Nicknamed the ‘Titanic of the Caribbean’, the Bianca C was an elegant 600ft Italian cruise liner which now lies peacefully on the sea bed just off the south-west coast of Grenada. This year we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of her descent onto the ocean floor.

After an engine room explosion before the anchor was raised to leave Grenada’s harbour, a fire soon engulfed the ship. The passengers and crew were brought to safety by the local yachtsmen who heard the distress calls and leapt into action. For a week the refugees of the Bianca C were guests of the people of Grenada having been offered beds in hotels, guest houses and even private homes until two ships arrived to take them home – a testament to Grenadian hospitality.

In appreciation, the Bianca C’s operators gave the people of Grenada a bronze replica of the ‘Christ of the Deep’ which stands proudly on the waterfront of the Carenage .  The original statue was said to have been sunk in the Bay of Naples as a symbol of God’s care for all who sail the high seas. A pretty big honour huh?

The Bianca C is a legend in her own right. The largest wreck in the Caribbean has divers flocking to the island to visit her. Once down to the eerie depth of 50 metres  and confronted with the huge frame of the ‘Titanic of the Caribbean’, you immediately are eased by the sight of the coral garden which has bloomed all around the wreck. Thousands of species of creatures weave in and out of the wreck like a giant underwater playground.

Join our friendly onsite dive specialists ScubaTech, who are the best in the business (if we do say so ourselves!). They’ll whisk you down to the wonderful underwater world, showing you why Grenada is the ‘Wreck Diving Capital of the Caribbean’.

We you’re on a dive with ScubaTech you feel very cared for and looked after, which allows you to relax and enjoy your surroundings. ScubaTech’s good will has been extended by teaming up with us to offer you a special deal to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Bianca C – email them to find out more on info@scubatech-grenada.com or visit www.scubatech-grenada.com

From the instant you set eyes on Castaway – A Grenadian Idyll, you can help but think “WOW”. Even with all the hustle and bustle of the flower show going on around, the exhibit has an amazing ability to transport you to a tranquil beach in the tropics.

Then the steel pans start up and the party began. Passersby, media and celebrities immediately flocked over to the exhibit, drawn in by the bright colours, music and the rum punch. Even other exhibitors abandoned their own stands and made a beeline over to us – Grenada stood out like a shining beacon and we all new we were headed for gold.

Awards are something Suzanne Gaywood is used to. As we speak she is down at Buckingham Palace rubbing elbows with the Royals to collect her well deserved MBE.  This is her 9th Chelsea Award, and I imagine they’ll be many more to come.

For more photos of the flower show, have a look at the album on our facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/calabashhotel

Grenada’s devastating beauty resonates from its golden lined shores to its mountainous interior, which seems to reach up to the heavens and is showered the most fantastic tropical flowers that will adorn the little beach shack at the centre of the exhibit.

Entitled Castaway, the exhibit is an inspirational piece of art with a very powerful message:

“We want to send a clear message about the importance of preserving the natural riches of islands like Grenada for future generations.  Action now to embrace sustainability can help to ensure Grenada survives as a paradise for the castaways of today and tomorrow, and RHS Chelsea provides an opportunity to raise environmental awareness.’’ – (Suzanne Gaywood, Exhibitor and Designer)

Suzanne was recently appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). A regular exhibitor at the Chelsea Flower Show, where she has mounted displays of plants from the Caribbean island for more than a decade, her honour is in recognition of her services to tourism in Grenada and to horticulture.

Team Grenada will be joined on Press day, Monday 23^rd May, by LCpl Johnson Beharry VC , recent semi -finalist of ITV’s ‘Dancing on Ice’ programme, & Celebrity chef Gary Rhodes OBE

While Grenada was featured for only 20 minutes or so, (nowhere near long enough in our opinion!) the footage did show some of the country, up in the hils, which a normal tourism documentary may not cover. In that segment Sir Trevor talked to Mott Green, founder and proprietor of The Grenada Chocolate Co, if you’re looking for more info on that then we’ve recently made a couple of blog posts about it, here and here. We’re very friendly with a UK stockist as well, Rococo Chocolates do online sales and delivery so they’re the place to buy Grenada Chocolate in the UK.

In the second part of the slot we saw some very important work going on up in the North of the island at Levera Beach with Ocean Spirits Leatherback Sea Turtle Research & Education Programme, Grenada. There are only around 125,000 Leatherback Turtles in existence, which makes them an incredibly endangered species. The programme researches, tags and protects the turtles to ensure their beach is secure. Volunteers from around the world take part in this programme and Sir Trevor was fortunate enough to see one of the turtles laying eggs on the beach that night.

You can volunteer for the Ocean Spirits Leatherback Turtle program, click here.

Grenada Chocolate... Yum.

A few days ago we wrote a little piece about The Grenada Chocolate Co, and we’ve seen a couple of others blogging about it since. Now of course we know it’s just a coincidence, a happy one, and today’s Google alert bought us news of a stockist in London UK who also do online sales. They’re called Rococo Chocolates and are based in The King’s Rd.

While we’re on the subject we may as well talk again about how good Grenada Chocolate is. It’s fantastic. Not just because it’s organic and fair trade, because it tastes gorgeous. It’s gaining wider and wider renown all the time, like Grenada itself the advice is to discover it before everyone else does.

Rococo Chocolates Blog
Sugar Apple Blog
The Grenada Chocolate Co

Late news. Another UK supplier found, Cocoa Loco in East Grinstead, again you can buy online from them, click for their website.

Chocolate from Grenada

Because the chocolate is made in small batches the machinery used to produce it is either hand built or re-conditioned vintage, some even dates back to the 1900′s and it’s all solar powered to boot.

We love what the Grenada Chocolate Co is doing and how they’re doing it, trade does not get fairer than this. We want our guests to know about it too, therefore they will find a bar of Grenada Chocolate waiting for them when they first set foot in their suite at Calabash.

The Grenada Chocolate Co has a website, click here to find out more.

It’s not all about the art, “Hurricanes have wiped out a lot of the coral in Grenada, and the places that weren’t damaged got all of the tourism, causing further degradation. The sculpture park eases the strain a bit,” says the 33-year-old Taylor.

Vicissitudes

The largest work, ‘Vicissitudes’ comprises a concrete ring of children from varying ethnic backgrounds holding hands “It’s a comment on how children are affected by their surroundings and absorb everything around them,” says Taylor. “As the coral grows, they change in complexity.”

Calabash guests can view these sculptures at first hand with our dive partners, Scubatech, who operate from the hotel beach.