Fun and rum on the glorious Caribbean isle of Grenada

WHEN your driver gets out a harmonica and starts playing, it adds extra flavour to your Spice Island tour.

Fortunately, guide Edwin Frank is a dab hand at serenading his passengers while navigating the twisty roads of glorious Grenada.

Edwin has lived on the Caribbean island for almost 60 years and there is nothing he doesn’t know about it.

From the constant hooting as he drives around, it seems he knows pretty much everyone too.

We both got a wave from F1 champ Lewis Hamilton’s grandfather Davidson as he sat on his balcony in the parish of Grand Roy.

And Edwin screeched to a halt on spotting gorgeous Caribbean’s Next Top Model winner Kittisha Doyle from nearby St Patrick’s. We had a chat with the beauty queen, who is waiting for a visa before leaving to make her fortune as a model in the fast lane, away from an easy-going life on the island of nutmeg, chocolate and rum.

The country has seen invasions, revolutions and hurricanes but always bounces back to remain the perfect all-year-round holiday spot.

It has sugar-white sands, crystal clear waters, an average temperature of 27C and, as Edwin proudly says, “the friendliest people in the Caribbean”.

He also pays tribute to Sandals for helping boost tourism. It took over LaSource hotel near the quaint capital of St George’s and after a huge makeover, re-opened it two years ago as a luxury resort and spa.

Edwin says: “Once that hotel had the Sandals stamp, the demand to come here increased and airlines added extra flights from the UK and America. Grenada relies on tourism.”

It’s getting even better. The truly fabulous adults-only Sandals LaSource has just opened another 24 rooms, taking the number to 249.

Yet I bet no one but the staff will notice because I’ve never been in a resort with so much “personal space”.

It doesn’t matter where you are — on the beach, in one of the three pools or ten restaurants, in the fitness centre or spa — you never feel crowded.

I chose LaSource as a 25th wedding anniversary treat for my husband, complete with butler service.

Rum lured us off sunbeds Don, Nicholson and Brent were at our beck and call for the week.

If you want to spoil yourselves, it’s the way to do it.

Towels on your chosen sunbeds, ice box stacked with your favourite drinks, cocktails and nibbles on the beach, breakfast or dinner in your room.

The butlers, like all the staff, are superbly welcoming and good at their jobs, which is probably why people keep going back.

All the rooms, from a standard to the super-luxurious Penthouse and Millionaire’s suites with a pool and Jacuzzi on the balcony, are beautiful.

Sandals is all-inclusive and there is premium-brand alcohol and excellent food from the bars and restaurants — which include French, Italian and Japanese, plus the finest steaks in Butch’s Chophouse.

The only things you pay for are treatments in the tranquil Red Lane Spa or extras, such as a private candle-lit dinner on the beach.

Even water sports and scuba diving are part of the package.

But if, like me, you prefer to keep your head above water, then I’d highly recommend the sunset cruise offered by adventure company Island Routes.

With a rum punch in hand, we watched a spectacular sunset as our boat sailed along the coastline. It is so romantic, one couple actually got engaged on our trip! It was hard to tear ourselves away from our sunbeds but the mountainous island, just 12 miles wide by 21 miles long, deserves to be explored.

The words rum and chocolate definitely helped.

But first, we visited the Nutmeg Processing Station in Gouyave, famous for its weekly Fish Friday festival on the town’s streets.

Workers sat around a huge funnel, which dropped out nuts for sorting.

With 30 per cent unemployment, Grenada’s factories try to employ as many locals as possible, so workers come before modern machinery.

We enjoyed a traditional lunch including green banana soup at the 17th-century Belmont Estate, supplier of cocoa beans to the Grenada Chocolate Company for making dark organic chocolate.

Then after walking barefoot through the beans, a process to aid drying, it was time for a tipple — a very strong one. The River Antoine Rum Distillery, makes a 75 per cent alcohol rum.

I watched as the brave knocked back a short, quickly followed by a cup of water.

But you won’t find this at home. Rivers Rum is not exported as it can only produce enough bottles to keep up with local demand.

Just in case you think we spent a week eating and drinking a little too much, we did.

But we also visited one of Grenada’s most historic forts, Fort Frederick, for a fabulous panoramic view of St George’s.

We walked through the lush palms to Concord Waterfall and fed the fish in the lake at Grand Etang National Park.

Then it was back to our haven for more spicy entertainment.

Not from Edwin this time but a bevy of beautiful dancing girls.

GO: GRENADA

GETTING THERE / STAYING THERE: Seven nights all-inclusive at Sandals LaSource Grenada Resort including Virgin Atlantic flights from Gatwick on September 8 and transfers is from £1,949 per person. See . For an easier getaway, a week’s Meet & Greet parking at Gatwick is from £79. See . B&B at Hilton London Gatwick is from £89. See .

TOUR: The Spicy Full Day Island Tour is from £80. See .

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