Dubbed the ‘Spice lsland’ because of its impressive production of nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, ginger and cloves, Grenada is a heady mix of idyllic tropical rainforests, fecund valleys, terraced gardens and rivers that fall away to white-sand beaches, bays and craggy cliffs. St George’s the beautiful capital, gives Grenada a small-town character, with a dash of dynamic sophistication. Lts harbour, known as the Carnenage, is one of the prettiest in the Caribbean.

Temperatures are optimum year-round; Carnival, the second in August, is hard to miss

Swimming at glorious Grand Anse beach Taking the ferry over lazy Carriacou island Walking around tiny Petit Martinique island Driving through the Grand Etang National Park Splashing about on the undeveloped sands of Bathways Beach

Read native Grenadian Jean Buffong’s Under the Silk Cotton Tree: A Novel (Emerging Voices), a portrait of her Grenadian girlhood, religion and culture

Listen to local calypso, steel bands and reggae

Watch the documentary Grenada: The Future Coming Towards Us, which covers Grenada’s early history and looks at contemporary Grenadian society

Eat pigeon peas and rice (pigeon peas the brown, pea-like seeds of a tropical shrub) or curried lambi (conch)

Drink the nonalcoholic fruit juice mauby (a bittersweet drink made from the bark of the rhamnaceous tree), rum sprinkled with nutmeg, the locally brewed beer Carib

Small is beautiful-a popular saying in the Caribbean

‘The Spice lsland’; the invasion led by US president Ronald Reagan; Grand Anse beach; the Bianca C shipwreck; smuggling

Grenada produces one third of the world’s nutmeg; Scottish heritage on the island of Carriacou is evident in Highland-style cottages and Celtic methods of boat building

All-day spontaneous beach-cricket events are played on the water’s edge with a wet tennis ball, a bat three stick wickets in the sand. lt’s a Sunday afternoon tradition: families bring food and drinks in coolers down to the beach, and there’s an easy carnival atmosphere as the relax and swim and enjoy their day of rest. The orthodox high-paced crook-arm chuck, tacitly adjudged legal by all, is the preferred method of bowling.