Caribbean Travel - Tropical Rainforest Abounds on Caribbean Island of Grenada

Grand Etang National Park offers guided tours and numerous hikes through rainforests

Although hiking boots weren’t on my packing list when planning my tropical vacation to the island of Grenada, they would have come in handy while hoofing the hills and rainforests in Grand Etang National Park.

Red volcanic slime squishes under the soles of my white running shoes and I slither all over the place while mastering nature’s stairwell that descends to the bowels of the rainforest. An interlacing network of protruding roots and giant rain puddles must frequently be navigated, and steep-sided slopes, falling away to no-man’s land, call for some fancy footwork.

My hands feel clammy, my heart rate does double-time, and sweat drips from my brow. Although it could be due to the humidity that hangs in the air, my gut feeling tells me it’s more from trepidation.

“No worries, Ma’am. I’ll lead you down, safe and sound,” my guide Paul says with optimistic calm. His coal black body is Olympic-athlete lean and in spite of his choice of flimsy sandals, he’s as graceful as a gazelle on his feet.

“Just follow me, in the steps of righteousness,” he bellows.After taking a few steps he stops in his tracks and belly laughs at his rendition of an original gospel masterpiece that he has been singing.

The people of Grenada all seem to have these spirited gifts. Maybe it stems from the love they feel for their country and that their laid-back lifestyles don’t know the meaning of stress. Possibly it’s because the minimal tourism trade hasn’t tarnished their unspoiled homeland.

The paradisiacal island of Grenada is in the eastern Caribbean, just 100 miles north of Venezuela. It boasts 133 picturesque square miles, one-sixth of the island preserved as parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

As well as being the island’s focal point, Grand Etang National Park is home to a 13-acre lake in a volcanic crater 1,740 feet above sea level, and to numerous rain forest hikes, such as this one, leading to Seven Sisters Waterfalls.

Henry’s Safari Tours has been instrumental in leading the way through the dense tropical rainforests for nearly 12 years, and as I discover during this journey, our guide’s easy rhythm is matched by his trustworthy leadership. Paul shares his vast knowledge of the flora all along our route, and rattles off names of tropical flowers as if they were his best friends.

Towering mahoganies and giant gommier trees unite with broad-leafed ferns and vine-draped fijis. Bunches of bamboo shoot skyward like pick-up sticks, trunks of banyon trees fan out like well-played accordions and countless towering palm fronds billow far above in a sultry breeze.

As well as hosting rainforest animals such as opossums, armadillos, mongoose, and mona monkeys, the lush vegetation provides shelter for frogs and chameleon-like lizards that can grow to four feet long. Although we aren’t privy to any sightings today, Paul’s authentic cries of the wild are close enough for my liking.

There’s a special hush about the rainforest that infuses inner peace and oneness with nature, and during the trek I feel a sense of awe, a realization I’m just a small part of the universal picture.

We saunter on in our own thoughts, and in just under an hour, we reach our aquatic destination.

Clear emerald water funnels through a narrow gorge, and from a steep precipice, plunges into a white froth pool. The torrent cascades over a second smaller rocky embankment before spilling into another pond that lures me in for a dip. Other than one other couple and a school of tiny fish, there are no other intruders at this tropical paradise.

Included in Henry’s tour package is a basket lunch from The Flamboyant Hotel which Paul has kindly offered to pack along. There’s fried chicken, sandwich fixings, bananas, oranges, papaya and other delectable delicacies to feed hungry hikers.

We picnic in silence on river boulders and reflect on the surrounding beauty. Sunshine filters through the overgrowth and glistens off the pools while vibrantly-decked tropical birds twitter from the flora. After absorbing all this beauty, I will soon leave with running shoes that look more like muddy galoshes, and with a new-found feeling of humility.

Idyllic, undisturbed, untarnished—just as it has always been—Seven Sisters Waterfalls is a Grenadian treasure.

Grenada ’s Other Waterfalls

Annandale Falls - Easily accessible on outskirts of St. George’s.Concord Falls - A group of three waterfalls with the first stage easily accessible by road and suitable for swimming. The second and third stages, known as Au Coin and Fontainbleu respectively, are accessible by foot, but worth the journey. At Fontainbleu, the water cascades down a 65-foot cliff into a clear pool.Victoria Falls - Easily accessible by foot at the foothills of Mount St. Catherine in the parish of St. Mark.

If you go to Grenada & Rainforests:

Henry’s Safari Tours -1-473-444-4460; e-mail: Safari@caribsurf.com; www.spiceisle.com/safari/ True Blue Bay Resort -1-473-443-8783; e-mail: mail@truebluebay.com; www.truebluebay.com The Flamboyant Hotel -1-473-444-4247; e-mail: flambo@caribsurf.com; www.flamboyant.com

Author: Jane Cassie and Brent Cassie