Los Cahorros Monachil

Cahorros Monachil, nature in its raw state

What is it?

Monachil is a small village a few minutes from the centre of Grenada. The scenery there is much more natural than in the centre of town. The paths are even more empty and the mountains even higher.

What is there to do there?

Generally people go there to walk in nature. The more adventurous among us are enticed there by the dozens of possible hiking trails, to go rock climbing or to go parachuting.

Others enjoy the bars and restaurants which are much calmer and more relaxing than those in the centre of Grenada. Everything is much cheaper in Monachil than in Grenada (yes, it's possible!).

How do you get there?

From the centre (just next to Rio), you have to go to the "Paseo De Los Basilios" bus stop and take the 183 bus to the end of the line. The return trip costs more or less 3 euros. The bus runs every 15 minutes (another bus runs on the hour, but stops at another place in the village, further away from the starting point for the hikes).

My first hike in Monachil

I took advantage of the fact that a host organisation for Erasmus students had organised a guided excursion to Cahorros Monachil. That was how I learnt how to get there, and saw all the possibities that this natural wonder offered.

When we arrived at the start of the hiking trails, there was a helicopter. At first, we thought we thought there had been a serious accident, but it soon became clear that it was an exercise because the helicopter did at least 5 round trips. There is a route that requires climbing up the rocks in Monachil, so now we can be sure that if there is a problem, we will be rescued (reassuring, right?).

We crossed the bridges, walked (but not enough for my liking), and followed a path which sometimes required twisting in all directions or continuing on all fours to get to the next level.

The path that we took followed a rather lovely stream.

A picnic was organised in the vast natural environment (the little spots in the middle of the photo are people).

The beauty of the place was such that I wanted to stay there for hours on end. There is no doubt that I will return and explore as many trails as possible.

It even seems that people make the most of the waterfalls to go swimming there in the summer, another reason to go back there!

And there are so many new things to try......

I am going to go back there to follow new trails, each surely more beautiful than the last.