I have had The Killers song in my head today for some reason ' Are We human, or are We dancer' and so it inspired the title of my blog today! Purely because it rhymes....kind of!
We do get mistaken for CRUISE SHIP / Superyachts tourists all the time.... and with that comes the price hike. For example paying three times as much as the locals do for the bananas and pretty much everything you want to buy. Which might be acceptable if you are on a two week cruise, but not when you are travelling for a long time and just want the fair price. Local people in most of the countries also tend to think that tourists are not capable of walking for more than 10meters, with taxis rides offered all the time :)
This is how many people think we live...
You can tell the difference in our appearance - mostly honey tanned, wearing flip-flops and clothes that have not seen an iron since we left Scotland (Mid May 2017). Sun-Bleached hair (me) and a beard (Simon) is a pretty common sight too. So yeah, we do look different! Do we behave any different??
When we arrive in a new country or a new island, we tend to stay for longer than most of the tourists. We use local transport, shop where locals do, use local library, make friends with local children(Caspar and Nina) and generally have about as much money as local do too.
The rush hour - on the bus with children coming home from school
Trying out some yummy food. Mutton curry anyone?
Local market - How much for oranges? Caspar in shock when he hears the price :))))
Nina earning some pocket money helping on the corn stand!
But are we local? No, of course not. We still love to do the touristy things - exploring the islands for example. But we like to do explore it in our own way, Today we went to the Belmont Estate. We took the bus that is used for transport by Grenadians, we ate a quick lunch in a canteen full of Grenadians. As tourists, we really enjoyed the tour of the massive plantation once owned by the Scottish family. They grow COCOA and lots of other fruit. Cocoa is now used purely to make their own excellent organic chocolate, although they used to supply the Green and Black chocolates too. Children learned a lot about the history of the place and about botany. I wonder whether local children get the same opportunity too?
Cocoa plantation, Grenada
A fresh cocoa pod - the cocoa inside tastes like a fruit. Caspar did not enjoyed the smell of fermenting the pods.
Cocoa beans drying - the smell heavenly!
Nina and the cocoa pod!
So what is the conclusion? We are tourists and once we escape the 'cruise ship fame', we like to be called tourists again :)
Maria Antares
Grenada