This is a 'best kept secret': because of its location. Most Grenadians will never have heard of it, and even some taxi drivers confuse it with the much better known (and entirely different) Mount Rose.
You approach it either from the main road linking St. George's with Grenville: turn left just the Grenville side of Birchgrove, along the Clozier road, heading for Gouyave; or else you start out from Gouyave.
Either way, it is an adventurous ride into the thick of darkest central Grenada. It is not far out of Gouyave, but it is thoroughly well concealed. Turn out of Gouyave, along St. Peter's Street, then, either by the minor road straight ahead, or by following the concrete road (turn left, over the bridge, through the (town centre'), you head out along a road that becomes increasingly rural and isolated, and you feel that is is going to turn into yet another cul-de-sac. Be warned: this road badly needs ironing.
Then, at the wooden house on the right, immediately after the 'Waterloo' sign, turn right. Head up a tiny road, which nutmeg trees and cocoa and banana are threatening to take over altogether.
After about one and a half kilometres, you suddenly arrive somewhere. It is heralded by a lot of shrubs and flowers on the right, and an almost 360º bend to the right. And a rather dinky little blue building with a red roof. You have reached Rose Mount.
Rose Mount is almost whatever you want it to be. If you want a drink and a banana, then it's the right place. Or do you need a full, multi-course meal, with at least six dishes for the main course, nearly all local no chemical fertilizers ? Still the right place. Do you want somewhere to sit and admire the silence and the green, green hills: to wander among bougainvillea, heleconia, bird of paradise flowers, orchids, ? To see a range of tropical fruit trees? To look at an old boucan building where spices used to be dried? To spend the night in simple but comfortable accommodation, miles from anywhere?Rose Mount is still the right place.
Your hostess, Jane Duncan, needs a little notice of your arrival: it would be unfair to descend on her unannounced.So call her on 444 8069 to say you're on your way. (Not on a Saturday, though: unless you're an established resident; that's the day off.) She can conjure up almost anything, from a grapefruit to a banquet for fifty.
There is also a little gift shop there, and an opportunity to buy spices.
Accommodation-wise, it is a grand place to stay if you want to be near Gouyave, or simply to retreat and be among nature. (There is an infinity of little tracks, paths, and ex-roads to explore, none of them on maps, all of them revealing a lot about Grenadian rural communities and agriculture.) Rose Mount has three double rooms, at a cost of US$45.- per night. Or you can stay all inclusive, at a cost per couple of $150. -
If you are not intrepid enough to look for Rose Mount on your own, in a jeep or (with some determination) on a bike, then there are various tours that use it as a watering hole, it being the natural place for a break in the middle of the Island. The Adventure Jeep tour stops there for lunch.
I have to recommend that you take some insect repellent!
(written & photos by Ian Blaikie - Sunsation Tours
http://grenadasunsation.com)
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