1,000 Places to See Before You Die

by Patricia Schultz

  A Fragrant Spice Island with Scenic Allure

  ST. GEORGE’S HARBOUR AND GRAND ANSE BEACH

  St. George’s, Grenada, Lesser Antilles

  This postcard-perfect horseshoe-shaped port—actually the crater of an inactive volcano—is one of the most scenic in all the Caribbean, flanked by early-18th-century forts and hugged by the raffishly charming port town, St. George’s. A cheerful hodgepodge of West Indian and French colonial influences, it is known for its “fish scale”—roofed rainbow-hued homes climbing the steep, green hills behind it. The crescent-shaped waterfront district, the Carenage, is the colorful commercial hub of the naturally landlocked inner harbor.

  Grenada is both lush and fertile, making it an extravagant producer of spices since nutmeg took off in the 1850s—today the Spice Island produces more than one third of the world’s supply of nutmeg. Stop by the daily open-air market to listen to the turbaned ladies sell their fragrant cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon, and nutmeg, along with colorful piles of pawpaw (papaya), red and gold mangoes, and exotic vegetables.

  This 21-by-12-mile island boasts one of the Caribbean’s lushest rain forests in its mountainous interior. Grand Etang National Park, named for a picturesque lake or “big pond” formed from a volcanic crater, is a trekker’s paradise, with wild nutmeg, long-tailed monkeys, and powerful waterfalls. Trails range from an easy excursion to the Seven Sisters waterfalls to more serious treks.

  Grenada attracts snorkelers and divers with its unique and magically captivating Underwater Sculpture Park—65 works of art installed underwater in Molinere Bay, off the island’s west coast. It also has one of the world’s best wreck dives—the 600-foot luxury liner Bianca C., which sank in 1961 and is hailed as the Titanic of the Caribbean.

  St. George’s is not recommended for action seekers or casino devotees, but beach lovers need look no further than Grand Anse, south of town. This 2-mile curve of perfect sand is the most famous of the island’s 45 beaches, with gentle surf that sets the scene for water sports. Most of the island’s best hotels are on or near Grand Anse, including Spice Island Beach Resort. This stylish all-inclusive breaks the mold, with eco-friendly design, a salt water pool, and 64 suites with Jacuzzi.

  For creative local cuisine, amble across the road to La Belle Creole restaurant in the Blue Horizons Cottage Hotel. Sunset views accompany family-recipe classics like chilled lobster mousse, cream of tannia soup, or veal à la Creole. Listen to steel drums on Fish Fridays in Gouyave, a wonderfully scenic 30-minute drive up the coast, where the fresh, spicy fish is some of the island’s best.

  Small nonresorty and sophisticated hostelries have been popping up around the island, led by the Bali-inspired Laluna with 16 thatch-roofed cottages nestled into the hillside. Nearby, the offbeat Aquarium Restaurant sits right on the beach but built back into the forest. This cool, open-air retreat is known for its scallops wrapped in bacon with a bitter orange sauce and fresh bread from the oven. On the island’s less developed northern coast, Petite Anse Hotel is a comfortable rustic-Colonial 11-room property tucked into the vegetation right above a gorgeous beach with views of the Grenadine Islands.

  Grenada’s two sister islands to the northwest are a ferry ride away. Undeveloped Carriacou is West India the way it used to be, where goats outnumber cars and the locals fish, build boats, and farm. Its stand-out white sand Anse la Roche joins with pristine reefs to make snorkeling and diving here world class. At nearby Petite Martinique, you can circumambulate the quiet, undeveloped island by foot in just a few blissful hours.

  Beyond St. George’s horseshoe-shaped harbor lie charming buildings, green hills, and beaches.

  VISITOR INFO: www.grenadagrenadines.com. SPICE ISLAND BEACH RESORT: Tel 845-628-1701 or 473-444-4258; www.spicebeachresort.com. Cost: from $800 (off-peak), from $1,308 (peak), all-inclusive. LA BELLE CREOLE: Tel 473-444-4316; www.grenadabluehorizons.com. Cost: dinner $50. LALUNA: Tel 866-452-5862 or 473-439-0001; www.laluna.com. Cost: from $365 (off-peak), from $545 (peak). AQUARIUM RESTAURANT: Tel 473-444-1410; www.aquarium-grenada.com. Cost: dinner $50. PETITE ANSE HOTEL: Tel 473-442-5252; www.petiteanse.com. Cost: from $125 (off-peak), from $260 (peak). BEST TIMES: Dec–May for nice weather; late Jan–early Feb for Grenada Sailing Festival; mid-Feb for Carriacou Carnival; Aug for Grenada Carnival and Carriacou Regatta; week before Christmas for the Big Drum Dance in Carriacou’s Parang Festival.

  Creole Cuisine and Tropical Adventures

  GUADELOUPE

  Lesser Antilles

  Called l’île papillon (butterfly island) by locals, Guadeloupe’s two “wings” possess different but equally compelling personalities. To the east, Grande-Terre is flatter and more developed, with former plantations and inviting beaches; the best are found on the southern shore in and around Sainte Anne. Guadeloupe is one of the great culinary destinations of the Caribbean, and Grande-Terre’s 200 restaurants serve a marriage of African, French, and West Indian cuisine that rivals that of St. Martin and Martinique (see pp. 1103 and 1092).

  For lively Creole ambience, the West Indian décor of the Iguane Café sets a relaxed tone. Begin with one of the two dozen rum punches, then follow with an intriguing menu of local and international dishes. Some of the best classic French dining can be found at the somewhat formal La Vieille Tour, a hotel resort built around an old sugar mill.

  The food scene comes to a peak every August during the annual Fête des Cuisinières, when hundreds of the island’s women, lavishly dressed in traditional madras costumes, parade through the streets of Grande-Terre’s principal city, Pointe-à-Pitre, balancing baskets of the island’s exotic bounty on their heads. After High Mass at the 19th-century Cathédrale de St-Pierre et St-Paul, a cook-off feast follows, and the streets fill with music, song, and dance.

  Dominated by the large, brooding volcano La Soufrière, Basse-Terre is the verdant western wing of the butterfly, a less developed land (two-thirds of it is protected as national park) that offers more adventure. Follow the transcoastal Route de La Traversée through the rain forest for one of the most scenic highways in the Caribbean. A detour to the west coast brings you to Plage Malendure, a sliver of dark volcanic sand that is the departure point for tiny Pigeon Island, where good snorkeling and diving await in a park created by Jacques Cousteau.

  Stay at Le Jardin Malanga, a chicly restored 1927 plantation house and cottages on the southern shore near Trois Rivières, offering easy access to the park and a trek to three waterfalls known as Chutes du Carbet (the largest of which plunges 410 feet). The inn offers views of Les Saintes, the mini-archipelago of seven islands (only two of which are inhabited) where Terre-de-Haut is the favorite stop. Or choose the charmingly funky Auberge Les Petits Saints—guests enjoy delightful views of Les Saintes Bay and a very special dinner—the lobster here is famous.

  Nearby Marie Galante (not one of the Îles des Saintes) is even more pastoral; scores of tended plantations, windmills, and oxcarts attest to the importance of sugarcane and rum. At Petite Anse beach, enjoy a deliciously simple meal at any of the Creole shacks.

  In Basse-Terre, three levels of cascades form Carbet Falls.

  VISITOR INFO: www.lesilesdeguadeloupe.com. IGUANE CAFÉ: Tel 590-590-88-61-37. Cost: dinner $45. LA VIEILLE TOUR: Tel 590-590-84-23-23. Cost: dinner $60. LE JARDIN MALANGA: Tel 590-590-92-67-57; www.jardinmalanga.com. Cost: from $390. When: closed Jun–early Jul and Sep–mid-Oct. AUBERGE LES PETITS SAINTS: Tel 590-590-99-50-99; www.petitssaints.com. Cost: from $125 (off-peak), from $175 (peak); dinner $65. BEST TIMES: Nov–Apr for good weather; early Jan–Ash Wednesday for Carnival; May for Creole Blues Festival on Marie Galante; 2nd Sat in Aug for Fête des Cuisinières in Pointe-à-Pitre.

  Where African Spirits Come to Earth

  VOODOO NIGHTS AT THE HOTEL OLOFFSON

  Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Greater Antilles

  Simply called bagay la (“the thing”) by Haitians, the earthquake of 2010, centered 20 miles from capital Port-au-Prince, brought devastating destruction. But the Haitian people hav
e a long history of determination and resilience: In 1801, a slave revolt defeated the mighty French army, and the newly formed nation became the first to abolish slavery in the Western Hemisphere. Despite persistent poverty and the slow pace of rebuilding, the Haitian spirit beats strong.

  You can get a rum-flavored taste of that spirit every Thursday at Voodoo Night at the Hotel Oloffson, a ramshackle Victorian gingerbread that survived the earthquake. Crowds dance all night to musique racine (French for “roots music”), a potent blend of traditional music performed on indigenous instruments, such as the rara horn and petwo drums, combined with a dose of rock ’n’ roll.

  The Oloffson has a grand history—novelist Graham Greene fictionalized it in The Comedians as the Hotel Trianon, and affixed to the doors are plaques bearing the names of luminaries who have stayed there, including Mick Jagger, Ann-Margret, and Greene himself.

  Vodou uniquely blends the religions brought by slaves from West Africa and the Catholicism of the French sugar plantation owners. With their native religions forbidden, slaves honored their ancestral spirits by assigning each its own corresponding Catholic saint; today’s Vodou altars are rich blends of African and Christian iconography.

  Vodou followers worship God, whom they call Gran Met or Bondye, but believe he is distant from the physical plane, so they summon lwa (or loa, “spirits,” pronounced low-AH) through prayer, drumming, and song.

  Everyone is welcome at Vodou ceremonies, where an offering to the houngan, or Vodou priest, is traditional. (A bottle of Barbancourt five-star rum will do.) Most visitors to Haiti hire a guide to find such ceremonies, but there’s no better place to start than Thursday night at the Oloffson.

  Music and dance inspired by Vodou culture infuse the Oloffson’s nightly celebration.

  HOTEL OLOFFSON: Tel 509-2223-4000; www.hoteloloffson.com. Cost: from $75. Thurs night entertainment free to guests, $10 for non-guests. WHERE ELSE TO STAY: Karibe Hotel; tel 509-2256-9808 or 305-432-9696 in the U.S.; www.karibehotel.com. Cost: from $150. HOW: Voyages Lumière offers personalized excursions in Port-au-Prince and beyond. Tel 509-3557-0753; www.voyageslumiere.com. Cost: full-day tours from $90. BEST TIME: the week before Lent (usually Feb or Mar) for Carnival.

  On Top of the World

  STRAWBERRY HILL AND THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

  Irish Town and Beyond, Jamaica, Greater Antilles

  With some of the most beautiful views in the Caribbean, Strawberry Hill’s 3,100-foot perch in the cool Blue Mountains is for those who relish sitting on a veranda and watching the late-afternoon mist settle on the green hills while the tree frogs begin their serenade. Surrounded by plantations that still produce the rare Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, declared by the famous spy character James Bond to be “the most delicious in the world,” Strawberry Hill is a former-plantation-turned-hotel. This is your own private Jamaica, with twelve Colonial-inspired cottages spread across 50 Edenic acres. The rooms evoke the daily lives of 19th-century planters, with mahogany four-poster beds, mosquito netting, and plank floors. A small but excellent spa (sign up for the coffee scrub) and a soothing minimalist design sense are modern flourishes. Strawberry Hill’s restaurant turns out exotic, full-flavored reinventions of traditional Jamaican dishes, like jerk lamb loin with garlic guava glaze, and has long been famous for its elegant Sunday brunch.

  Take time to explore the Blue Mountains, a lush, biodiverse forest that delights both birders and botanists with more than 500 species of flowering plants, including Jamaican bamboo, which flowers across the island only once every 33 years (the next bloom is due around 2017). Old mule tracks are now hiking trails that lead you to staggering views—if the mists cooperate you’ll get a glimpse of Blue Mountain Peak, at 7,402 feet the island’s highest. Or do it the easy way: Blue Mountain Bicycle Tours sets you up with bikes at 5,600 feet; just shove off and coast down past coffee plantations, stopping along the way for photo ops and a local lunch and finishing it off with a refreshing dip in a waterfall.

  WHERE: Irish Town is 25 miles/40 km from the Kingston Airport. STRAWBERRY HILL: Tel 800-688-7678 or 876-944-8400; www.islandoutpost.com. Cost: from $195 (off-peak), from $295 (peak). BLUE MOUNTAIN BICYCLE TOURS: Tel 876-974-7075; www.bmtoursja.com. Cost: $98. BEST TIME: Dec–Apr for good weather.

  Great Reggae, Great Golf, and Great Houses

  MONTEGO BAY

  Jamaica, Greater Antilles

  Jamaica’s second largest city after Kingston, Mo Bay is charged, hip, and gritty, with a lively music scene that reaches its frenzied height at Reggae Sumfest, a reggae and dancehall marathon that showcases star performers from dusk till dawn. Jamaica is the birthplace of reggae, its heartbeat, soul, and inspiration, and of all Mo Bay’s music festivals, this is the one that locals save up for all year. Evolved from ska (a heady combination of African traditions with rhythm and blues) and the slower rocksteady and infused with the “one love” message of Rastafarianism, reggae still owes its greatest debt to the late Bob Marley, a national (and international) folk hero.

  For those who have come to loll in the lap of luxury, staying put in Mo Bay means great golfing and fine resorts. Half-Moon is one of the Caribbean’s best big resorts: With 400 well-manicured acres and almost as many rooms, not to mention 54 swimming pools, a 2-mile private beach, and 13 lit tennis courts, it feels more like a town—albeit one with an equestrian center, dolphin lagoon, and thrilling Robert Trent Jones Sr. 18-hole golf course. It’s also home to Fern Tree, one of the island’s newest and largest spas, where local elders helped integrate traditional Jamaican healing practices into the treatments.

  The most serious (and seriously wealthy) golfers shortlist Tryall Club, a 2,200-acre former sugar plantation whose 18-hole golf course is known for its difficult, unpredictable holes. Designed by Ralph Plummer in the 1950s, it is considered by many to be the island’s best and is open only to guests who book privately owned villas centered around an 1834 Georgian-style great house.

  Jamaica’s most famous—and infamous—great house is Rose Hall, built in the 1700s in the heyday of the sugar-plantation era and occupied in the 19th century by Annie Palmer, the “White Witch” of the region. Local lore says Annie was a cruel voodoo-practicing slave owner who murdered several husbands and eventually was herself murdered by one of her slaves. The beautifully restored house, alleged to be haunted, is set on a hill with sweeping lawns overlooking the sea.

  And lastly, don’t miss Mo Bay’s spicy, succulent fare at the Pork Pit, a longtime local institution. The beach crowd arrives around noon, when the fiery jerk is ready to be lifted from its bed of coals and fragrant wood and slapped down on the communal picnic tables.

  VISITOR INFO: www.visitjamaica.com. REGGAE SUMFEST: Tel 876-953-2933; www.reggaesumfest.com. Cost: festival passes from $135. HALF-MOON: Tel 888-830-5974 or 876-953-2211; www.halfmoon.com. Cost: from $270 (off-peak), from $440 (peak). TRYALL CLUB: Tel 800-361-9949 or 876-956-5660; www.tryallclub.com. Cost: villas from $395 (off-peak), from $550 (peak), per night, based on weekly minimum. Greens fees $50 (off-peak), $100 (peak), guests only. ROSE HALL GREAT HOUSE: Tel 876-953-9982. PORK PIT: Tel 876-952-1046. Cost: lunch $12. BEST TIMES: Nov–Apr for nice weather; late Jan for Jazz & Blues Festival; mid-Jul for Reggae Sumfest.

  A Beach’s Wild Reputation and Its Quieter Side

  NEGRIL

  Jamaica, Greater Antilles

  It’s always party time in hedonistic Negril, set on the northwestern tip of Jamaica and one of the country’s most affordable destinations. The developed but still lovely Seven Mile Beach (also known as Long Bay) is the source of all the action, with sprawling all-inclusive resorts and the occasional nudist section. Negril’s quieter side can be found in Country Country’s 20 sherbet-colored gingerbread cottages—wraparound porches and lovely gardens promise a mellow respite right in the middle of the action. True seclusion can be found a quick cab ride away at Rockhouse Hotel, a stylish but unpretentious retreat of thatch-roofed cottages atop a rocky waterfront promontory just outside town. Book a mas
sage or a mocha and rum body wrap in cliff-edge treatment cabanas or snorkel in the sheltered waters of Pristine Cove below. In the evening enjoy Negril’s legendary sunsets from the 60-foot cliff-top pool that seems suspended in air, then dine either at Pushcart, whose menu draws from Jamaica’s street food—seafood fritters, jerk sausage, and warm sweet potato pudding—or the Rockhouse Restaurant, which specializes in lighter and modern interpretations of Jamaican cuisine.

  For the island’s most renowned sunset scene, go to nearby Rick’s Café, inspired by the film Casablanca and the most famous bar on the island since it opened in 1974. Everyone watches divers do backflips off the cliffs 35 feet above the sea below, while waiting for the sun to sink beneath the horizon, when a lucky few will glimpse the elusive green flash.

  Negril’s pride and joy is its Seven Mile Beach, the country’s longest stretch of sand.

  WHERE: 50 miles/80 km west of Montego Bay. COUNTRY COUNTRY: Tel 876-957-4273; www.countrynegril.com. Cost: from $150 (off-peak), from $210 (peak). ROCKHOUSE HOTEL: Tel 876-957-4373; www.rockhousehotel.com. Cost: from $125 (off-peak), from $160 (peak); dinner at Pushcart $25, at Rockhouse $35. RICK’S CAFÉ: Tel 876-957-0380; www.rickscafejamaica.com. BEST TIME: Nov–Apr for pleasant weather.

  A Genteel Inn and a James Bond Legacy

  OCHO RIOS

  Jamaica, Greater Antilles

  Beyond the cruise ship attractions at Ocho Rios, Jamaica’s popular port of call, lies a quieter, hidden side worth seeking out. Some of Jamaica’s most intriguing inns can be found here, including the venerable Jamaica Inn, the most beloved of the island’s old guard and the classic that all others try to emulate. Its 47 suites are tastefully furnished with Jamaican antiques, and spacious balconies serve as open-air living rooms with sofa, writing table, rocking chair, and inspiring ocean views. There’s a smooth transition from the daytime’s relaxed schedule of water sports, spa treatments, and croquet to the evening’s retro, old-fashioned rhythm, when guests gather on the lamplit lower terrace for cocktails and dancing under the stars. The White Suite—favored accommodation of Winston Churchill—stands on a promontory overlooking the hotel’s impeccably groomed beach, considered one of the island’s prettiest.