A Drop in de Ocean: Journey to Sugar Loaf Island

Grenada actually had two public holidays this month (shocking, I know!) so I had another opportunity to explore a part of the country that I had never experienced before. This chronicles our journey to Sugar Loaf Island, a small island off the northern coast of Grenada.

After driving for close to two hours, we finally
assembled on Levera Beach, our departure point

View of Sugar Loaf island from the boat on our way over

These fishing boats were our mode of transport.
I applaud the courage of those who braved this ride without
life jackets,knowing that they were swimming challenged

It looks so inviting from the outside...

Until you got in and encountered one of these critters

The local name is 'sea egg' but they are more commonly known as sea urchins. They sit on the ocean floor and are sometimes covered in sea weed so they are only discovered when you accidentally step on one with your bare feet.

This reminded me of the deceptiveness of sin. It looks so attractive and pleasurable from the outside, but once you get in, you can be seriously hurt.

The Grenadians did not let these prickly sea creatures hamper a perfectly good beach day. They were swiftly harvested and appropriately dealt with...

Was not brave enough to try this dish

The high point of our day was our hike to the peak of the mountain in the middle of the island. We were not at all prepared for this adventure, with most of us dressed in beach clothes, but we decided to tackle it anyway. It started off easily enough, with us following a path around the perimeter of the island.

Here was wide enough for us to walk comfortably

But soon the path narrowed and took us through some cacti patches and trees full of pickers. That required some skillful bending and stepping to avoid being punctured by thorns. Then came the rocks...

Testing each rock before putting our full weight on it

The sun was blazing, the climb was demanding and at times painful, but the view at the top was so worth it

View before the climb

The view was honestly more spectacular the higher we climbed

People who say there is no God have clearly
never been to the top of this mountain

Victory pose at the top

We came. We saw. We conquered.

This climb reminded me of the Christian life. There are times when it is easy, but then sometimes it gets more challenging. However, once we persevere, we can overcome the obstacles and the reward at the end is out of this world!

After we had our full of the majestic view, we headed back down for lunch of oil down that was so lovingly prepared by the Rodney cooking team.

They were also the organisers of the whole lime - thanks guys!

Assistant chefs adding vital ingredients to the pot

Melanie enjoyed her first taste of
Grenada's national dish - oil down!

We then spent the rest of the day soaking in the warm waters on the beach of the island that we had all to ourselves - paradise! Did I mention that God held back the rain so we could make the most of a fun day in the sun? Oh how He loves me :)