The first one
Sabbatical update…
After 8 weeks of working out what travelling is and how to “do” a sabbatical, I’ve finally sat down to write a bit about my travels.
I’m writing this for a few reasons… firstly not everyone is on instagram where updating one’s story is an easy and convenient way to show sign of life and some cool things I’ve managed to take a pic of. I’m also doing this to remember some of the experiences that I won’t have caught on my phone. I feel like it’s also a way to keep my brain in gear and, as I’m no artist (life drawing in Grenada to prove that), it’s a creative outlet I feel semi-comfortable with.
I stole the idea of this format and newsletter provider from a former cricket teammate (thanks George) who is undoubtedly a much better writer than me so I’m hoping for some style to rub off on me (see Up from Ushuaia).
September - Flight to Maurice Bishop Airport, Grenada, West Indies
The original plan was to meet Sophie at Onca, the animal sanctuary in Bolivian Amazon, near the small town of Rurrenabaque, adjacent to the rainforest. Three flights over 56 hours would be required to reach Rurrenabaque, then a 15 minute boat ride, and a 5k hike to the camp. No toilets or running water was a concern. Slumber amigos of whip-tail scorpions was worse. So it was a terrible, terrible shame when Sophie told me of the change of plan to head to the Caribbean, to volunteer at the GSPCA - Grenada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Don’t be confused with the RSPCA in the UK who put their “RSPCA Assured” badge on meat of 6 month old pigs, that have been gassed to death (see investigation here). The GSPCA are instead doing wonderful things for the animals on the Spice Isle of Grenada.
Friends asked of the change of plan:
Is that in Spain? no, different spelling
Is that a former British Colony? Yes, Grenada was fought over by the British and French (Grenada wikipedia page is a cracker for colonial history and a CIA intervention).
Is the weather nice? It’s always hot and always humid. It doesn’t get cool at a night. I‘ll leave judgement on whether that’s nice to you. I did actually quite like it.
What are you going to do whilst Sophie is being a vet? I wasn’t sure - turned out that I would be renovating three (cockroach infested) rooms to create a Parvo virus isolation ward, a Parvo run for the dogs in isolation to stretch their legs without risk of infecting others, and a new gated room for the puppies to sleep.
Will it be hard to be a vegan? Turns out not, but I have South America to come so there could be challenges ahead, let’s see. Grenada produces some special fruits and vegetables and imports all the familiar stuff there isn’t much you can’t get in the supermarkets.
Can you watch any cricket whilst you’re out there? Sadly not, Grenada hasn’t hosted a Windies match since beating England by 10 wickets in March 2022 and it is no longer recognised as an international test match venue due to its lack of flood lights. In that match, Joe Root was captain and therefore got a 1st innings duck. Englands 1st innings top scorer was Saqid Mahmood at #11. A death knell sign for the stadium if I ever saw one.
Whilst there was no cricket, it wasn’t long before Mimi (soon to be flying back to the UK ahead of us) was watching me on a Grenadian golf course.
Follow along for more updates and feel free to forward on. Up next, I’ll be writing out the construction and renovation project at GSPCA.