Grenada - Lush and Bountiful

On our island tour we visited the Grand Etang National Park, located in the rain forest. Here we had the thrill of feeding bananas to the wild monkeys.
We also visited a cocoa processing plant, a nutmeg station, a rum distillery, Fort Frederick and the Annandale falls.
We saw many types of nuts growing (cashew, almond and brazil) as well as cinnamon, avocados, mangos, sugar cane, oranges, coffee, bananas, plantain, bread fruit, passion fruit, star fruit and even loofah sponges.
Sadly, as we travelled the island we saw the catastrophic damage hurricane Ivan caused in 2004, when the eye at catagory 3 status made a direct pass. It had been 50 years since the last hurricane crossed Grenada. The island is rebuilding but the imnpact will be felt in agriculture for 20 years.
On another "cruiser's net" tour we had the incredible opportunity to witness 2 leather-back turtles as they layed their eggs on the beach at the north end of the island. The turtles we saw weighed between 5 and 6 hundred pounds, though they can get as large as 900 pounds. The organization "Ocean Spirit" has members on site to protect, document and monitor the nesting of these endangered turtles. So far this year 960 turtles have layed eggs, compared to a total of 600 for all of last year.