Grand Etang National Park and Forest Reserve is a chunk of over 6,000 protected acres of mountainous forest in the middle of Grenada. Yesterday, we took the #6 bus from the St. George’s terminal up to Grand Etang Lake, the water-filled crater of a volcano that last erupted around 12,000 years ago. The Grand Etang (French for “large lake”) sits at 1740 feet above sea level.
On the way, our bus driver had a particularly heavy foot and willingness to pass slower vehicles on the narrow road that folded on itself up and up. My soul left my body halfway there.
We tumbled out of the bus into cool breezy weather. Two vendors displayed their colorful fabrics and spices beside the parking lot. The visitor’s center perched on a hill, and strings of red, green, and yellow pennants—Grenada’s colours—adorned the path leading up to it. After I lowered my head between my knees for a bit, I could appreciate how beautiful it was there.
We walked down the paved road from the visitor center towards the lake. A park employee in a booth asked if we had seen the monkeys yet, then emerged from his booth with a bag of banana pieces. He led the way, scanning the treetops and saying, “Hoom hoomm.” A group with a tour guide stopped their van and joined us, so we embraced being monkey-seeking tourists.
With coaxing—the bananas and mangoes pickpocketed from Andrew’s backpack pouch—two Mona monkeys clambered onto the shoulders of willing participants. I cannot deny my complete delight in the soft padded foot-fingers and balanced weight on my arms and shoulders, even though the whole thing was contrived. Their tufted ears and the piercing dark eyes. The cheek-beards!
From there, we finished the short walk down to lakeside and admired the Koi fish rising around the dock. Local lore said Grand Etang was bottomless, but it measures about 20 feet deep. Marshy grasses rim the lake, then the land rises steeply to surrounding peaks.
We left the pavement for the shoreline trail to walk around the lake. This is one of several trails, and we hope to return to hike the one leading up to Mt. Qua Qua (elevation 2,339 ft). The shoreline trail, a classic narrow, muddy rainforest path, wound through boisterous vegetation. We spied an Antillean crested hummingbird, and got a good binocular-aided look at its purple mohawk and iridescent green back. Skipping the full loop, we backtracked our muddy sneakers to have PBJ’s by the visitor’s center.
To my intense relief, our return bus driver took it at half the speed and careful on the turns. I was able to enjoy the views from a front seat as we dropped back to sea level and the now-familiar heat and bustle of town.
Monkey pictures… priceless!