Grenada

Grenada, the Spice Isle, is the southernmost of the Windward Islands: a volcanic main island with the smaller islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique to its north. Rainforest covers the central ridge around Mount St Catherine, waterfalls such as Annandale drop through the trees, and Grand Etang, a lake in an old crater, lies high in the hills. Off Molinière Point, sculptures sunk in 2006 are slowly turning into reef.

French colonists from Martinique settled the island in 1650, and at Sauteurs Kalinago families are said to have leapt from a cliff in 1651 rather than surrender. Britain took Grenada in 1763, and Julien Fédon’s rebellion of 1795–96 held most of it for over a year. Nutmeg arrived from the East Indies in 1843. Grenada became independent in February 1974. A revolutionary government that took power in 1979 collapsed in October 1983 amid a violent split, and United States and Caribbean troops then landed.

Nutmeg is dried, cracked and graded at stations such as Gouyave, its scarlet lace of mace sold apart. Oil down, breadfruit, salted meat, callaloo and dumplings stewed in coconut milk until the pot is dry, is Grenada’s national dish. At Spicemas in August, jab jab revellers smear themselves with black oil, and on Carriacou the Big Drum dance honours ancestral African nations. Kirani James won the country’s first Olympic medal in 2012. Tourism and St George’s University, a medical school, outearn the spice trade.