ROOTS TOURS

NEW! Roots Tours - enjoy a day out in the heart of our local communities (Photos)

Visit a local school

We hold the future of our young people close to our heart. Visitors to Grenada always comment with delight at the immaculate appearance and the polite greetings of school children that they meet. Teachers try very hard with scant resources. We have been supporting primary schools and community libraries through our Grenada Children's Library Project since 2000, by supplying needy students with books and educational supplies. If you are interested in education, could donate educational supplies, or would just like to share something about your country with some students, we invite you to visit one of the schools and libraries with which we have a relationship. You could teach a short lesson in a tiny primary school of 30 children in Grand Anse. Or bring a book to read to the children in the community library in a rural village in St.David's, that serves the whole parish. Or drop by the local school during your tour of a mountain village in the heart of the agricultural sector in St.Andrew's.

Visit community artists

You can visit a local artist at his home in Walker, near Grenville, St.Andrew's. Bobo Q is a quiet but charismatic elder in the Bobo Shanti order of the Rastafarian movement. His art reflects his religious beliefs, as seen in a well-known and much photographed painting on a store front in the sister island of Carriacou, but he also paints bold and dramatic tropical landscapes on both large and small canvases, perfect for bringing back home with you.

One of the Caribbean's most accomplished wood-carvers, Wayne Snagg, fashions beautiful sculptures out of local woods. Visit him at his home-based gallery in Calliste, St.George's.

Help a farmer on his plantation

'Paraclete', a village in St.Andrew's, means 'the Spirit of God.' It was the home of Governor Ninan Home when he was captured and killed by Julien Fedon's rebels in 1795. Today it is a vibrant agricultural village trying to survive the devastating blow of hurricane Ivan in 2004 to its traditional agricultural products of nutmeg and cocoa. It is testament to the community spirit of this village that most of the roofs were back on within a few days of the hurricane. The young people have increasingly turned to planting crops for local consumption, especially in these times of rising food prices. You would be welcomed as a volunteer for the morning, helping to plant on an organic family vegetable farm on the gently sloping hillsides in the upper part of the village. After your hard work enjoy a cold 'Carib' beer or 'fire' a River Antoine rum (so strong it's not allowed on a plane!) at one of the village rum shops and chat with the locals.

Traditional Rastafarian outdoor lunch

If you prefer, stick to local organic drinks made from fresh fruits like soursop, passionfruit or lime, or maybe someone will crack open a coconut for you. This will get you ready for a vegetarian lunch, prepared according to Rastafarian traditions, using locally grown produce like breadfruit, coconut milk, callaloo and sweet potatoes. It will be cooking outside on an open fire (weather permitting) while you perch on a rock local style or prepare to dine in comfort on a bench under a thatched cover. The two cooks, Cassa and Desmond, are experienced, and have Food Handling certificates.

Guided walk through a village to meet the people

Take a walk with a guide through the village to see how the villagers really live. You can do this in Paraclete, St.Andrew's, or in Thebaide, St.David's. You will be accompanied by someone who is actually from the village, so that they can introduce you to their friends and family. You could decide to take a hike, or you could learn about all the different types of trees and plants while walking along a more leisurely route. Maybe you can join in a cricket match or just be a spectator along with the crowd, or perhaps there might be a local 'blocko' on, an informal dance with DJ's and big speakers. If you have children with you, we could arrange to have them meet other children and join in some old-fashioned local games like hopscotch, making a kite from a cocoa leaf or petting some lambs or rabbits in a neighbour's yard.  We can arrange for you to have a drink or lunch in someone's house in the village, perhaps being able to observe the preparation of spices or cocoa on a family verandah.

Demonstration of herbal medicine

The Caribbean region should be well known for its centenarians. Elizabeth Pampo" Israel in Dominica (a few islands north of Grenada) claimed to be 128 when she died recently. There are many people in Grenada who live to the ripe old age of 100 and over. Healthy food, fresh air, clean water, physical activity and a slow pace of life all contribute to this healthy lifestyle. Also, however, interviews with centenarians in Grenada, carried out by school students, found that all of the citizens interviewed 'self-medicated' with herbal or 'bush' medicine as it is known here. People arriving from Africa, brought with them seeds and other fragments of plants hidden on their person, which combined with a vast oral respository of herbal medicine, which has been handed down through the generations, kept this tradition alive. It has literally been a life line for those who cannot afford synthetic medications, and illnesses can be cured and prevented without unwanted side effects. You will be taken on a walk to observe and identify herbs growing wild, and taught about their therapeutic effects before sampling a hot or iced 'bush tea'. Then you will be invited to choose a packet of dried tea to take home with you. Commonly used herbs are Lemongrass, Black Sage and Santa Maria. There are herbal remedies for the common cold, earache, blood pressure stabilisers, and remedies for skin disorders, to name just a few, many of them retaining their French-African patois names.

Workshops in cooking, dance, steel pan and craft

As already mentioned on our activity page, you can combine any of the workshops listed above into a tailor-made tour. Cooking workshops can be held at your accommodation, if possible, or if not, in Bailles Bacolet, St. David's. Modern calypso dance classes can be held in Woburn, St.George's, and steel pan lessons with a professional band leader in the Grand Anse area. Jewelry making workshops can be arranged in the village of Thebaide, using natural and recycled materials, and these sessions include fresh juice and a delicious local snack.

COUNTRYSIDE DAY TOUR US$35 plus 5% tax (includes lunch)

If you are interested call us on (473) 444 5845 for more details or email us at grenhome@spiceisle.com

Photos

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