Hiking to Hog Island December 22, 2012

Steve on our hike

Hog Island was in the buzz on the Significant Other's Facebook Page for a couple of days. I was really sore from Friday. (In the future Concord Falls is something to do with a taxi driver or by vehicle, not by hiking from where the bus dropped us off. It's too humid hiking into the rainforest like that).

I searched for the phone number- but the only number that came up was the number to the Grenada Chocolate Factory. I called, but it was the real chocolate factory, the one that doesn't allow tours any more. But I was finally able to find out that the Belmont Estate (where they give tours and show the process of fermenting the cocoa beans, etc. is done) was not open on Saturdays. They are open Sunday, but not Saturday, SERIOUSLY?! How goofy.

Since it wasn't open the alternative suggestion was hiking to hog island. I told my brother and Moe that I was sure that we could get there from the Lance Aux Epines Bus route, which was nice too, because it wouldn't be costing us anything! I packed our lunches and got ready to go, figured out the time of the bus and we were on our way.

I wasn't exactly sure how to get there but was hopeful that someone on the bus, or the driver would know the way to hog island. Fortunately there was a really nice veterinarian student who was staying over the break with one of his friends, dog sitting, that walked us to the trail. I don't think that we would have found it otherwise. It was down a side street, then another side street and through a small fenced area.

Besides it being insanely hot it felt like we were walking through a trail in Michigan. I think all three of us appreciated this. Until we saw crabs in the fields. That's nothing like walking through a field in Michigan.

In Michigan where my brother and I grew up, there was some swampy area and there were trees galore. It really did look an awful lot like this. It's nice to take a walk down memory lane even if the lane is in a different country.

The hike to Hog Island was warm, but it was leisurely and I appreciated that. Especially after our long hike yesterday, uphill in the rain.

Oh, and for the majority of this day we were not rained on. I didn't have to bring only my waterproof camera! SCORE.






I don't think it's quite visible, but at this tire roundsabout (haha- this is what they call "roundabouts" in Grenada) we decided to take a right turn- we saw the bridge a few steps behind us and thought that the bridge was likely to the left. We went to the left and discovered that the bridge was definitely to the right. But we were able to see some nice ships and someone's boat that they used just to get to shore and back to their bigger sailboat. I'm pretty sure someone left a really sweet note on this, a four letter word that rhymes with "duck." I wonder what the big idea is though? I'm pretty sure someone left a really sweet note on this, a four letter word that rhymes with "duck." I wonder what the big idea is though?

Steve said a few times that he really wanted to take this boat out into the sea. He wasn't sure how long the cruiser would be gone for or how happy (upset) that they would be if they discovered someone (my brother) took their boat for a spin.

There were these "wrecks" though. I wondered what the story of them is. I mean, they are too close to shore to be anything really. I wonder if they are left from hurricane Ivan in 2004. I imagine that this alcove of where Grenada is and where Hog Island begins is a safe enough area for cruisers to dock their boat. I also have a feeling that people don't pay any kind of a fee to be here. 

The boats are incredibly close to the shore. I wasn't really sure if they could be from hurricane Ivan or not. 

When we finally made it to the bridge we discovered that there was a gate and it's locked. But, apparently we aren't the only people who wanted to get to hog island without a boat, because the fence on the side was nicely cut out of it. 

We were later told by some friends that there's a bar on hog island that someone's been squatting in for seven years! Apparently the major hotel chain Four Seasons owns the island. But, in Grenada there are squatting laws. The guy that is working in the bar apparently opens when he wants to and doesn't if he doesn't want to. It's pretty interesting to me. :) 

There are remnants of some kind of markers or signs on the island but I don't really know what they were supposed to mean. 

Almost all of them are broken, if not all of them. I'm not completely sure, I cannot remember. 

I don't think the guy that runs the bar actually lives on the island. The only real life that we noticed were some wild goats. They were pretty scared of us, still. Far more scared of us than the goats that are nearby where we live. I guess it's partially because they don't have as many people come to their island. 

The footprints that we kept seeing were very confusing to us. But, after seeing the goats it made far more sense!

I thought it was really interesting to see the way that the water formed the grooves in the rocky ground. It made it a little more difficult to walk around the grooves but it worked. 

The views of the sea, and the sailboats were pretty impressive when we were toward the top of Hog Island. The ground was marshy and it was nice to see a part of the island that is so rural, still. Who knows whether it will ever really taken over by the Four Seasons or if it can stay like this for years to come. I forget the name of the guy that has the bar, apparently he makes pizza on Sunday's- or his wife does? He mixes up the drinks and cruisers take their little boats over to the bar and mingle with other cruisers. 

The sea surrounding Hog Island and the neighboring areas are surrounded by boats everywhere. 

I could be very wrong, but I think that this mass across the sea is another island, Calivigny Island, which we were told is owned by a French individual. Apparently there might be a casino on the island? I'm not sure whether we can go there or not, I mean the island, not the Casino, but I would kind of like to test it out. 

We were told that we could take a water taxi to Hog Island, which I would like to do, and possibly the water taxi to hog island is also one that takes people to Calivigny Island? I don't really know. 

My lovely husband and his newly acquired walking stick. While we were walking back there was a lot of mud, going up hill it's a little easier than going down hill, it feels like this is where the term mudslide really came from. The walking stick was somewhat helpful to us. 

It's still sitting outside of our door. That's more than I needed to see of this walking stick, truthfully. :) HAHA, just kidding, Moe

On our trek back, we thought we had followed the landmarks appropriately. We thought we went right when the trail that we came on went right. We thought that we were walking on the same route that we had taken on the way to hog island. We thought that we'd end up coming out from the same spot that we came in. We did see a horse on the way back that we hadn't seen on the way there. And, we ended up coming out of the trail at the top of the hill in Grand Anse! On the other end of the Dusty Highway. Seriously. I don't think either of us can really understand why this happened or how. We had been caught in the rain and we were all soaking wet. I mean, Moe and Steve took their t-shirts off, but me. No, not cool. 

At the top of the hill in Grand Anse we found a Jerk Chicken guy. He has a little stand and he said he's there seven days each week, except on Christmas. But, don't let him fool you, he is not there all the time, at least, when we went there on a Sunday not too long ago, he wasn't there. Moe and Steve were impressed with the jerk chicken that he sold, Moe more so, I think. But, it's part of the experience. We also went into this little bar which is right next door to the jerk chicken place, and got some water and a few Tings. :) It was really welcomed after all of our water being consumed during our walk. 

We went home to drop off our backpacks and headed to Grand Anse Beach. It was the first time that we took my brother to the beach, and he had been here for a few days. I was hopeful that we'd be able to make it to a beach on hog island and that we'd be able to swim there, but it didn't really work out the way that I had thought it would in my head. :) 

Instead we made it to the sea for a late night swim. I've noticed that the water is surprisingly cooling off. When the sun is no longer out, it's actually almost chilly. 

Although there's very little to be seen- it's part of the experience. And, I think it helped keep the salt water out of his eyes, we all know how uncomfortable salt water in the eyes is. Try salt water plus sunscreen. Bad combination that I know all too well. 

I love that Moe always looks great in every single photo! I really love this guy! I think that his might be his favorite time of his time off from school, so far. I know he just wants to relax. And, relaxing he is doing!

Sorry for the water spots- it's a waterproof camera for a reason, but the spots are inevitable. 

Nothing like the sunset at the sea.