Eating out while in the Caribbean – so many fresh vegetables!

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While we stayed at four different hotels across four different island countries in the Caribbean, and two of the hotels were all-inclusive, I felt like from a vegetable-eating standpoint that this was likely the best trip we’ve had to date for vegetable access. Since we were out and about in Barbados and Grenada where we stayed at all-inclusive properties, we still managed to have some meals out while on the go. In the all-inclusive buffets, it was easy to get vegetables. At the restaurants om property, getting vegetables was straightforward. And with most dining options we had, vegetables were quite ubiquitous. This is always what I’ve enjoyed about dining out while outside of the U.S.: it never feels like vegetables are add-on sides that are terrible value. I guess there are some exceptions to this (while in Taiwan, I do not recall eating many vegetables to be honest; street food in Taiwan is not very vegetable forward!). Vegetables are usually included as side dishes you order. Sometimes, the vegetable options are fixed. Sometimes, the vegetable options are what you choose. And other times, the vegetables are half fixed, half chosen by you. While you may order ginger pork or grilled fish as we did during our one lunch out in Grenada, those mains came with several vegetable options, like stewed pumpkin or callaloo (like Caribbean spinach), bok choy, coleslaw, or taro/sweet potato. I really enjoyed eating all the different vegetables we had across the Caribbean and seeing different preparation methods. Before this trip, I also had no idea how popular sweet potato and pumpkin in general are across these countries. I knew callaloo, taro, and spinach were popular. Potato and coleslaw seemed like predictable dishes to have on menus. But the pumpkin being everywhere was a surprise to me, especially since I consider it a fall/autumn vegetable. So, I’ve definitely learned a lot about Caribbean food culture in the last two weeks.

Whenever we’ve come back from trips where we haven’t eaten too many vegetables, it’s like Kaia just knows that she misses her vegetables and especially her Asian greens, so she physically will stuff her mouth with the greens after I’ve plopped them onto her plate. This is a pattern she’s exhibited since she was very young. But this time after coming home from a trip, she wasn’t really vegetable deprived. I think she had a good share of vegetables across the last two weeks away. Yet still, she quickly gobbled up her roasted bell peppers and blanched bok choy at dinner.

I think the U.S. could learn a lot from other countries around the world about a lot of things. But specifically from these four Caribbean nations, the U.S. can learn to stop having menus with mains that are just a single thing (e.g. pasta, steak, a quarter of a roasted chicken) without also including vegetable sides — and have that be included in the freaking price. Stop up-charging for vegetables and just have them built into the main price!

A connecting flight went awry from MIA to JFK

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From Port of Spain, we flew to Miami for our connecting flight back to New York. In Miami, we cleared immigration, gathered our checked bags, re-submitted our checked bags, and went through security. The line was actually much quieter than we had anticipated, likely because we were there on the 4th of July. So while it was annoying to have to clear immigration and get and re-check our bags, at least we knew we wouldn’t have to do this again once we reached New York.

The connecting flight from MIA to JFK was smooth… or at least, it was smooth until we were circling New York, and then the pilot announced that due to inclement weather (WHAT WEATHER?), no planes were allowed to land at JFK, and instead of circling the airport to wait on landing clearance, they were going to fly us straight back to Miami!

When I first heard the pilot say this, my first (usual) thought was, “Is this some crazy joke?!” But of course, it wasn’t. We were seriously going to fly all the way back to Miami and wait to see when the “weather concerns” cleared up so that planes could land.

This could have ended really badly; I had worst case scenarios circling in my head about what I’d have to do for work and when. We could have never even made it to New York on Sunday or even Monday depending on the weather/airport/landing situation. But luckily for us, while we were still in the air going back to Miami, the pilot announced that we could go back and land. So the plan was to land the plane, re-fuel, inspect the plane, and then immediately fly back. The flight crew would remain in tact, as their day started with us, so there was no concern about timing out. If we chose to get off the plane, we’d have to take all our belongings and get off, and would not be allowed to re-board and take this flight back to New York.

We were schedule to land just before 1am on the 5th of July. In the end, we flew to New York, turned around to fly back to Miami. We stayed in Miami for about 30 minutes before getting back into the air and flying back to JFK (Chris noted that this in-air time already exceeded our flight from Trinidad to Miami!). We landed just after 5:30am. So yes, while we were delayed 5.5 hours, this easily could have been so, so much worse. Chris and I didn’t sleep at all; Kaia slept, but her slumber was obviously disrupted.

We got back home, unpacked, and did three loads of laundry. We tried to sleep, but Kaia made it a bit challenging (“WHY ARE YOU SLEEPING! I don’t want you to to sleep! I want you to take me out to blow bubbles!” — says the person who actually slept in flight…). I did sleep for about an hour. I took Kaia out for bubbles and playground time (it was deserted; what a quiet time to be in the city!). I made a full home-cooked meal for us — niku udon loaded with veggies and roasted broccoli with shio kombu. I also steamed banh chung from the freezer and roasted red bell peppers. I started food prep for tomorrow by soaking two types of beans, brown rice, and quinoa. Although we’ve had an amazing time being away the last two weeks, I will say that I was happy to be back in my own bed tonight, and happy to be back in my kitchen.

Orange-winged amazons outside our window in Port of Spain; warnings around the world from well-meaning older ladies

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Today was our last morning in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as our last day of this trip before flying home. From our hotel window, I watched as many orange-winged amazons flew in pairs around the large trees along Queen’s Park Savannah. From what I can remember, this is likely the most fascinating bird watching area of the world I’ve ever been in. I’ve already lost count of the number of different, colorful, and gorgeous bird species I’ve been lucky to see here. Even Kaia has gotten into it: she also loved watching the orange-winged amazons fly around in Port of Spain. In Grenada, she pointed out new birds she noticed. And just two days ago, she excitedly pointed out a little kiskadee, which is considered the best known bird of Trinidad.

“It’s yellow! It’s yellow!” Kaia kept shrieking delightfully.

Kaia noticed the little kiskadee because of its bright yellow breast. It had a black and white streaked face with a brown back. These birds are known to be very loud chirpers and have fearless behavior; it didn’t seem to mind us being so close. I’m not that excited to go back to New York and mostly see pigeons and seagulls again — the freaking rats and roaches of the bird world. I suppose the sparrows and the occasional American robin are fine.

We had limited time in the morning before we had to head to the airport, so we took a quick trip to Charlotte Street, the main drag of Port of Spain Chinatown, to browse and also finally buy a magnet for this segment of our trip. Saturday morning is a great time to be in Port of Spain Chinatown, as all the fruit and vegetable vendors have their little stalls set up so you can buy their fresh produce. Lots of people were walking the streets to buy food; it felt like we may have been the only tourists there. We saw piles and piles of scotch bonnets, pimento peppers, papayas, multiple mango varieties, and other fresh fruit and vegetables waiting to be purchased. I crossed a street to take a look at a bakery I noticed, and as I was leaving the bakery, an older Trini woman, likely in her late 60s, stopped me and got close to my face.

“I’m a Trini woman, born and raised here,” the older lady started with me. “And I can tell you that these streets are not safe for someone like you. Why are you here? There are other places for you to go and see!”

I have lost count of the number of times I’ve been stopped by well meaning older women who tell me that I shouldn’t be in a certain area, with my phone or camera in my hand. They’ve told me that I should stay and walk close to my husband, that someone will easily hurt or rob me in a given place.

“Why am I here?” I wrinkled my brow at her. “I wanted to come see the fruit! What’s wrong with this area? I am perfectly fine!”

“You want to buy fruit? Then you should go down that street over there!” She responded, pointing out Independence Square. There were very, very few fruit vendors on that next street…

I told her I was walking across the street, and she said that she would walk with me. I had no idea what she wanted from me and why she was being so forceful. When she saw that I was meeting Chris and Pookie, she started telling Chris to not let me walk on my own, to always stay close to me, that it was dangerous to let me walk by myself along that street. Chris insisted to her that I was fine and everything was good. She finally relented and walked off.

I know all these ladies around the world mean well. But what they may not realize they could be doing is inadvertently perpetuating the potential perceived notions of their countries being dangerous places to be or visit. That’s not really a great way to market your town or country.

Day trip via ferry to Tobago; reflecting on cultural differences with respect to “dinner”

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We woke up at 4am to catch a 6:30am ferry from Trinidad to Tobago today. The ferry ride is approximately three hours, and with a scheduled 4pm ferry ride back to Trinidad, we really only had about 4.5 hours on the quiet island of Tobago before going back. Chris figured that since we were already in this part of the world that we might as well just go since we were already here. Unfortunately for Chris, no Marriott hotels are currently on Tobago, as the hotels I could see during our time there and on the map all look to be local/independent places. Despite our time being short there, it was nice to have some beach time at the beach there, with its teeny tiny waves, extremely clear, turquoise waters, and tiny little silver fish swimming around at less than waist-level deep water. We decided to base ourselves at Store Bay Beach rather than Pigeon Point Heritage Park because we wanted more local food with a local feel. Store Bay has a a cluster of tiny buildings selling full meals, juices, snacks, ice cream, and clothing, whereas Pigeon Point, which requires an entry fee, is more resort-like and manicured as such. At Store Bay, we sat down and ate a small meal of blue crab curry and dumplings with provisions and some fried shark. The blue crabs were predictably teeny tiny and very not satisfying given it was so much work to get the little meat, but it was still fun to have the experience of eating the local dish here that Tobago is known for.

While on the beach, we paid a local vendor for some lounging chairs and an umbrella. The vendor was so nice that he took a quick drive back to his house and picked us some chenet fruit, also known to us as mamoncillo that we had while in Colombia and El Salvador. These were by far the sweetest of the three times we’ve enjoyed this tropical fruit; both other times, it was more sour-sweet. These were so sweet that they were like fruit candy! This time, Kaia was old enough to handle sucking around the big round gum-ball like pit (major potential choking hazard for littles!), and she got to try one. She didn’t seem to enjoy it too much, though; I think she thought it was too much sucking for very little reward… which is kind of true with this fruit, especially since you have to pick the thin skin off it before sucking the gelatinous pink flesh off the pit.

We arrived back in Port of Spain just after 7pm, and I was going through my list of restaurants on my map when I realized that pretty much none of them served dinner; every place I bookmarked was for breakfast or lunch. And then it dawned on me that Trinidad likely doesn’t really have much “going out” dinner culture, as most of the iconic Trini foods are daytime foods, like doubles, roti, bake, aloo pie, roti shop curries, macaroni pie. Doubles is usually a breakfast/early day food, but as we saw our first full day, it can also appear later at night after partying, when people set up their trucks and sell it on the street. There was one Trini fusion dinner place that Claude recommended when I was doing research, but unfortunately that place has since closed down. So we figured that in Trini culture, “sit down restaurant dinners” aren’t really a thing. It’s an interesting thing to think about when traveling — the cultural differences across the world with dining practices and times. In Trinidad, a sit-down dinner in general isn’t really part of the social rhythm. But then if you are in places like Argentina, Chile, or Spain, an 8pm dinner is considered too early, and some places may not even be open for food!

When there are restaurants open in Port of Spain, they tend to skew more “restaurant/bar” rather than traditional Trini. Or, they are not Trini restaurants. So it’s common to see French, Italian, Japanese, or Chinese restaurants open for dinner. But if a restaurant has Trini food, it’s usually just part of the menu (that is quite eclectic with other options like wings, tacos, etc.), and also has a big bar scene. So we ended up back on Ariapita Avenue and chose a casual bar-type spot called Wing It, where we had some grilled fish and jerk chicken alongside some drinks. It was quite loud and boisterous in there, with a World Cup match on the big TVs and lots of loud soca music. This was Kaia’s first “night out” on the town — at age 4.5! She seemed to love the vibe overall despite it being quite loud for her little ears.

And just like that, our Caribbean island hopping trip is coming to an end. I can’t remember ever having this much tropical fruit, crazy mango variety, sun, and beach time in a single trip before this! I could get used to this!

Trini mango varieties at a wholesale market and the most delicious “buss up shut” roti of my life in Port of Spain

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After chatting with our smoothie guy about Central Market and Chinatown as being the best places to get local fruit, we made our way to Central Market this morning. It’s a wholesale market that runs late at night, with peak times being around 11pm, then again at around 4am. These are not times I would ever be at any market, so when we went this late morning, it unfortunately was not surprising to see that a lot of vendors were sold out or already gone for the day. However, we did find vendors selling some mango varieties that we had not tried yet, and did not even know about. We sought out and got five starch mangoes for $20TTD, and we also picked up some mango vert (vert means “green” in French, but these are actually yellowish green). The teeny tiny mangoes that were next to the mango vert were “dodo” mangoes, named because of how small they are; four can comfortably sit in the palm of your hand! They are very sugary sweet mangoes that are considered “snacking mangoes” here given their size. Each mango can yield about four small bites before you hit the pit. Of all the mango varieties, this was likely the most one-dimensional tasting one — just straight forward sweet with zero complexity. I would not get those again.

And where there is a wholesale market, there must be ready made/made to order food. So we popped into the indoor area where vendors had different stalls. Most were closed, but a couple were open, including one that had a promising “fish broth” sign. Given fish is part of the market, we thought this could be really good. The older lady operating it said she’d add a fish steak to my soup, so she asked me to give her some time. When she presented the massive bowl with the fish steak on top, I couldn’t believe how massive it was. Good thing this was going to be shared among three of us! The vendor called the fish salmon, but it actually wasn’t salmon: it was a white sea trout. In Trinidad, as I later learned, people refer to sea trout as salmon, but I’m unclear why. It was very flaky, meaty, and lean. The fish broth was really rich, likely made with endless fish bones!

Our next stop was at Dobson’s Roti Shop, which is a popular institution amongst locals and tourists alike in Port of Spain. Our driver for the Caroni Bird Sanctuary told us it was her favorite roti shop. So while you may be familiar with Indian roti, Trinidadian roti is slightly different. Trini roti is also referred to as “buss up shut” roti, derived from their accent when they say “busted up shirt” (this really makes me chuckle), a paratha that is super soft, flaky, and endlessly layered. The name is perfect to describe its appearance because while cooking the roti on the tawa, it is “crushed” and beaten a few times with metal spoons/spatulas to separate its delicate layers. So in the end, it really does resemble a “busted up” shirt! This roti was originally brought to the Caribbean by East Indian indentured laborers, and is known as one of the THE foods representing the multi-ethnic culture of Trinidad and Tobago. Like in India, this roti is used as an edible utensil to sop up gravies, stews, and curries.

We got to the roti shop just ahead of prime lunch hour, so we ordered a beef curry roti with no line. The roti came hot and steaming, wrapped in foil, alongside a big styrofoam takeout container which included a huge portion of curry beef, mashed spiced savory pumpkin, chickpea curry, and a very thick mango chutney, complete with its skins and all. When I unwrapped the roti, I knew it was going to be good: it was this HUGE piece of paratha, with layers that basically draped and fell all over the place. Kaia was obsessed and kept reaching for more roti between bites of beef and channa. I’m honestly not sure what I liked more: the doubles from the previous night or this insanely delicious roti! Roti was definitely meant to be taken away or eaten on the go, as we had the only two seats at the one tiny table in the front. But we were thrilled to see they had a tiny little sink with soap for us; roti is meant to be eaten with your hands – definitely not a fork and knife situation!

After lunch, we stopped at a nearby shop for some ice cream and got soursop and peanut flavor. Peanut flavored things are huge here: you can see lots of shops selling chocolate candy bars with whole peanuts, peanut punch (peanut butter, whey protein, milk, and sugar!), and peanut desserts like this one. Of course, soursop is huge here. The soursop ice cream was very good — the cream and sugar rounded out some of the “oil spill” flavor I tend to get when I have soursop straight as a fruit, which makes me a bit wary of having it as fresh fruit. Since soursop has a high concentration of natural sugars, when the fruit becomes overripe or sits too long at room temperature, wild yeasts on the skin can break down these sugars. This process produces ethanol and other alcohol byproducts. So, in concentrated amounts, this chemical fermentation smells and tastes intensely sharp, similar to turpentine, gasoline, or nail polish remover. This is the flavor I unfortunately get frequently when trying fresh soursop fruit!

We have to wake up for a 6:30am ferry to go to Tobago on a day trip tomorrow, so our dinner tonight ended up just being a bunch of the mangoes we got at the market, along with the cutlass mangoes gifted to us. Kaia loved the mango vert and the starch. “I WANT VERT! I WANT VERT!” she kept yelling. I love seeing her get into all the Caribbean mangoes here, especially after she refused to try a single mango variety our entire time in India together just three years ago. It was a very delicious day in Port of Spain, for sure.

Last stop on our Caribbean island-hopping summer trip: Trinidad & Tobago

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Before this trip, I knew very little about Trinidad & Tobago. In the pandemic year of 2020, Chris and I started exploring more neighborhoods across the five boroughs of New York City. Since we were blocked from traveling internationally, we figured that given the unique diversity of our city of residence, we could go to different neighborhoods and still get exposed to different cultures; that would be our “international travel” within our own city. During that year, we visited a Trinidadian roti shop in Crown Heights, and my eating life changed forever: I had one taste of doubles, a beloved street food of Trinidad and Tobago, and it was like love at first bite. Doubles are two small, quickly fried little chewy flatbreads (baras) served with a hearty, savory, spiced filling of curried chickpeas (channa), oftentimes topped with different types of chutneys and a hot pepper sauce. Sometimes, shops give the option of adding different curried meats, like chicken, beef, or goat, to your doubles for an extra charge. The filling is wrapped with two little baras (hence the name “doubles), and you eat it like a mini sandwich/tiny burrito. They are usually filled to order, then wrapped and twisted up with a piece of paper and handed over to you; they are best eaten AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. At that point in time, of course I’d eaten lots of different Indian foods, but this curried chickpea mix, coupled with the two little fluffy baras, was just different to me, and I couldn’t quite pinpoint why. The spice blend of the channa was not the same as what I’d had before. The chewiness and pillowy texture of the bara was incredibly addictive. And from that one experience, I knew if given the option, I could eat doubles every single day and be happy!

The second exposure I got to “Trini” culture was via my two night nurses. I got a reference through a parents group for my first night nurse, Cheryl, who happened to be Trinidadian. Since she spent a lot of time at our place, we talked a lot about how she grew up, her culture, and food. She talked a lot about the Indian influence on Trini culture and cuisine. She also told us about areas of Queens and Brooklyn to check out for Trini food and shops. Once, Cheryl brought us a bag of pickled, spiced pommecythere, also known as June plum or golden apple. I remember it being a really addictive combination of sweet, sour, salty, and a little spicy; the crunch was also delicious! She also told us about the whole network of Trini night nurses across the U.S. and how interconnected they are. When her time was up with us, she introduced us to a second Trini night nurse, who may have taken even better care of Kaia than she did!

So the little I was exposed to Trini culture before this trip was enough to get me to this presumption: I knew of the four islands we’d visit — Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, and Trinidad & Tobago, that T&T would very likely be my most favorite place to eat on this trip. And after just a day here, I am willing to bet that assumption will not be wrong!

I guess when I think of Trinidad & Tobago, I think more about Trinidad than I do of Tobago, which is not entirely my own fault. Trinidad & Tobago as a single country has two names because it was formed by joining two completely separate islands. Trinidad is the larger, main island (hence why I always think about its culture and influence first). Even though it’s a Caribbean island, Trinidad feels more urban, multicultural, diverse, and commercial. Tobago is the smaller island that was, at least historically, economically weaker, but more village-centered, tied to fishing, folk traditions, harvest festivals, and a slower-paced island identity. Tobago has a more rural, Afro-Caribbean vibe.

This is a pretty good quick outline I found of the ethnic and religious diversity of Trinidad and Tobago, one of the Caribbean’s most culturally mixed islands: Its culture blends:

African heritage from slavery and emancipation, visible in Carnival, calypso, steelpan, stickfighting, Spiritual Baptist traditions, drumming, and foodways.

Indian heritage from indentureship, visible in roti, doubles, curry, choka, tassa, chutney, Hindu and Muslim festivals, and family/community traditions.

European colonial influences, especially Spanish, British, and French Creole, visible in place names, Catholic traditions, architecture, Carnival history, and social structures.

Chinese, Syrian/Lebanese, Portuguese, and Venezuelan/Latin American influences also shaped food, commerce, music, and migration patterns.

If you have that many cultures in a single place, the food is destined to be good.

For our meals thus far, for lunch today we ate at an open-air food center along Ariapita Avenue, a main drag for restaurants, bars, and nightlife. We had a steamed kingfish plate, a garlic shrimp plate, and all came with a mix of vegetables, coleslaw, coconut rice, and mashed potato. The garlic shrimp was perfectly cooked (Kaia was obsessed with it!), and the kingfish was well seasoned and had a little bit of house made green pepper sauce that had a fruity forward flavor with a tiny, tingly burn at the end.

Today, we did a sunset tour of Caroni Bird Sanctuary, which is supposed to be the number one tourist experience here in Trinidad. On our boat that went through swamps and marshes, we were able to see a snake, anteater, and some other indigenous animals in their sleepy state. And for the main highlight, we saw countless North American flamingos (“Americans!” Chris grumbled) as well as the national bird of Trinidad and Tobago: the scarlet ibis, hoards of them all flying high in the air and settling upon a specific little island in the marshes. The scarlet ibis is a huge bird with a large wingspan, long neck, and a nearly fluorescent, bright orangish-red hue. Originally, Chris was not very enthused at the idea of going on a bird watching boat tour (“What is this? Some overpriced tourist trap where I have to see a bunch of birds I don’t care about instead of actually getting to eat them?!)” But when he finally caved in and booked the tour for us (THIS MORNING for this late afternoon!) and we went out on the 2.5-hour boat tour, he actually seemed to enjoy it. He marveled at the dozens of flamingos we saw in their natural habitat, saying that this was, “like something you’d see on the Discovery Channel” but instead we were seeing it ourselves in real life. And he even seemed to get excited when he saw his first red ibises flying high in the air. Who would have thought that my very own Chris could have his own “birding” moments?

I thought Kaia would enjoy the boat tour more, but she actually got bored after a while and kept asking when we were going to go back. She was likely getting hungry and tired, as the boat tour ended at 6:30, and on her usual schedule, she would have eaten by this time. While she did enjoy seeing the many flamingos and scarlet ibises, as well as the catfish in the water, we couldn’t hold her attention span the full 2.5 hours. We had many moments of moaning, whining, and crying. I guess she really is a 4.5-year-old after all…

Our tour included pickup and drop-off, so we asked our driver to take us back to Ariapita Avenue, the main food and bar drag, so we could grab a quick bite before heading back to the hotel. While on the avenue, she pointed out a doubles truck parked and set up with a small line forming and asked if we’d be interested in stopping there. I saw the doubles sign, the truck setup, and the little crowd forming, and I knew this was exactly what we wanted… and needed! So we got out and ordered four “regular” doubles (channa/chickpeas), two chicken, and two goat (the last two with pepper sauce). The total for eight doubles was only 70 TTD, about $10.32 USD — a bargain for our takeout dinner for three! We picked up some drinks from a little market and headed back to the hotel to eat. And this dinner was what dreams are made of: everything was just as good, if not better, than the doubles we’d had in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The paras were fluffy, pillowy, and addictive. The channa was spiced and super savory. The goat and chicken were tender, well seasoned, and had a nice little kick with the pepper sauce. This was the best first dinner in Trinidad!

And for our dessert, we washed and cut cutlass mangoes, a local variety of mango, that we got along Ariapita Avenue this morning — for free! A really warm, friendly man who owns a smoothie shop saw us admiring the hanging fruit in front of his shop, and so he took a red-netted bag of five cutlass mangoes and just handed them to us as a gift, and thanked us for visiting his country! We ended up sitting on his little deck for a while, chatting with him, and bought a smoothie he made for us to order — cutlass mangoes, watermelon, and dragonfruit. Kaia loved the fact that both of us were distracted chatting with the owner, so she likely got more sips of this smoothie than any other fresh juice/smoothie we’ve ever ordered! She kept chuckling her little cheeky laugh when she knows she’s doing something she’s not really supposed to…

As for the cutlass mango, a variety we’d never heard of before, it is a long, flat, fiberless mango that originates from Trinidad and Tobago. It is distinctive in appearance because it is curved with two pointy tips. The three we cut were perfectly ripe: sweet, tropical, a tiny bit tart, and extremely juicy. I squirted juice in few directions just cutting into these mangoes! The flesh is fiberless, smooth, and almost melts in your mouth. On this trip, this is now the FIFTH mango variety we’ve tried!

The kindness and hospitality we’ve experienced during our short time in Port of Spain have really exceeded any expectations I may have had. The smoothie guy was extremely warm and generous — we got FIVE free mangoes because of him — all because we told him we love mangoes and trying new ones. A ride-app driver who took us to a coffee shop this morning couldn’t find the Michi Coffee Shop where he was supposed to drop us off, so he not only wouldn’t let us get out of the car until he was certain we knew were going, but he even called his coffee loving sister to make sure this area really had a coffee shop around it (to his credit, the coffee shop was a little weird and hidden, as it was in the midst of insurance, furniture, and car repair stores). The lunch spot at the food center had a server who proactively gave me tips about food and local juices since I asked about fruit. And our driver to and from the bird sanctuary gave us tips about local food spots we should check out.

This segment of our Caribbean trip has felt the most interactive with local people and day to day life, as I imagined it would be. But it’s been even better and more enjoyable and fun than I had hoped!

Beautiful birds of the Caribbean – more birding on our last day in Grenada

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Since we’ve arrived in the Caribbean, I’ve tried to keep my eye out for interesting bird species. While I didn’t get to see many unusual birds in Barbados, I was able to see one in St. Lucia, the Antillean crested hummingbird, while on the Tet Paul Nature Trail in Soufriere. And in Grenada, I was lucky to see quite a handful of different birds — just on our hotel property, the Royalton Grenada Resort. The hotel is right on Magazine Beach, so it has a combination of beach coastline, coastal vegetation, and landscaped gardens and man-made lakes that attract all types of birds. A number of the birds I was able to see were either right from our balcony or just sitting around on the property and looking out the window.

On our first day, I got to see a very happy and hyper bananaquit, with its cute bright yellow belly. In front of our hotel, I saw a chipper little Caribbean elaenia, a little flycatcher bird that measures no taller than 14 cm. They have olive-brown backs and grayish white underbellies. The one I saw had a pale yellow wash on its belly. And after dropping Kaia off at the Kids Club for a couple hours this morning (she insisted she wanted to go back; I guess the activities and care providers were that fun and good to her!), I walked to the man-made lake of the property, which has several large trees that attract birds. There, I saw over two dozen cattle egret, which are small white herons that are about 46-56 cm/18-22 in in length and weigh between 270-512 grams/0.6-1.1 lb). One of them caught my eye because it was not only white, but the top of its head, neck, and wings were colored with a pale-pinkish orange hue. I watched them for a while and wondered if this was actually a different bird species from the rest. Later, after Claude correctly identified what bird species these were, it also told me that this specific pinkish-orange winged one was colored as such because it was in its breeding stage of life and “showing” it off. I never knew that a bird’s appearance could change in this way due to breeding stage; it’s actually called “breeding plumage!”

I went back to our room to look up more birding facts and parked myself on the balcony to enjoy my balcony access, enjoy the view of the beach, and savor our last few hours in Grenada. While there and stationary, I saw even more local birds:

Lesser Antillean bullfinch: A small, dark bird endemic to the region. The males are entirely black with a neat patch of rufous-red directly under their chin. I saw a male one! The little red throat was so adorable. The guide I read said that the Grenada subspecies is uniquely smaller than those on neighboring Caribbean islands.

Grey Kingbird: Another flycatcher, grey kingbirds are often seen around towns and mangroves in coastal areas. It is grey above and white below and has a dark mask—a distinctive, but faint, black band extending from the base of the beak through the eye. These little guys are known as “energetic insectivores” and can get quite feisty fighting birds, dogs, and even humans if they get too close to their nests!

Broad-winged hawk: The Royalton has lots of beautiful flamboyant trees, also known as Royal Poinciana or Flame Trees. Given we are here in the summer, this is the peak season to see these trees in all their “flaming” floral glory, as at this time of year, they explode with large, vibrant blooms that range in hue from scarlet red to reddish-bright orange. When I look out our balcony here, I can see these trees directly outside our window, then the beach. As I looked closer into one of the trees this late morning, I noticed a larger bird eating… a small animal that may have been a frog? It was hard to tell given the distance, but whatever animal it was eating definitely had two legs. Based on my description, Claude thinks this bird was a broad-winged hawk, which is the most common bird of prey in Grenada. It actively hunts during the day and is notorious for sitting quietly on a tree branch, hidden by leaves, before dropping down or reaching out to snatch a meal. The broad-winged hawk is a relatively small Buteo (medium to fairly large, wide-ranging raptors; I used to have this misconception that hawks were all very large!), with a body size from 32 to 44 cm (13 to 17 in) in length and weighing 265 to 560 g (9.3 to 19.8 oz). I am not sure why, but it’s always a little engrossing to watch an animal eat another animal. Maybe it’s because of innate human instinct, how satisfying it is to see one type of animal dominate another?

When I saw this hawk eat what I think was a frog, it reminded me of our first full day in Grenada when we dropped Kaia off at the Kids Club in the morning. The caregiver took her out to feed the birds by the water. While Kaia enjoyed this process, she was especially engrossed watching a bird eat the fish. She kept talking about it over and over after we picked her up. It clearly fascinated her and piqued something in her mind, as it was likely the very first time she had watched an animal eat another animal. Even my sweet Kaia Pookie at 4.5 years of age gets this fascination!

Off to the St. George Spice Market, The Carenage, and De La Grenade Nutmeg Garden

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Of the four island countries we are visiting on this trip, I knew the very least about Grenada before this was all booked. And lo and behold, Grenada seems like the most expensive of the four, at least from a tourist transportation standpoint. Many fixed tours/plans are done by the hotel, but they run only on certain days and also require a minimum number of people (usually 8-10) to run. Given we’re in low season, on many days of the week, the tours do not run at all if there is a lack of demand/interest. So the original underwater sculpture snorkel excursion I wanted to do would not run due to a total of zero other people wanting to come. So when I asked the excursions specialist about spice garden tours/farms, she said that their specific fixed tour including several spots on my list would not be running Monday, as in today, our last full day. But, she said, we had the option of spending $375 for a private driver for up to eight hours; that’s a LOT of money! Like in St. Lucia, distances are very deceiving because the actual drive time can be quite long due to road conditions and congestion. Most of Grenada’s major national parks, waterfalls, and larger spice gardens/farms are at least 45 minutes to 1.5 hours away from us. So we had to construct our own Spice Isle excursion today, centered on local spices, foods, and culture and rely on the local ride app.

Our first stop was at St. George Spice Market. No cruise ships were scheduled to arrive in St. George today, so we were lucky and got to experience Monday morning calm at the market. I also read that vendors typically increase prices when cruise ships dock, and they don’t do this otherwise. Either way, I had a ballpark in my head of how much each spice I was interested in should be, so I’d know whether someone was trying to rip me off.

I didn’t have to worry much, though, in terms of vendor interaction. All the vendors I interacted with at the spice market were quite warm and friendly. Some let me haggle a little with them. All of them asked me questions about me, Kaia, how long our trip would be. One of them even kept a close eye on Kaia and kept letting me know where she was hiding, as she predictably ran amok through the aisles of the enclosed section of the spice market. While there, I picked up some spices I had on my shortlist that Grenada is known for, including the obvious, which was whole nutmeg, whole nutmeg wrapped in mace, black peppercorns, dried Grenadian bay leaves (which are actually distinct from the typical Mediterranean bay laurel; it’s more aromatic and complex, offering notes of allspice, menthol, cinnamon, and even citrus!), and ceylon cinnamon (real cinnamon, which is rare, as most places that grow or sell “cinnamon” are really using cassia, which has a stronger, pungent, spicier taste). Ceylon cinnamon is rare, as the majority is grown in Sri Lanka (hence its name given Sri Lanka was a former British colony), with small amounts grown in places like Madagascar, The Seychelles, and the West Indies (this includes Grenada!). So it was interesting to be able to find it at this market. I also did a subtle “test” to see if the cinnamon really was cinnamon by gently pushing down on the sticks to see if they would break. Real Ceylon cinnamon should break, whereas cassia pretending to be cinnamon will be really hard to break.

We also found several vendors selling mangoes, which was also my list of things to find and eat here. We picked out four ripe Ceylon mangoes (also originally from Sri Lanka, brought over by British colonizers from there), the only variety that this one vendor had. I was thrilled to try mango varietal number FOUR on this trip now. Ceylon mangoes are known for their smooth, stringless flesh, and intense, sweet flavor. Some locals even find the mango too sweet, so they will balance the flavor by squeezing fresh lime juice over the flesh while eating. We got four ripe Ceylon mangoes for 5 XCD/$1.85 USD, which to me is quite a good deal!

After we left the market, we had a chocolate tasting at House of Chocolate, bought a bunch of chocolate as gifts and our own at-home eating pleasures, and walked the Carenage, which is the historic horseshoe-shaped natural harbor right in the center of St. George, the capital of Grenada. The Carenage is extremely picturesque, with a large promenade and a working port. There are many brightly colored 18th century colonial buildings with lots of red-tiled roofs. It all looked like the perfect postcard to market Grenada. The promenade, staying true to the Spice Isle nickname of Grenada, is even lined with hanging metal renditions of painted split nutmegs, complete with red mace enveloping them.

We had a quick lunch spot at a local open-air restaurant and then made our final stop of the afternoon, which was at De La Grenade Nutmeg Garden, where we did a private tour of the gardens high up in the hills (benefits of low season!) and got to see and learn a lot about so many varieties of fruit and spices. In preparation for this trip, I had read that nutmeg syrup was very popular here, But to be honest, that did not excite me too much because all I could think of was how potent nutmeg (the seed) was as a spice; a tiny bit goes a really long way. What I didn’t realize before coming on this tour is that when nutmeg syrup is made, the nutmeg’s fleshy outer fruit, known as the pericarp, is used for the syrup, which is much subtler and almost fruity in flavor. The whole idea here is to have zero waste and to use as much of the fruit as possible.

This is a description of how the nutmeg fruit anatomy breaks down by part:

  • The Pericarp: The soft, fleshy outer fruit –> This is what is used for local nutmeg syrup.
  • The Mace: The bright red, lacy, web-like membrane (or aril) that covers the shell.
  • The Shell (Endocarp): The hard, dark seed coat underneath the mace.
  • The Nutmeg: The actual seed inside the shell. –> This needs to be cracked and grated to make the nutmeg ground spice as we know it.

After the garden tour, we did a tasting of every product they offer, ranging from the nutmeg syrups, jellies, and jams, to pepper jellies, hot sauces, rum punches, and local Grenadian liqueur. And one of the most unusual things we tasted was something I’d seen at the market stalls back in Barbados but wasn’t so sure how it would taste: sea moss. It usually appears pink or yellow and is sold dry by the weight. The description for sea moss said that it was high in minerals, like iodine, magnesium, and calcium; helps hydrate the skin and promotes natural glow, and even strengthens hair and nails. It is usually consumed by being blended into flavorless gel that thickens smoothies, teas, and desserts. Our tasting guide served the sea moss for us with a drizzle of nutmeg syrup. It was thick, gelatinous, and a very different experience; I could actually taste bits of the ocean in it! Since it had nutmeg syrup on it, Kaia was quite happy to eat her sample up quickly!

We ended up buying the nutmeg jam, rum punch, and Grenadian liqueur. When planning this trip, I had a feeling that if there was one place we’d bring home souvenirs or consumable goods from that it would be Grenada given its reputation. And it looks like that feeling was right. We had a really well spent, enjoyable day without a private driver, and learned a lot about global food versus what we’d known before. I love learning these bits about food and the world when we travel — we’re still always learning.

Grenada: The Spice Isle, and a brief return to the all-inclusive resort lifestyle

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Yesterday night, we arrived in Grenada, just a 30-minute flight from St. Lucia, also known as the Spice Isle. Grenada is also a former French and British colony, a former sugar plantation turned spice economy. By the early 20th century, nutmeg and mace (the “lace” that wraps around the nutmeg), became Grenada’s dominant export. Today, Grenada is the second leading producer of nutmeg, second only to Indonesia. For an island country with a population of about 118,000 people and a total land area of 131 square miles/340 square kilometers, this is a really impressive fact! Nutmeg became so embedded in the island country’s identity that a split nutmeg is featured on the left side of the Grenada national flag; look very closely, and ye shall see! Grenada is the only sovereign nation in the world to feature FOOD in its national flag! I love this fun fact so, so much. The closest other country would be Canada given a maple leaf, but this isn’t technically correct because we eat maple sap, not maple leaves.

During our three nights in Grenada, we’re staying at an all-inclusive resort again for the second time ever, as well as the second time on this multi-segment trip. While here, we thought we’d try to see if Kaia would be willing to go to the Kids Club this time. While we tried to take advantage of this benefits while at the sister property of our hotel in Barbados, Kaia did not want me to leave and was very clingy. Instead, I stayed with her there, and we spent about an hour in their Kids Club playing with fake food, cars, and making a beaded bracelet. At our current hotel in Grenada, we have access to a Kids Club that runs daily from 9-1, then 2-5. We took a peek inside today, and when Kaia saw all the endless toys, books, fake food, and the big play structure outside the club, she said she wanted to stay — and didn’t mind if I left this time.

Kaia was a very mature big girl: “It’s okay, mama,” Pookster insisted to me with big, brave, happy eyes. “Just make sure to give me a big hug and a big kiss before you go!”

Shanique, one of the Kids Club employees, took great care of Kaia. The Kids Club accepts kids ages 4-12; with these kids, it’s a “kid-only” zone meaning they don’t want any parent or guardian there. A younger child may come, but needs to be accompanied by the parent the whole time present. One other child who was about 2-years old came with her mom, who said they’d stay for a little bit. But they left, and eventually it was just Kaia being tended to by three different employees. The Kids Club workers were extremely hands on and attentive with her. The scheduled activity of the day was a nature walk and bird feeding. So Shanique took Kaia out for a walk and gave her bread to feed the birds. She sent me so many photos and videos documenting what Kaia was doing as they went about their 3.5 hours together. Kaia told Shanique that the bread would make the birds sick (she remembers that I told her this before!), to which Shanique just laughed. For Kaia as she reported back to me after, the highlight of the nature walk was that she got to see some big white birds eat some fish out of the water; she’d never seen this before and was really fascinated! They also played with fake food, went out on the play structure, used beads to make bracelets, and played dress up. Of course, Kaia’s favorite was a sparkly magenta tutu, which she tried to leave the Kids Club with. Shanique said it was fine for her to take it if she was coming back to the Kids Club in the afternoon. But when Chris picked her up, he instructed her to leave it behind since we wouldn’t be returning.

While Kaia was occupied at the Kids Club and on the grounds with our rate-included babysitters, Chris and I tried to figure out our itinerary for our two full days in Grenada. We talked with an excursions specialist and realized that given today was Sunday, pretty much all of St. George, the capital, and the vast majority of shops and restaurants would be closed. Grenada is a very religious nation: over 96 percent of people identify as Christians, so Sunday is taken extremely seriously as a proper day of rest. So our original plan of exploring St. George, was crossed out for us today. Instead, we decided to take advantage of the all-inclusive benefits and stay on the property for the day. It’s been nice to have a couple full or half days when we have absolutely nothing planned. We went to the spa, where Chris got a sports massage, I got a coffee bean scrub/wrap, and we each got a special which included an added mini-facial added to our treatments. I also got to spend a little time in the spa’s steam room and sauna — always good for muscle relaxation, blood circulation, and my skin!

We picked up Kaia from the Kids Club after our treatments, ate lunch, and spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach just steps away from the property and at the pool. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant onsite that was pretty good (I finally ordered osso bucco, something I never really consider at Italian restaurants, which was pretty well made; hard to go wrong with veal shanks!). And on our walk back to our room, we got to see a full moon and a big, bright, starry sky above. I pointed out multiple stars to Kaia, and she loved seeing how bright they were. We also heard lots of nighttime bird songs as well as the calming, summery sound of crickets.

And to feed my casual birding interest, already during this trip and just on the hotel property, I got to see my first local bird: a bananaquit! This tiny, energetic, fast-moving bird was making a little dance party for us while we enjoye some ice cream at the cafe before heading to the beach. It had a bright yellow breast, a black black, and a single white stripe on both sides of its face. curved beak, and The hotel grounds are known to have lots and lots of birds who come to a specific area to hang out, and so I hope to have the opportunity to see more of these feathered friends up close.

Pigeon Island and the unexpected free ride back to our hotel

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After a morning walking around Castries and scoring big with local fruit at Castries Market yesterday, we dropped off our massive fruit haul at the hotel before continuing on to Pigeon Island. Just a short drive from our hotel in Rodney Bay, Pigeon Island is an islet on the northern part of St. Lucia. Once upon a time it was a separate piece of land from St. Lucia, but it was artificially joined to the western coast of the mainland in 1972 by a manmade causeway built from dirt excavated to form what is now the modern-day Rodney Bay Marina. Pigeon Island is beloved by locals for offering a calm, clear, and less tourist-infested beach (versus Reduit Beach nearby). It is also known for having two peaks that you can hike, as well as Fort Rodney on top of one of those peaks, which was once used by the British to spy on French ships from the nearby island Martinique.

We had lunch at a local restaurant (which included a delicious breadfruit mash!) on the quiet beach before heading over to the National Landmark side of the island to hike up to Fort Rodney. From this peak where Fort Rodney sits, you can see stunning views of Rodney Bay and the marina, the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, and the northwest coastline of the island country. On very clear days, you can also see the island of Martinique, which is about 25 miles away. What we noticed a lot in St. Lucia is how contrasting the views are of the calm, clear turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea to the west and rougher deep blue, at times even near-black waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The hike up to Fort Rodney was much shorter than I’d read online, so I was pleasantly surprised when we reached the top of the fort and were quickly rewarded with such stunning 360-degree views. When viewing some parts of the beach from this peak, the water was so clear that you could see the ocean floor!

After we made our descent, we parked ourselves on a shady spot on the local beach to enjoy the crystal clear, calm waters. Kaia had been waiting (impatiently) for beach time, so she was revved up and ready to go. She dragged me all the way across the beach, to where she met a 9-year-old friend and her mother and encircled them until they finally gave her direct attention and started talking to her. The 9-year-old girl, S, doted on her and immediately took Kaia under her wing, showing her different moves in the water and also building sand castles with her. I started chatting with S’s mother, K, who was really personable and friendly, as well. I quickly found out she was not a tourist but actually a local. She had spent some time living in the U.S. and was married to an American who had served in the military. With him, she had two kids, the second of whom was waiting in the car for them to go home. K said she was thinking about moving to the U.S., specifically New York City given how diverse and progressive it is (and the fact that she doesn’t want to own a car ever again because she hates driving and thinks the cost of maintenance is ridiculous). We talked a lot about cultural differences between St. Lucia and the U.S., a (very understandable) fear of guns and gun violence, and how unacceptable it is that some New Yorkers/tri-state people actually think that Coney Island’s “beach” is a real beach. “That water is not any shade of blue…. it’s grey-black, and you can’t see anything in it,” K said incredulously. “If you put your feet in the ocean and you cannot see your feet, that is not a real beach! You should be able to see the bottom of the ocean floor. That is just not right!”

I told her that if she ever decides to move forward with moving to New York or simply visiting, I’d love to see her again and help her out. We exchanged contact details, and as I told her we were getting ready to go back to our hotel, she said it was also time for them to leave, as well. And then, out of nowhere, she insisted that she drive us all back to the hotel. “It’s so close — it’s just right there!” K said. “I will take you. Go tell your husband!”

As this conversation was happening, I saw Chris on the other side of the beach packing up all our belongings and heading over to us. I told him about our new friend’s offer, and he was in shock. But he went along with it. We all got into K’s car, introduced ourselves to her son J. S continued to engage and play with Kaia in the car, which made Kaia so attached to her. And in the end, we got dropped off at our hotel — no Uber ride, just a free ride from a kind, local stranger.

In the last 14-plus years of our relationship (which includes LOTS of travel), this is the very first time that a complete stranger has offered and given us a ride. K said they lived just a two-minute drive from Pigeon Island, but in the opposite direction of our hotel. And given we left during rush hour, K not only was going out of her way given the opposite direction, but she also was adding time to her commute. It was beyond thoughtful, kind, and generous. I thanked her profusely over Whatspp after and also apologized for the inevitable sand we tracked into her car.

In these moments, I am yet again reminded of the famous Blanche DuBois quote at the end of The Streetcar Named Desire when she’s led away to be institutionalized: “Whoever you are—I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” I would actually change this to: “I have always believed in the kindness of strangers.”

And Chris, while very grateful, exclaimed, “She saved us $18-20 USD!”