This pretty puppy’s name is Dixie. She looks mean, but is really a sweet dog.

This little one would hover around your feet looking for scraps of food. He’s a smart dog.

There were parakeets by the kitchen door, a few cats, and I believe 4 dogs. They were all really sweet animals. I wish I had more pictures of the pets to show you.

I cannot stress enough how much I enjoyed our time at Waterville. The family that owns/runs it are very sweet. They are so hospitable – by the end of the week I felt like we were family. The grounds are gorgeous – filled with wildlife, flowers, and orchards bursting with fruit. The best thing about being surrounded by all this natural environment was that I did not get chewed up by mosquitos. That really is music to my ears!

If you’re in Trinidad and want to experience a lovely peaceful vacation, don’t hesitate to look up Waterville Estate. You will not be sorry.

Waterville actually makes arrangements for the businesses around town. I have a bunch of arrangement pictures from their talented florist Asha, attached to the end of the post.

Nothing screams Caribbean like bougainvilleas to me. I’ve seen pink, orange, white, lavender, and red shades but my favorite is the hot pink below.

J and I took a walk around the grounds and took a bunch of photos. Here are a bunch of the flower shots we took:

There were roses with morning dew..

Pretty orchids

I believe these fluffy purple flowers are called ageratums…

and these pink bunches are called ixoras.

There were delicate dainty yellow orchids in the flower beds.

Pretty multi colored heliconias…

and Jamaica ginger lilies.

Here’s Asha below making all the arrangements going out for the day.

Pictured below are a few of her wonderful bouquets. All flowers in the arrangements are from the Waterville grounds!

Anthurium lilies:

A soft mixed arrangement:

Pretty pink ginger torches:

White ginger arrangement:

Pretty pink arrangement with different types of gingers:

Another mixed bouquet:

Bold red gingers:

and a short arrangement of pink ginger torches and heliconias. There were so many amazing arrangements, but I think my favorites were the ones with the pink ginger torches.

I didn’t even get a chance to go see the full body sized arrangements that day. These were only the tabletop ones. Can you imagine how magnificent the full body sized ones would be?

Hope you enjoyed all the flower pictures!

Waterville has a plethora of floral and fauna. They have orchards of fruit trees adorning the grounds, flowers every place you look, and green lush plants in all directions. It’s pretty awesome. Not only is the estate a fabulous place to relax and enjoy nature, they sell their fruit/flowers and plants too! 

There are grapefruit trees… and orange trees.

A table full of Waterville fruit? It’s what’s for breakfast every morning. I didn’t think to take pictures of all the fruit…but there was a bunch to choose from. Oranges, grapefruit, mandarins, rock figs, bananas, avocados, papayas, golden apples, AND…

the highlight fruit for J – jackfruit! I cannot tell you how excited he was to get this baby. The jackfruit was so sweet and tasty, perfectly ripe and the sweet scent was amazing. We were so happy to see this baby.

Uncle Brian, the owner of the estate, was so nice to bring back a jackfruit from his other property in Brazos – (no jackfruit tree at Waterville). We very much appreciated the thoughtful gesture!

Waterville is a nature lover’s delight. They have such a wide range of fruit, there’s something for everyone.  Stay tuned for the gorgeous flowers at Waterville  - next post!

Driving through Trinidad you would never think that Waterville Estate is on the same island. J and I spent some time at Waterville at the end of last year and we absolutely fell in love with the place. The pictures can’t even begin to capture the beauty.

The entrance to Waterville is secluded – almost like a secret garden, you’ll have to look hard to find it. Signs are not posted outside unless they know they’ll have visitors; then a temporary sign is posted upon a stake. Your best bet is to call them ahead of time to let them know you’re coming.

Look at how darling this place is? Everything is just so lush and green. I feel like I’m in the middle of nowhere and it’s fabulous! Up the steps is the family room. It’s open air so it is always exposed to the elements. I love that it’s like a patio/sun room/ living room. It’s an all in one.

To the side of the living room is the official front door. I have never seen this entrance being used, ever. It’s just a laid back place and there isn’t a need for formalities there.

Looking back beyond the house you’ll see the fruit trees, flowers, plants, and the majestic hills. In the evenings and early morning, you can hear monkeys hollering in the mountains.

Above are rooms in the main house. The O’Farrell family (kindest people ever!) lives in the main house. I believe there is one room available for guests in the main house. There are two studio rooms to the side and two stand alone cabins towards the back of the house.

Check out the amazing back porch. We spent a lot of time here. We had all our meals out on this verandah. In the mornings you can sit out with your cup of joe and watch the beautiful birds and butterflies fluttering around.

A little further out, there is a stone walkway that leads you to the tiki hut. It’s just a nice shaded place for you to put up your feet.

Beyond the hut is an archway. I know that there have been many picturesque weddings here. I just wish I could have actually been there to see it! Can’t you just imagine how beautiful it must be? When it’s getting dusky and you turn on the stringed lights? How idyllic and romantic it would be!

Past this archway are the two stand alone cabins on the Waterville grounds. This first one is pictured below. This cabin is a one bedroom one bathroom with kitchen, dining area, and living room. There’s a charming patio with rocking chairs out front where you can soak in the natural beauty that surrounds you. The living room is open as well. There’s an iron gate that you can lock up in the evenings but no actual door! Isn’t that neat?

J and I found this old sewing machine whilst exploring. Isn’t it awesome? I’m sure it works, but it serves it’s purpose as wonderful antique furniture as well.

This is the second cabin available for guests. It’s larger than the first one mentioned. There are 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a full kitchen, dining area, and living room. One bedroom has a queen bed and the other bedroom has 2 twin beds. A family of four could stay very comfortably here without any problems.

Behind the cabins you have the rest of the Waterville Grounds. There’s a brook that runs through the fruit orchard, and wildlife abounds. It really is amazing out there.

There’s so much more to show you at Waterville that we’ll have to break this baby up into parts. Come back for Part 2 of our time at Waterville Estate!

When my sister and brother in law came to visit us last year, we went diving and got a chance to see some really neat things. Take a gander below -

We ventured out with Dive Grenada and was taken to Flamingo Bay for the dive.

Would you like to know why this area is called Flamingo Bay? It is because this area is known for the flamingo tongue  gastropods (snails). The one pictured below is a striped flamingo tongue.

This is a regular flamingo tongue.

Close by the gastropods, we saw a brittle starfish.

There was also a special appearance of a flying gurnard. A flying gurnard is a fish that has huge fan like pectoral fins which fan out when they are alarmed to increase their size. They also have little pelvic fins that imitate as legs walking along the sand looking for crustaceans to feed on.

Here’s the fellow chillin’, all regular -

Here he is startled!

Neat-o, huh?

Another kind of fish that I really enjoy spotting – Trunk Fish.  He likes to blend in with the corral…but when you really look at him, you’ll notice how funky he is. He’s spotted with a honeycomb effect, and scraggled in all sorts of colors, his body is shaped pretty much like a triangle, and his lips are constantly in a pucker! He’s so strange, yet so fascinating at the same time.

Check out the other things we got to see:

Dory (Blue Tang) from Finding Nemo!

A pair of Foureye Butterfly fish. Foureye? Yes, because of the 2 huge black dots towards the back which makes them look like they have an extra pair of eyes.

See the Angel Fish in the center of the photograph?

It’s pretty magical under the sea…before you know it, an hour’s already passed up and you have to start your way back up. Until next time fishies!

Goats are tied up eating vegetation around people’s houses. They’re grazing on pastures; they’re chomping down food scraps from people’s kitchens. We have actually seen goats grazing on the green on the golf course. It’s such a green way to take care of the grass.

These little guys are cute, huh? We’ve seen them in all sorts of colors, but I particularly liked these snow white ones.

We received a lovely bunch of these flowers from a good friend. She walked by these delicate blooms and noticed that there was a sweet scent and thought we would enjoy them. Boy was she right! It’s a pretty pink/red hue and they smell like jasmine flowers. I enjoyed them very much when they were in the house!  

Sometimes when we shop at the Farmer’s Market in Grand Anse I pick up a bouquet of flowers. It’s not bad, $10 EC for a bunch and the flowers are extremely hardy. They’ll last for quite some time.

The bouquet comes with filler leaves, anthurium lilies, ginger lilies, and birds of paradise – sometimes you’ll get lucky and they’ll include a ginger torch lily. Those look really cool.

Here are a few close ups of anthurium lilies.

This Caribbean lily is a darker reddish color.

This is more of a pink hue.

I did not re cut any of these flowers, mainly because I do not have the tools to do so and even if I tried, my scissors couldn’t cut through the thick stems of these flowers. We don’t have a cutlass (aka machete) conveniently laying around our house either.

I just changed the water every couple days and these babies lasted at least a week and a half. Well worth the money – especially to a gal like me who loves flowers!

Rick’s Cafe is an open air restaurant located in the Food Fair plaza in Grand Anse. They’re known for their pizza and ice cream, but there’s a pretty wide selection of food there too. You order your food at the counter on the left. 

Look at all the things you could order! It’s like a fast food joint – but not fast. Everything is on island time in Grenada. So you order, pay at the counter, and you get a ticket. Take said ticket to the window on the other side to pick up your food order.

J ordered a cheese pizza. There are gluten free, dairy free options there but it’s still pretty tough. This time around I ordered the BBQ chicken plate. They have salads there too. I personally did not like the salad – mucho money for a baby sized portion of greens.

J said the pizza was decent, but definitely not the best on the island. The pizza sauce is on the sweet side. They sell pizza by the slice too, just in case you wanted to try it out. The chicken was good but nothing to write home about.

The kitchen staff at Rick’s are really really nice. I wish I could say that about all the staff there. Some of the other ladies are just downright rude! (Not the lady pictured below…)

I can’t tell you that the ice cream here is stellar because I can’t have any, but we’ve seen lots of cones and cups of ice cream sold and everyone looks absolutely chipper eating their sweets.

I can however, tell you that Rick’s has dairy free sorbet and this stuff is awesome! I’ve only tried the Coconut Pineapple Sorbet and it’s sooo good. There’s a strawberry and golden apple flavor too, but I enjoy the coconut so much that I don’t think I should veer off course to test any other waters.

My only complaint? It’s expensive. You get a teeny tiny baby cup of sorbet for $3.50EC. I mean tiny…like the container is a condiment cup. I guess that’s good for my waistline, huh?

Last time we were there, Kathy Ann tells us that there are gluten free items on the menu. Yippee!

I enjoyed a plate of gluten free blueberry pancakes and a soy cappuccino. Needless to say, I was one happy wife.

The soy cappuccino is tasty. I am sure that the cappuccinos with whole milk are even tastier!

Coming from the US, where there is a coffee shop on every corner, it’s odd to me that most Grenadians do not drink coffee.

Here’s a complimentary plate of condiments – butter, syrups (nutmeg and maple), mustard, hot sauce, ketchup, and home made jams. The one featured today: mango.

I must make a service announcement and let everyone know that you MUST try Le Papillion’s Morning Glory Muffin (n0t gluten free).

According to J, this muffin is the best tasting muffin he’s ever had…anywhere. Let me tell you something, we have ordered our fair share of muffins from bakeries near and far and this is the only place where I’ve  seen J order a muffin on the spot, and one to take home for later.

Trust J, it’s that good. You can thank us later.