Where do they take “The Course?”
With only a few days until our Grenadian visas expired, getting them renewed was pretty high on our to-do list. Sorting this out required a trip into St. George’s which, now that we are very familiar with the workings of the extremely-efficient local bus system, is pretty painless.
When we first checked in to the country back in June, we did so in Carriacou. At that time, the customs and immigration officer granted us a 3 month stay on our visas (fairly typical although not everyone gets the same) but only 1 month on our cruising permit. He told us that we shouldn’t worry about that discrepancy because when it was time to clear out, they would simply bill us for the additional months that we had over stayed. This fact led to a bit of confusion on our part because we thought that this worked for our visas too. Apparently not, as our friends fortunately informed us. Not renewing the visas on time would have meant that we were in the country illegally, leading to all sorts of unnecessary drama. Anyway, we realized the mistake before it became an issue, hence the trip to town yesterday.
Renewing the visas at the immigration office in St. George’s was simple enough although it does once again pose the question “where do all the customs and immigration officers go to take ‘The Course?'” Any traveller out there knows the course I am referring to. The one that teaches them that they must never smile or act friendly in any way. I just don’t get it. Everyone in Grenada is so friendly. Why not these people? There really is no need to be stone-faced. They hold all the power… we get that. We were polite nevertheless and came away having traded $150 EC for two 3-month visa extensions. We’ll still need to cough up some extra dough when we leave the country for the additional months on our cruising permit. I forget what that will end up costing us but in our mind, it’ll be more than worth it. We love Grenada!
A bus stop, although in truth, the buses will pick you up anywhere.
They’ll even come off the regular route to get you!
Stop 1: The Immigration Office. Stop 2 was the treasury, downstairs.
Stop 3 was back at the Immigration Office, again.
All paid and legal. Good thing too… we don’t want to leave Grenada just yet.
From the Government Buildings we took a nice walk around the Caranage, looking for a lunch spot.
We had heard of the famous B’s Hot Spot, reported to have the best Roti on the island.
Lambi and Shrimp Roti. We concur… they were pretty awesome!
Best on the island? Some more samples may be required.
STOP! Before you leave this page, please take a moment and click this link, and the one that follows to help our friend Carlton Grooms win the contest to be Tommy Bahama’s new Rumologist. Even if you did it yesterday, you can vote once each day. There’s only a few more days remaining and he needs our help. Be cool and click!
Looks good, as usual. What exactly is Roti?
Yes, we found that complying with visa, tax and other rules is always essential, which is fair enough I think, its their country so it is their rules and we are visitors.
You might care to remember that a large number of your happy blog-followers are and won’t be
Facebook people. The profile of many cruising people is not the same as Facebook! Just a thought for you.
Mike
Roti:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roti
Look to the end of that page to see what we are referring to.
Re: Facebook… I think you would be surprised. Facebook is VERY popular amongst cruisers who almost always have a way to connect to the internet these days.
I waffle between absolutely loving your blog because it gives me a daily dose of paradise, or wanting to stay away because it makes me so discontented with my life here in Canada when I just long to be in the Caribbean.
I, however, have no problems loving that YOU get to have that life and are enjoying it to the full. I love the photo of Rebecca with the roti and reminds me of going to Roti Palace in Road Town for lunch one day.
Happy memories!
Oh and, I had Ting with mine as well! 🙂
Ting rocks!
Never heard of roti, but it looks good … and a generous portion! It seems that most positions of power are held by people who feel the need to have power … and therefore have a large ego and a need to prove something. Not all of em, but most! Oh well … worth it to stay in paradise a little longer!
Rebecca can only ever eat half of the Roti that they serve, which means leftovers for me. 🙂
Glad you got the extra time cause I’m lovin following you guys thru your Grenadien life!
Don’t worry… we would have found some other country to terrorize.
We tried voting again for Carlton Grooms & you are only aloud one vote , so sorry can not do one every day.
You can, but it is once every 24 hours.
Read Chtis Doyle http://www.caribbeancompass.com/online/june11compass_online.pdf Page 10 on….
Epaulette Disease, Epauletsy — A psychological afliction that occasionally surfaces in those who don garments with epaulettes.
Took us a couple of hours to clear into Carriacou a couple of years ago inbound from St V&G.
hehe… funny!
Good roti shops in Toronto….Dundas near Bay…The Coconut Grove.
If we ever get back there… 🙂