One of the many things I love about Grenada is the abundant opportunity to hike, meet folks along the trail and catch glimpses of spectacular scenery. Our trip to Fontainbleu Falls (also called Upper Concord Falls) started early in the day. We met our hiking buddies Ann and Steve from Receta, Barb and Chuck from Tusen Takic IT and Anna and Hakan from Unicorn at the Lower Woburn dock at 0630. We took the bus into St. George’s and there we boarded the Number 6 bus to Grand Etang Park. Some hikes are about the destination, and don’t get me wrong, Fontainbleu Falls is a gorgeous destination, but the hike is beautiful and interesting. We tumbled out of the bus at the Grand Etang visitor center a bit ringy from the twisty road up the mountains. There are Mona monkeys (Cercopithecus mona) at the visitor area, but these are not the mon- key paws of interest to this hike. Grand Etang National Park is at 1,740 feet and is almost always cool and cloudy — a welcome change from the hot sun at anchor. We have hiked this trail many times and in the wet season it can be very slippery and always has patch- es of razor grass. Long sleeves and long pants help protect you from the fine razor-like cuts from razor grass. On this trip the trail was well cleared and very dry. It is really handy to have a walking stick for an extra point of balance or to push razor grass out of your path. We had no problems taking our walking sticks on the bus. We took the Mt. Qua Qua trail (see the sidebar for exact details of the route) and after a while we were on a windy ridge where dead trees stand testament to the effects of 2004's Hurricane Ivan. A left turn (to the west) took us off of the Mt. Qua Qua trail and downhill into lush rainforest where we saw the small green, chandelier-shaped flowers of the monkey paw vine that have evolved to dust the backs of hum- mingbirds as they feed on the pollen of the flower, ensuring a good pollination at the next flower. The trail took us down a drainage or gully that got larger as we descended. We boulder-hopped across the creek several times and after about an hour and a half our trail made a T into the Concord Falls trail. We took the left fork to Fontainbleu Falls. We stripped down to our swimsuits, washed off the trail mud and sweat and had a refreshing swim. The trail to Concord Falls is a dirt track that cuts through an old plantation. I thought the relatively flat walk to the road would be uninteresting, but I was wrong. The fields were full — we passed cabbage, car- rots, callaloo, pigeon peas, peppers, limes, oranges, bananas and nutmeg. We greeted farmers as we walked and many were surprised and impressed to hear that we had gotten to the falls from Grand Etang. We were looking at a nutmeg when a lady came walking down the trail. We chatted and she fell in line with us, or more correctly, we hustled to keep up with her. She introduced herself as Dora and told us that she is 75-and-a-half years old and that she tends her fields in the hills every day, except on Friday when she takes the bus into St. George’s to the market to sell vegetables. Dora was toting a sack of dasheen on her back and it took my husband, Hunter, two tries to get Dora to allow him to carry her burden. Unburdened, she walked even faster, chat- ting along the way. Concord Falls was at the start of the road from our perspective — or the end of the road if you are driv- ing. It is a tourist destination with little shops selling handicrafts and spices. These falls are pretty, but not nearly as nice as Fontainbleu Falls. We stopped to eat lunch at Concord Falls and thought that surely Dora would head down the hill, but she waited. Hunter picked up her bag of dasheen and we all trotted to keep up. At Dora’s house she insisted we come to see her garden and she loaded us up with callaloo and Santa Maria mint for tea. We promised to visit her in the market on a Friday. It was a few days after Christmas and many folks were on porches and in gardens. We long ago noticed that if we greet folks along the way they will enthu- siastically return a greeting and often stop to chat. We stopped to chat with several folks before we had walked the mile-and-a-half to the main road. We managed to down a cold Carib (local beer) before hopping on a bus to St. George’s. If I had to give someone advice about this hike I believe it would be: “Say hi to everyone you meet and don’t forget your swimsuit”. Simplicity. 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