably sublime, and when ‘INTERVENTION’ STRATEGY Beside the road to
Cinnamon’s current shape is positively humble compared with you can get it, the grilled lobster is out of this world. A scoop of the airport sits a modest memorial: two slender
de Savary’s expansive vision for it, which includes more villas nutmeg ice cream makes a fabulous (and fitting) finish. arches that intersect over a stone block with a bronze
and, in place of its modest beach bar across the street, a sprawl- plaque affixed to it. The monument, in its own words,
ing waterfront club and recreation center. He also owns (and A S T H E S U N SE T S ON G REN A D A a n d m y flight t o “expresses the gratitude of the Grenadian people to
rents out) a grand old Mediterranean-style waterfront manse someplace decidedly less unspoiled draws nearer, I unwind on the forces from the United States of America and
called Azzurra Castle and, in the island’s lush north, an even my veranda at Maca Bana after dinner and study the way the the Caribbean, especially those who sacrificed their
grander and older plantation house called Mount Edgecombe, polished expanse of the sea fills in the scalloped edges of the lives in liberating Grenada on 25 October 1983.” As a
which yields a shopping list of exotic fruits and spices. Nearby, land. My eyes follow the west coast all the way to twinkling rule, Grenadians are genial, chatty people. Ask and
he’s purchased 200 wild acres, within which he plans to build lights of St. George’s. I ponder the beauty of the island and its they’ll gladly bend your ear about cricket standings or
an eco-spa called Tufton Hall, designed to pamper no more than enduring traditions, and I contemplate the seductiveness — why Grenada-brewed Carib beer is better than Carib
50 well-heeled guests at a time. and the fragility — of such authenticity in the modern world. from St. Kitts or Trinidad. But the sequence of events
Among de Savary’s Grenadian endeavors, however, the Port I recall my conversation with Kyron Adams days before. leading up to and including the American intervention
Louis marina (where Kyron Adams works) is the main event. “You feel that sun?” he asked. “You feel the way that warm — Operation Urgent Fury, in Pentagon-speak — is a
Perched on a lagoon that once served as a dumping ground for breeze is blowing?” He closed his eyes to soak in the midday very different matter. Even 26 years on, a good many
old cars and other detritus (one project manager told me that light and let the soft air from the harbor slide over his face. Grenadians are understandably sore about the ugly
they hauled out the carcass of a Russian-made helicopter during “That’s how it is here: easy. Like always.” He smiled big, and power struggle that saw their prime minister deposed
the $3 million cleanup), the property now includes a row of before I could say a word in reply, he delivered a little nod and and executed and, for a few awful weeks, turned their
megayacht-ready slips and a beer-and-burger joint for visiting a wag of his finger and added: “Yes, I know you’ll be back.” island paradise into a shooting gallery. What is today
sea dogs. But de Savary’s got bigger plans for this prime chunk He’s right. I’m spellbound by Grenada. I will come back, and for most Americans little more than a Jeopardy!
of real estate, which encompasses the lofty former grounds of when I do, I’ll look up Kyron Adams. I’ll ask how he’s doing and question remains a lingering heartache in Grenada.
the Islander Hotel, bombed out during the American invasion how Grenada’s doing, and I hope he’ll turn and gaze across the It’s a topic of conversation visitors should broach with
in 1983. The project proposal includes dozens of cliff-clinging harbor toward his boyhood home, smile that big smile of his and extreme delicacy — or better yet, not at all. — MP
Italianate villas, a 150-room hotel and a yachtie playground say, “We’re just getting along fine.” ✸
with all the usual dining/drinking/self-indulging facilities. For THE essentials on Grenada, see page 94.

he smiled big and delivered a little nod and a wag of his finger. “Yes, I know you’ll be back.”
The incongruity of such a deluxe proposition on an island like
this seems acute when you stroll across the street to a scruffy little
St. George’s harbor
clapboard-sided house, painted lavender, from which Patrick’s shimmers as night
falls on Grenada.
Homestyle Restaurant serves real local fare. Chef Patrick Levine Opposite, from
learned to cook in the kitchen of a dearly departed culinary above: Kirl Natoo
makes goat cheese
mainstay on Grenada, Mamma’s, and in the Mamma’s tradition, at Belmont Estate;
freshwater crayfish,
he delivers a cascading sampler of Grenadian foodstuffs — creole à la Patrick Levine.
fish, cou-cou, breadfruit salad, saltfish cake, green papaya, sea
urchin and other dishes. Heaping little bowls hit the table four or
five at a time, dispatched from the impossibly small kitchen by
Levine’s hardworking sidekick, Compta McDonald. A scoop of
fresh pineapple sorbet finishes things off, followed by a shot from
a big jug filled with dark rum and stuffed with a secret recipe of
leaves and twigs, purportedly giving it healing powers. I can’t
confirm the medicinal value of Levine’s “under the counter,” but
I will concede that I did feel awfully good after a hit of it.
From the Grand Anse glam of Mount Cinnamon, I head
down to the island’s southern tip and make myself comfy at the
intimate and artsy Maca Bana Villas. The hilltop property looks
down upon the soft sands and bright waters of Magazine Beach.
Its seven unique villas feature gourmet kitchens, outdoor hot
tubs, and a smattering of inspired touches, courtesy of the artist
Rebecca Thompson, a British expat who owns Maca Bana with
her German-expat husband, Uli Kühn, and lives on the property
with their two teenagers and two dogs. The couple also own one
of Grenada’s most acclaimed restaurants, the Aquarium, situated
down the hill from Maca Bana and opening right onto the beach.

64     november 2009 c a r i b b e a n t r av e l+l i f e   6 5