Julie and I spent a fantastic couple of days staying ‘Up Island’ with her friends Kim and Lilett on their Organic Chocolate Farm.
the island of Grenada is not huge, 21 miles long by 12 miles wide. The easiest and cheapest way to get around is on the local buses. These are small mini vans which carry between 18 – 20 people. They run on a loop in the various districts. The buses are brilliant and. Heap, between 80p and £1.50 depending on the length of your journey. I love them, each one is different, old, older, new, loud, louder, deafening! Faster, faster, death wish! Everyone uses them, including the occasional chicken and goat! If you are boarding at the bus station in the capital, St George, they wait until the bus is full before they leave, this can get very hot, unless you are lucky enough to get one with air con! Joy. Every bus plays music, always reggae, always loud, but you keep your fingers crossed that it’s not ‘Soca Reggae’ which is like Reggae on crack! 😳
Julie and I got 2 buses up to Crayfish Bay, we definitely lucked out, great music, loud, fast! The route from St George to Crayfish Bay takes you along the coast the whole way, it took an hour and cost £1.50 each, it was fabulous.
Crayfish Bay Organic Chocolate Farm is run by Kim and his partner Lilett. Kim has lived there for 12 years and Lilett joined him 6 years ago. Kim is a real character, he has lived a fascinating and exciting life. He has lived on boats, barges, in camper vans and on the streets in a huge variety of countries, he has made a living in a multitude of ways not all of them legal but always honest. Lilett is originally from Guyana and she is a beautiful, calm, laid back lady who is the perfect foil for the Wonderfully eccentric Kim.
The ethos behind the Chocolate Farm is to use the Cocoa that grows on the land already, the cocoa grows amongst other plants such as mango, sour sop, guava, bananas, nutmeg, avocado and many more, the cocoa beans then take on the flavours of the other plants, which give them subtle notes of flavour, no batch is ever the same. Kim and Lilett use local resources and are hoping to show the local community that you don’t need to rely bank loans and big companies to produce a quality product. This is illustrated by Kim’s equipment, his Roaster and Winnower both of which would cost in the region of £25,000 if you buy them even second hand, Kim managed to make both of his from bits and bobs he had lying around, using his hard work and ingenuity! They are hoping to start an apprenticeship programme soon.
Kim and Lilett also built a couple of basic but beautiful cabins on the land and use these to rent for holiday makers or people who wan to come and work on the farm. Julie and I relaxed, read, dozed, went for longish walk in the Bush, rode into town in the back of an ancient pick up truck, we also managed to fit in the football! We watch the England v Croatia game in a local Rum Shop called Shy’s Bar in the local town. There was Julie and I and lots of local guys, julie was the only one drinking beer but the smell of ‘erb was strong!! 😂😂 A great game just a shame Croatia played better in the second half…..fuckers.
I absolutely loved my stay at this amazing place, the only downside is that every single biting creature in the vicinity managed to bite me….😳 I now resemble some sort of plague victim.
We are now back in Woburn at the apartment and are planning a trip to Grand Anse beach tomorrow with some lovely friends of julie’s. I will finally get to swim in the Caribbean Sea 😍
Hereandthereclaire.com 
Sounds like you are having an amazing time.
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It’s been fantastic so far! Leaving Grenada tomorrow. Xx
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Hi Claire, Grenada sure sounds like it’s been the most amazing adventure!
I’m sure you will be sad to leave.
Take care xx
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Hi Hun, it has been fun, and really interesting staying with someone who lives here you get to see much more than if you stayed in a hotel.
I hope you’re ok.
Big hugs. Xx
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How fantastic sounds like you are having amazing tim
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