So first off, what is a Hash? Well, I'm still not entirely certain where the name comes or what it means, but Hash House Harriers is an international organization, and Grenada has a chapter. Basically (from what I can tell), it is a group of people that get together every Saturday and set a hiking trail with false trails and routes that take you through beautiful scenery around the island. At the end, there is a get together with tasty homemade food. Here is the link to Grenada Hash House Harriers.
This week's hash took place in the parish of St. Mark (which is on the northwestern side of the island) at a cocoa plantation. How cool is that?! The bus ride up there took about an hour and fifteen minutes. It was a very long and bumpy ride (Grenadian roads aren't known for being in the greatest of shape)-not so good for those easily made carsick! We left mid-afternoon and arrived with some time to explore the area and take tons of pictures before it all began. I went with my vet school roomie and some classmates.
The hash began with a little "opening ceremonies" type deal. Introductions were made, a couple of unfortunate souls wearing brand new shoes were forced to drink beer out of their shoes and we did a few stretching exercises. The terminology was also explained to the "virgins" (aka people who have never done a hash before). Yes, I kid you not, people with brand new clean shoes have to drink beer out of them-it's a tradition.
Next we set off on the trail! It started off a little sloped and muddy, but this turned out to be nothing compared to what we later faced. We basically climbed a mountain. Literally. And because Grenada's dry season has been rather wet and the cocoa plantation was located in the rainforest, it was plenty muddy. Mud-up-to-your-ankles muddy; I'm-trying-to-steal-your-shoe muddy. Not that we minded too much, it actually felt pretty good squishing around in my shoes since it was hot and very humid. The main issue with the mud was having to try extremely hard not to fall flat on your face while slipping up and down the steep inclines! Thankfully none of the surrounding brush was thorny (which is actually quite remarkable-I swear every plant here has thorns!) so you could grab out without worrying if you started to slip. Miraculously none of us managed to fall (this is quite a feat for me, I am SUPER clumsy!) though we certainly came close a few times! Much to our extreme frustration, we managed to take both of the wrong paths that ended in "x"s. The good news is these trails don't extend on beyond about 300 feet or so, but when that distance has brought you down an extremely slick and muddy hill, you're not so appreciative of the "short" distance because you still have to turn around and face the enemy again!
The hike lasted about 2.5 hours for my group. It was absolutely gorgeous and tons of fun! I saw many different local plants including nutmeg, plums/cherries, lemons, bananas, cocoa pods, sour sop, mangos, and a few I can't remember. The views were spectacular and inspiring, and we got to watch the sun set over the ocean. Doesn't get much better than that!
Afterwards, we enjoyed tasty local food and they held the virgin ceremony. I was busy trying to wash some of the mud off my shoes while this was going on (and I had been pre-warned about what happens at the ceremony-I'm not spoiling the surprise for future hashers though!) so I didn't actively participate. I had the beef and dumplings in spicy tomato sauce for dinner-it was delicious! I can't wait to have time to do another one! Hopefully the next one will include some beachy views now that I have trekked through the jungle (unless it involves getting to see critters and mona monkeys!!). Pictures to come tomorrow when I have some time to let my poor elderly computer trudge through uploading a gazillion precious moments :).
Teaser pics:
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