September 22, 2010... Belmont Estate, Grenada

It took a few days to get used to being in Grenada again. We stayed in the marina while getting re-organized, re-provisioning, taking advantage of being close to land. Major chores out of the way, we decided it was time to tour again with Belmont Estate our destination. The bus system is so good on the island, we just hopped on to cross the central mountains to get to the hilly northeast region (#2 downtown from Woburn, #6 to Grenville, #9 to Belmont Estate.)

Belmont Estate is a 300-year old farm, passing through many hands to the family that bought it in the 1940s and still runs it. Fruits and vegetables are produced here and sold to the marketing board and other distributors, but the primary crop is cocoa. This cocoa is used by the Grenada Chocolate Company to make their fabulous chocolate bars. Kelly, our enthusiastic guide, educated us about the process from the field to the chocolate factory, ending our tour with a cup of cocoa tea. The farm also has goats and the fresh spiced goat cheese is fabulous -- we are lucky enough to be able to buy this in the local supermarket. We tasted lots of the produce as well during lunch at the Estate. The restaurant sits up high over the farm, is open to the breeze (and lizards), and the food alone is worth the trip. Happy with our visit, we reversed the commute (buses #9, 6, and 2) and collapsed back at the boat.