“They say: stand still in the soil too long in Grenada and even you’ll start to grow.”

The southern Caribbean isle of Grenada, with its volcanic earth and generous lashings of both “liquid” and regular sunshine, is ludicrously lush. Every backyard, mountainside, valley and verge seems rife with nutmeg, cocoa and soursop, banana palms, guava, ginger lilies and dreadlock crotons; the island is like one big Christmas tree, baubled with scarlet immortelles and strung with bougainvillea.

The majority of people visit lovely, laid-back Grenada for rest and relaxation – and why not? However, you can also spend time away from the beach to explore the Spice Island’s wild forests, hill-perched villages, headlands and history via a series of short hikes. The idea being that you can learn more about a place at walking pace. And the strolls you’d be tackling aren’t too long, so there is still time for more traditional Caribbean beach-lounging each afternoon.

The island was first discovered by the Spanish in 1523, but it was the French and British who fought over ownership throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, with the latter eventually victorious, and in charge until Grenada gained independence in 1974.

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