Carriacou and the West Indies

[hibiscus[hibiscusThis is what I had expected Carriacou to look like:
[TwoPalm Trees
Actually, Palm Trees were a very valued commodity in that part of the world: Aside from providing shade from the Fiery Heat of the sun.

They also were a food source (coconuts) and some of their "fibers" could be used for clothing and even shelter!


However, this is what Carriacou actually looked like:[Camp Carriacou[SchoolWe lived in the cabins. They had no glass for windows, there were a lot of storms, and the wooden shutters did not quite keep water out.There were a lot of scorpions, and spiders, etc. The terrain was very arid, and there were many cacti.All of these features were the opposite from Carriacou's neighbor, Grenada which was lush and GREEN . Grenada was a truly TROPICAL "Paradise".

Carriacou had very remarkable beaches. Aside from being very quiet in that there were no (or almost no) tourists, the color of the sand ranged from shades of BLACK to shades of GRAY EVEN PINK or Lavender and pure WHITE ! This incredible range of colored sand was due to volcanic activity in the very distant past.

There was a chronic water shortage on Carriacou.A primary "Industry" of Carriacou (aside from the "school" that I attended and the occasional tourist) was in smuggling and exporting a VERY STRONG rum, called "Jack Iron Rum" (Jack for short). This particular rum was so potent that one had to merely open the cap, smell it in order to eradicate any upper respiratory infection!!!There was a very small airport on Carriacou;the runway of which was shared with a herd of goats, and a herd of cows. (These animals had to be temporarily removed when an airplane actually landed in order to avoid a collision [or they would become our dinner]).This only occured once every two days when on schedule.The airplanes only transported people and not the mail. Instead, the mail was transported by a mailboat, which travelled to and from Grenada.Here is a picture of the mailboat:

[Mailboat
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