Nine Days of Grenada: Day 8

The Rivers

When I raise my face towards the waterfall, the cascading droplets look white against the blue sky. I squint in the spray. Wanting to get right under it, I swim hard until I feel it hammer my head and shoulders. Then, I let the current push me backwards.

I am treading the cold, clear water to hold my place in the large pool. Fern and moss-covered rocks surround the pool, and I’m shouting that it looks like the elven land of Rivendell from Lord of the Rings. I could stay here forever, treading and watching the falling water. Below this pool, the water falls to another pool, where we will also swim. These two waterfalls are the lowest of the Seven Sisters waterfalls. To get here, we hiked down a steep, somewhat muddy trail through part of the Grand Etang National Forest.

Grenada is full of waterfalls since its rivers travel from mountains to the sea over a relatively short distance. Some falls, such as Annandale, Concord, and Mount Carmel Falls, can be accessed with a short walk from the car. Others require some hiking to see the waterfalls.

Ninety-five percent of the potable water comes from surface water, mostly rivers like the ones we love to watch tumbling down the mountains. The National Water and Sewerage Authority has divided the island into twenty-six areas, each with a small reservoir and five-step water treatment facility. Pipes carry the water to plumbed houses, where many houses store a backup supply of several hundred gallons in a plastic barrel.

Just beyond the water reservoir above Concord Falls, we begin our hike to Au Coin waterfall. We follow a path past a small nutmeg plantation. Nutmeg trees bear yellow fruits. Inside the fruit, the bright red, waxy mace looks like it was drizzled onto the nutshell. When you crack open the shell, the nutmeg itself is fiercely aromatic and has a firm texture. Grating it reveals an even more potent fragrance.

We also pass banana trees and some cocoa trees and clumps of callaloo, the heart-shaped leaves of dasheen (an edible starchy tuber) that are often prepared as a soup or steamed greens. The trail winds up into the forest, crossing the river several times.

About an hour later, we can see the top of the waterfall up ahead. I look down at the river tumbling around rocks and see a large crustacean. It seems so out-of-place that my mind does not process it. Then I absurdly wonder if it’s a lobster shell discarded from someone’s picnic. Then I lean down and see some small hair-like appendages rippling along its sides. It’s alive. It is a Big Claw River Shrimp, native to rivers from Florida to Brazil. We are flabbergasted.

To access the Au Coin waterfall pool, we scramble over some large boulders. I step around the final corner and find myself in a mythical-looking place. The rocks curve around, hugging the pool. The water is cold in a good way—nothing on this island has been cold enough to make me feel cold. We swim and explore and eat our usual PBJ’s before hiking back out of the forest.

A brief car ride takes us to the main road, then we park on another side road to follow that same river to the coast. The river ends on a black sand beach. Since it’s a holiday (Good Friday), people are picnicking and swimming and horsing around in the fine volcanic sand, which is very hot on our feet in the mid-afternoon sun. From the forest waterfall to the ocean, this water’s journey is gorgeous.