The day dawned through a cover of light gray clouds. The forecast for the day being intermittent rain until noon. Not surprising for an island that is entirely covered with rain forests. The island itself was a small collection of steep mountains and a volcano all covered with lush, thick vegetation.

We were scheduled for a dive after lunch so we used the morning to take a tour of the island with a local cab driver. On the way up the mountain to the volcano, he pointed out some of the huge variety of trees on the island. We saw mango, avocado, papaya, breadfruit, and nutmeg trees along the side of the road. First we stopped at a roadside spice stand. Grenada is known as the spice island due to the large production and exportation of spices, with nutmeg being central. I had no idea nutmeg was more than the strong, powdered version I buy in the store. There are many layers to the fruit produced by the tree, which are used for a wide variety of things. The nutmeg syrup from one of the outer layers is delicate and surprising, tasting nothing like the spice grated from the inner seed. We continued to Annabelle waterfall, one of the smaller but most easily accessible waterfalls in Grenada – simply beautiful. A team of divers jumped from a 50 foot cliff beside the waterfall, dramatic to say the least. Tips were sought everywhere we went. While slightly annoying at times, when we learned there is 40% unemployment on the island I was able to use a different lens to see all the friendly people doing what they could for tourists in hopes of a tip.

Our next stop was Grand Etang state park. On the side of the volcano with a view of the crater lake created by it, it was also a lovely place. More pictures and more tips and we left for our last stop of the military fort. Perched high on a mountain with clear views of both the Atlantic and Caribbean sides of the island. Our tour guide Alice was pretty unforgettable. She started off with an effusive speech about what she thinks of the USA. She lived through the revolution (as Grenadians refer to it) when Cuba sought to control Greneda. Her genuine gratitude for the intervention of the US was palpable and moving. She lamented the fact that her country continues to have high unemployment and still struggles to fully recover from a devastating hurricane in 2007, but it didn’t dampen her appreciation for her the freedom of her country. She was a sweet lany who I’ll probably remember for a while.

After our tour, we returned to the ship for lunch and to collect our diving equipment. We met our dive group on the pier and headed to the boat docked just on the other side of the pier. The boat delivered us to the dive shop situated right on Grand Anse beach at Coyoba Resort. For a volcanic island, the sand was surprisingly soft and the beach was long and beautiful. We all got what equipment we needed and headed out.

Grenada has a unique dive site in the Molinere Underwater Sculpture park. It was opened in 2006 and sculptures have also been added since. The sculptures were an unexpected site in the underwater environment. The oldest sculptures were already partially covered with coral which only added to the eeriness of the experience. We also ventured outside the reef to a small wreck. Giant lion fish floated beside the wreck while we all rushed to snap pictures of these beautiful but deadly fish.

The end of the dive came all too soon and we were delivered back to our ship. The crew was a lot of fun and added to my impression of the friendliness of the people. Once back onboard we sat on the deck and looked at the colorful city of St. Georges. The houses from this distant perspective was different tHan the close up view our tour offered. From a distance, the lush green mountainside and bright colored houses peeking through gave an impression of a quaint Caribbean Island, but up close the disrepair of many of the hones probably told a clearer story of an island that struggles with unemployment and has not ever been fully able to recover from a devastating hurricane 8 years ago.

When I look out over a city, I often wonder what life is like for the people who live there. Maybe it comes from years of doing home health and learning there are often surprising stories hidden inside normal looking houses. But what about when most of the stories seem to be sad?  When so much of the population is obviously living in poverty? What do I do with that information? The island itself could certainly be described as paradise, but how many of these people feel that way about their lives? As much as I like the lesser developed islands, there is probably a reason they are lesser developed. But the answer is not in staying away. Most of these islands rely very heavily on tourism. And because of this, everyone we meet tends to put their best foot forward. But some things can’t be hidden.