Grenada Hash House Harriers - GH3!

By Kathy:

So you read about our first eventful hash where we lost the kids. Since then we try to hash every Saturday with this fun group that is made up of locals, cruisers, students and expats. It is hard not to have fun with the hash harriers. Each hash has been in a different part of the island and each location had very different scenery. Part of the charm of hashing is that you have to commit to spend your entire Saturday afternoon and sometimes evening, make a BIG effort to get there, you get to enjoy hiking all over the island and you learn to lime with the locals.

Here are some highlights from the rest of our hashes this summer. Each section is titled with the location, a little bit about the hash and A LOT of pictures. We always try to take some pictures of the start/end location, the trail, and anything in between:

Gouvyave

This was our second hash and we took the trip up to Gouvyave on the hash bus. This was about an hour drive north from downtown and our first trip on the bus. They usually have two buses (the bus drivers are hashers too) that take people to the hash every week. We learned very quickly that the bus is packed to over capacity.  It was ok on the way up but after the beer shower and hiking for two hours it was a bit smelly on the way back.

The hasher bus. You can barely see Jack and Sam. There are about 20 people on this bus that I think was made for 16. Jack ended up falling asleep on the lady next to him. 

The Gouvyave hash was absolutely beautiful and took us through a Grenadian rainforest. Of course, it did not go off without a hitch. It rained on the way to the hash which had the "hare" running around and altering the trail because of the mud. Well....because of the altering of the signs and paper piles it was a little confusing and half of us went on the runner's trail backwards. In the end it was a blessing since the runners trail was really where the scenic views were but we were the last hashers to arrive back at the start. But...remember what I said about any reason to party. Well, since half of us went on the trail backwards they "punished" the poor hare at the end during the celebration.

Emma is ready to hash! Notice all of the kids have their own backpacks this week.

A little pre-hash coconut water! $1EC = about $.37US

Sam quenching his thirst and hydrating. 

Everybody under strict orders to stay with us! 

So....we have all of our kids and we adopted another one along the way when he got separated from his mom.  Happens to the best of us! 

We love the scenery on the hashes.

This is why we were happy to be on the runner's trail. Even if it was by accident.

There are a couple of veteran hashers who take pictures every week. This one was taken by the Pink Panther.

This is what happened to the hare after the hash because of the confusion on the trail.

Having fun relaxing after some BBQ, beer, and sodas. 

BBC Beach – Bastille Day Hash           

This hash was on one of our favorite beaches in Grenada. This is considered a close hash that is near downtown so there were a lot of people who came out to have some fun. BBC beach is in a nice little cove with almond trees for shade and a small inflatable park so we have spent a few afternoons here this summer.  The hashers are always looking for a reason to celebrate so they called this the Bastille Day Hash. Grenada is not a French island so it truly was just a reason to party. We were  told to try to wear red, white & blue and the French hashers had to sing the national anthem before the hash. Again, you never know what to expect from each location. We hiked along the beach and then took a turn up a mountain and climbed to the top and walked the ridge to the next harbor and then back down walking through a very cool yoga resort. We are pretty sure there was not a lot of peace and mediation going on when we walked through with 7 kids. 

We started this hash from BBC beach. 

On-On down to Grand Anse Beach. What it doesn't show is that to get from one beach to the next was a hill climb. 

One right turn off the beach and we are now going up the surrounding mountain. 

You always meet a few friends along the way.

The view of Prickly Bay from the top of the mountain. 

Emma and Jack making their way down the trail. 

A group shot from the top!

You usually pass by houses along the way. This one had some kids who wanted to play with Emma. 

We rounded the mountain and now we can see BBC Beach and the hash party at the other end....now we just need to find a way down. 

The hash sign for "You are almost to the finish"

Bathway Beach 

This was our second trip out to Bathway Beach but our first one in daylight. The last time we were here we were watching the nesting Leatherback Turtles. This is probably the furthest hash you could go to from downtown. It was a good 2 hour bus ride. Again, each location is so different. In Bathway we did not get the rainforest or just the beach. We were pleasantly surprised by a beautiful hike through the rolling pasture mountains and finishing along the beach. The views were amazing! 

This hash started with another packed bus. 

But since its was a 2 hour drive they decided to put us in another bus to space everyone out. We just had to wait on the side of the busy road for the bus to arrive. 

After the 2 hour drive we were ready for some pre-hash BBQ

BBQ chicken is a very common meal here in Grenada. 

The girls are ready!

The start of the hash. Everyone is usually bunched together at the beginning and then we space out. 

This hash took us through some rolling hills pastures. Sam decided to go off trail. 

Stunning views of the lake.

You always meet new friends. 

Amazing views!

Heading back down towards the beach.

Oh no...false trail alert. Now we have to pick a direction and hope it is right. 

Our last trek down before hitting the beach.

But wait...we meet another friend. He was actually right on the trail. 

Walking along Bathway Beach

Heading into the finish.

Jack chillin' with a granola bar.

Enjoying some food and drinks waiting for the ending ceremony. 

This was our hare for this hash. They did this to him to celebrate his first hash that he setup.

We are tired and ready to head back...

The Port 

This was our Carnival weekend hash that started out at the port in downtown St. George. It was literally in the port. We were surrounded by cargo containers. We took off from the port and climbed the mountain from the botanical gardens to the prison. It was a pretty vertical hike so it was hard to take pictures while we were climbing. The walk down was easier since it was on a road but I must have looked pretty tired because one of the buses asked if I wanted a ride down the hill. After filling up on BBQ and drinks we headed to the stadium for the Panorama concert that you read about in the last blog post. It was an exhausting but very fun afternoon and evening. 

This hash started right in the port. You can see the shipping containers surrounding us. We didn't know what to expect from this hash! 

On-On down the main road heading to the botanical gardens.

Heading up through the gardens.

The start of the trail. It was such a vertical trail up through the trees I didn't get any pictures because you had to hold on to trees and vines with both hands. 

Made it to the top with a great view. The building to our left is Her Majesty's Prison.

A view of St. George's - The area in between the water and the soccer field is the port. 

Emma is still smiling!

Sam ordering his own BBQ chicken. Harder than it looks..... you can't see it from the picture but the speakers are set up right next to the grills so the Soca music was blasting!

He was hungry!

When beer is literally cheaper than water....Dan went up to buy 1 and the guy sold him three for the price of 1.  The price of one was $1.85US.

Mt. Rodney – our last hash for the season!!  

We took a very LONG bus ride up to Mt. Rodney on the very northern tip of Grenada. It was about a 2 hr bus ride but we had the crew from SV Love & Luck with us so we had a good time chatting along the way. I know I sound like a broken record but it is amazing the areas you get to see by doing the hashes! We never would have ventured to the tippy top of the island on our own. The starting point was a fun beach bar and we quickly went into the rainforest. This one might go down in the books as our favorite for the season.

The new shoe ceremony before the hash at this colorful beach bar called - D Real Bamboo Bar.

Getting the food ready for the end of the hash. He is making the national dish called Oil Down. If you look closely you will see he is using tire rims. No high-tech cooking gadgets here! 

On-On start on the beach!

The trail quickly lead to the rainforest.

We really loved this trail!

First hash injury....I did a little dance with a thorny vine. 

Beautiful views!

Some sweaty little boys at the end of the hash.

Everyone liming after the hash. 

Trying the Oil Down!

The kids found a random spiral staircase that went up a tree. 

Sam is right next to the hash master for the closing ceremony. 

It's Carnival Time!!!

By Kathy

It’s carnival time in Grenada!! We knew when we arrived we knew would be here for Carnival but we didn’t really know what to expect. There are several events that take place throughout the summer leading up to carnival but big events happen the week of Carnival and the national holidays are Monday and Tuesday of the Carnival week in August. As we got closer to Monday and Tuesday of Carnival week we realized this is a bigger holiday than Christmas. The whole island is buzzing in celebration. Grenadians plan all year to have a fun Carnival. 

One of our favorite events of Carnival was the Panorama! What is panorama??? It was the big steel drum pan band competition on the Saturday night of carnival week. The winner will get to represent Grenada in the Caribbean competition in Trinidad. All of the bands are from certain towns or parishes throughout the island and each group is made up of about 55-60 performers. All of the instruments are different kinds of drums. Each performance was about 8-10 minutes long (that was just one song). I am not sure if you can see from the pictures but they do not play with sheet music. It was an amazing performance to see and everyone enjoyed it. 

Yes, this group is actually from Florida but not the Florida that we know! 

This was one of the newest groups and one of my favorites. 

Now we come to big Monday and Tuesday festivities. To kick things off at 6am on Monday morning they have the Jab Jab parade. This is a celebration of their African ancestors and it involves a very early morning wakeup call and walking through town with horned hats and covering yourself in motor oil. Yes, you read that correctly! Everyone who went said it was a lot of fun but we opted to sleep in on Monday and skip Jab Jab. 

Let’s move on to the Monday night celebration called the Monday Night Mas. The streets downtown are closed off and there are food vendors galore! The parade is made up of groups of people that walk through town behind a flatbed truck blasting soca music and doing a routine that will be judged and an adult beverage truck follows each group to refill the participants drinks along the way. I am not sure what was judged but I think it had to do with coordinating the waving of glow sticks and just generally having a blast. This was a lot of fun to watch with our friends from SV Soultice and our ears were ringing at the end of the night.  

Reunited with Brooke and Barrett (SV Soulstice) from George Town. They made it just in time for Carnival!! 

We found somebody with their Jab Jab hat from the morning parade. Dan had to try it on! He told us the official pose was rolling your eyes back and sticking out  your tongue. 

Let the parade begin!! 

Found another person with their Jab Jab gear and he gave it to Sam to wear for a quick picture. The picture turned out a little spooky with the low lighting. 

The girls enjoying the parade!

The Carib group - the biggest group in the parade. It just meant a long walk back to the drink truck for the participants. 

The fun wraps up on Tuesday afternoon with the Pretty Mas. This is what most people think about when they hear about Carnival. The parade of colorful costumes with feathers and sequins. Again each group was in costumes from certain parishes and towns throughout the island. There was lots of loud soca music and adult beverages. Our group was dragging a bit from the late night on Monday but we were very happy we decided to come out to see the parade. We loved all of the colors and energy that Carnival brings to the island.

The kids ready for the parade!

Let the fun costumes begin!

The winners of the Panorama contest got to play in the Pretty Mas. 

Can you see the powder flying behind us??

More from the Panorama winners!

Just enjoying the day!

Loving these costumes!

So much color! Oh.. and they don't want anyone to carry glass bottles so everyone carries around an adult sippy cup of some kind and gets it refilled at the beverage truck that follows their group. 

Each group had men dressed up in these type of costumes. We have yet to figure out what they mean. They all looked very similar but with different colors and they threw baby powder everywhere. 

More color!

So much fun watching the parade! 

This is what the sound system for each group looked like - it was so loud!!

Honey.....I Lost the Kids!

By Dan

The Saturday started out great with a trip to the market in downtown St. Georges. The amount of fresh locally grown produce such as breadfruit, bananas, green coconuts, cucumbers and passion fruit is overwhelming and very affordable. We took our first bus ride and went into town for the provisioning trip and ended up with backpacks full of food for under $30US including 5 lbs. of yellowfin tuna. Oh…..and the bus ride was $1US each way.

The fish market. Yes, that is a bat and an machete she is using to cut the fish. 

We are loving the fruits and vegetables they grow on the island!

Everybody at the market stopping to watch the World Cup game. It was the exciting France vs Argentina game! 

Every week a local hiking / running club, called hash house harriers, gets together for a couple hours to explore a section of the island. The temporary trail varies every week where a local leader called a "Hare" puts together a challenging path along the beach, through the rainforest or winding around one of the island towns. To mark the trail the hare places small patches of shredded paper and occasionally provide false trails that ultimately end in an "X" to keep you on your toes. The main starting trail splits into a 4-5 mile runner and 1.5-2 mile walker route.

We have been looking forward to joining one of these hikes since leaving the Bahamas and couldn’t wait for the 4pm start time. After driving up to the small mountain town we found the starting point by the Soca music and about 200 local Grenadian's wearing all kinds of colorful shirts, workout clothes and funny knee high socks. We were a bit late so we quickly registered and gathered at the starting point for the kickoff called the "on-on". The group moved forward on a flat broad road but shortly took a left turn down into the valley and rainforest. It was about 10 minutes into the hike alongside a beautiful stream that the trail narrowed significantly and slowed the pace. Kathy and I were about 3 people behind the kids picking our way along the trail when I looked up and … NO KIDS IN SIGHT.

Everyone getting ready for the "on-on". 

The "hares" explaining the trail to everyone. 

The start of the hash when we actually had the kids. 

A picture of what the trails looked like. 

These are not your normal hiking trails. 

This is after we lost the kids....notice we are not with the crowds anymore. 

We sped up as quickly as possible but could not see them and now the trail has begun to split into false trails which we had to explore in case they went down the wrong trail. After about an hour we started to get a bit concerned as I was the only one with the backpack containing water and snacks and sunset was about an hour away. We were hoping that they kept calm and followed the trail. We were also concerned that they didn't really listen to all of the hash rules like false trails, runner/walker split, etc.… Would they stay together? Would they try to leave the trail and try to find their own way back? What would they do if somebody got hurt? We were towards the back of the hashers and we were by ourselves a lot on the trail. We were hoping they were able to stick with a bigger group. It was a tough trail that going through some thick rainforest in the middle of Grenada. We finally reached the halfway point where the runner and walker trails met briefly again and decided to split up in order to find the kids. I took the runner trail which is misleading as this trail was pretty challenging and taking a lot of effort to keep moving forward at a hiking pace and Kathy took the walker trail that was also very tough but shorter. The trail provided incredible scents winding through forest dripping with mangoes, apples and passion fruit while poking out for breathtaking views of the ocean and reefs but now time was slipping by and sunset was just over about 30 minutes away when I finally reached the final stretch. 

All that was going through my mind was if the kids weren't at the finish line how I could get a flashlight some freshwater and start on the walker trail in reverse to find them. As I rounded the last bend and started up the hill to the town, I received one of the best memories of our trip so far - all three kids running down to meet me! They had finished over an hour earlier and already had popcorn and water.

They had stuck together as a team and hiked a bit with a Grenadian family once we separated. They had followed the walker trail perfectly and never went down a false trail (much better than their mom and dad). They helped each other through the toughest spots and were in great spirits even after what was a couple mile hike through the forest. We were so proud of them and it made us realized they are capable of more than we think.

At the end of each hash there is a celebration of first time hashers, birthdays, etc... They basically think up things to celebrate at the end. At the end of this hash we were ready to celebrate!

First-Time Hashers celebration. It starts off with a ceremony by the lead hasher and then you are sprayed with beer. Oh...did we forget to mention that their motto is "Drinkers with a Running Problem". 

We smelled like a small brewery after the initiation. 

Since the first hash we have been several more times, enjoying them more and more each weekend but now each kid has their own backpack, water bottle and whistle…