S T L UCI A LOCAL DELICACIES GRENADA

With its reefs, rainforest and high-end resorts, the tropical island’s penchant for American-style country crooners often comes as a surprise to travellers. Pack your cowboy boots for nights of line dancing and Iive music in local bars From cocoa plantat

Calypso, reggae and steel pan drums might be hallmarks of Caribbean music, but that’s not the story on St Lucia. This super-scenic isle has an unexpected passion for Americanstyle country music that developed in the 1940s when there were two US military bases here. The bittersweet lyrics about broken hearts, lonely nights, small-town bars and pick-up trucks struck a chord in this vivid land of hummingbirds, mangoes and soaring volcanic peaks, and it’s stuck with the generations. Pop into a supermarket and you’ll likely hear Dolly Parton or Kenny Rogers crooning away over the speakers. There are country music shows on the radio, flyers advertising ‘back in time’ dances and bars where your jerk chicken and Piton beer may well come with a side of Loretta Lynn.

If you fancy some jiving, Twist 2 For 1 is a rustic bar in Grande Riviere that plays traditional country music every Sunday. Country singers and line dancing are also part of the nightly entertainment programme at many popular resorts, including Windjammer Landing, Anse Chastanet and Bay Gardens Beach Resort & Spa. Local stars to look out for are Stetson-crowned karaoke singer Shervon Sealy and the LM Stone Family

Band. “My stepfather went to cut sugar cane in Florida and brought the music home,” explains LM, a performer who once won a contest in Nashville where he was the only Black singer out of 50 entrants. His three sons and daughter are part of the act, too, mellifluously reminding us how, in the words of country legend Glen Campbell, rhinestone cowboys ‘really don’t mind the rain, and the smile can hide all the pain’.

HOW TO DO IT: Tropical Sky offers a sevennight trip from £1,049 per person (based on two sharing), including flights, transfers and accommodation at Windjammer Landing, B&B. tropicalsky.co.uk

MORE INFO: facebook.com/twist2for1slu windjammer-landing.com ansechastanet.com baygardensresorts.com stlucia.org

Grenada, along with its sister islands Carriacou and Petite Martinique, was recently declared the world’s first

‘Culinary Capital’ by the World Food

Travel Association — and this green and mountainous nation certainly has plenty to offer food enthusiasts. Must-visit spots include the deliciously scented nutmeg processing station in Gouyave and the

River Antoine Estate distillery, which has been producing fiery rums since 1785.

The ‘Spice Isle’ has also made a name for itself with its handful of tree-to-bar artisan chocolate-makers — good going for a place with only 112,000 inhabitants. The annual Grenada Chocolate Fest, usually held in May, sees themed events hosted across the island.

A good starting point for a self-guided trail is the House of Chocolate in the capital, St George’s. While you’re in town, go for lunch at Sails Restaurant & Bar, on the waterfront, to try local treats such as carambola juice, fried plantain and coconut ice cream.

For a deeper understanding of how cocoa beans are transformed into one of life’s essentials, take a drive inland to Belmont Estate in Saint Patrick. “One cocoa pod equals one bar of chocolate,” a guide explains, as the labour-intensive stages of cultivation, harvest, fermentation and drying are demonstrated.

In the neighbouring parish of Saint Mark, the Diamond Chocolate Factory offers a free tour of the former distillery in which its Jouvay brand is created. Nearby Crayfish Bay Organics, meanwhile, is a small enterprise run by Kim and Lylette Russell, who make a passionate case that chocolate should not only taste good but should be ethically produced in a way that benefits the community. For those seeking a deeper dive into the subject, the estate has cottages for rent, and guests are welcome to join in with the picking, turning and tramping of the cocoa.

HOW TO DO IT: Just Grenada offers a sevennight trip from £1,260 per person (based on two sharing), including flights, transfers and B&B accommodation at True Blue Bay Boutique Resort. justgrenada.co.uk

MORE INFO: grenadachocfest.com houseofchocolategnd.com facebook.com/sailsgrenada belmontestate.net jouvaychocolate.com crayfishbayorganicchocolate.com puregrenada.com