Thursday, April 9, 2026
The President showed up in Grenada while we waited at the airport. The Acting President of Venezuala, Delcy Rodriquez, that is. It is her first state visit and, according to Google, is meant to show her country’s continued commitment to the Caribbean. We had heard from a visiting Venezualan that Grenada has a history of close ties to Venezuala and are more politically alligned. Interesting to see where this leads.
Quite the spectacle here – full honor guard in crisp white uniforms, a red carpet and plants (?) lined the tarmac as she got off her Leer Jet. Two other full size planes landed before her presumably to get things ready. She stood at attention on a podium to review the troops and for a photo op. Then was wisked away into a fleet of Toyoto Land Cruisers and followed by a few Mazda CX-5’s. Guess they don’t do the large black Suburbans here since they wouldn’t fit on the narrow roads.
I did not take any photos since I thought I might be tackled by the enhanced security, even though we were still in the terminal. You will have to check it out on social media.
We are headed out to Barbados to spend our last five days in the Caribbean. Current plans include the pool, beaches, a little history and culture, and maybe a hike or two. Yep – more of the same. 🙂
Before we leave Grenada there were a few unique things here we have observed.
As expected there are a few different words which I found to be actually more descriptive. “Shaving stick” for ‘razor’ and ‘Way in/Way out” for ‘entrance/exit.’
People would call out to us from their porches or while passing in friendly groups of three ‘morning, morning, morning’ or ‘hi, hi, hi’ and it was not because there were three of us. Just being very welcoming.
Driving: We may never understand the language of the car honks – is one to tell you to move over and two is say all good? Or vice versa? Was that a happy honk? Then there are the taxis and busses always so helpful calling out to you as we crazy Americans are walking eveywhere. We even had a full bus going the opposite direction call out to see if we needed a lift. We also didn’t understand if the bus with a specific number was actually running a route or if they were being a private taxi – could be both.
We did find out that there was no need for speed limit signs since the built in potholes, one lane roads, blind corners and steep speed bumps made it so that you rarely got about 25 or 30 MPH.
Kite flying: Very important here, seems to be tied to Easter. They attach noise makers which sound like a fleet of mosquitoes. Not all made it down to earth safely. On our walks, we could find the downed kites in the power lines and the strings across the sidewalk.
Still intrigued by the dichotomies of the several super yachts and even the cruise lines that stop here in a country with an average annual income of less than $20K – which is actually considered upper middle class for the Caribbean.
Enjoyed the local food – jerk chicken, curried roti, and lots of fresh fruits and spices.
I appreciated meeting several locals who had come back to retire, vacation or even rent an AirBnB (like ours). I found the locals very proud of their country and most everything that wasn’t moving (bus stops, light poles, small bars) was painted in the red, green and gold of their national flag.
Now we also have learned about each other. Mike would like to mention that he has never seen a bag of chips consumed so fast than when he handed them to me. I would say that I have learned from the Mike the master about the variety of cocktails (now our friend Jay, who is joining us in Barbados may move us to another level) and Siri has enjoyed actually reading a whole book, or two.
Now time to put on airplane mode and head out.
Siri and David Adventures 