The search for workable clay - part 2

It's been a busy few days here, hence the lack of updates (also, with so many people all trying to use the same internet connection, wifi has been a bit patchy and temperamental). Yesterday, Loe, Ilone, Angus and I travelled around the west side of the island in search of clay deposits. We drove from our base in La Poterie up to Sauteurs, then down the west coast to St Georges, we stopped at various points en route to look for and/or collect samples of clay. However, on this side of the island we were not very successful. Despite looking in places that used to have potteries in Colonial times, or sites close to rivers etc, we found very few possible clay sources. After having followed a (disappointing) local lead which sent us to Black Bay, further enquiries there suggested we head back towards Clozier where the earth was described as being like my complexion...i.e. faintly boiled lobster colour! After lunch in St Georges, we headed back towards La Poterie via the Grand Etang road. Up in the mountains, we found some quite nice red clays, so despite a disappointing start to the day, all was not lost. The images below include some scenic shots along the way, as well as Loe and Angus sampling. Yes, Angus (who has a reputation for not getting his hands dirty), got down and sampled clay!

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One of the archaeological sites we visited en route was the location of some coastal petroglyphs (rock carvings). The interesting thing about this site is that the conservation/preservation initiative to protect this site has actually had a more damaging effect. The rocks are located on the beach, and so, to protect them from further sea erosion, a concrete barrier had been installed to keep the water out. However, this has had the opposite effect, when the tide is very high and/or heavy rains occur, the barrier traps water in, rather than keeping it out. Below you can see the beach where the petroglyphs are (albeit they are the opposite end to this pic), and the current state of the petroglyphs. You can see where the high tide mark is on the rock face itself and even when it isn't high tide, some of the petroglyphs remain partially underwater due to the barrier keeping water in.

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Due to the masses of driving, I am getting to see the whole island, the landscape is so beautiful and varied. Here is nutmeg and mace, the stuff is growing everywhere (hence Grenada is called the spice island). The red outer part is the mace and the brown inner part is the nutmeg. It may sound corny, but I think it is great to see this sort of thing in its natural state (prior to coming to Grenada I'd only ever seen this stuff in powdered form). I can honestly say that I'm feeling a bit sad that we're heading into the final week of the project. I'm having such an amazing time here. But luckily, the next clay collection outing will let us complete the southern part of the island, so I will be able to say that I drove around the entire island during my time here.