There’s a place in the far north of Grenada, where mosquitoes don’t stand a flying chance. You can swing into the rugged shores of Saint Patrick Parish and listen to the sensational sound of conscious music. You can crack open a cold one and sweat it off on a beachfront gym or just meditate on matters in this mellow setting.

I know, it sounds too good to be true, but it’s real, hence the name De Real Bamboo Bar located on Mt. Rodney Beach in Sauteurs.

I spent a good bit of time with owner Lazarus Roderique a.k.a Laza after stumbling upon his bamboo clad beach bar that day. Laza, as he is known, is an unassuming but hospitable rasta. I drank a Carib while we held a profound meditation on the matter of realising our wealth as West Indians and encouraging the older generation to trust us with taking entrepreneurial risks that will break the cycle of poverty. I’ll never forget the wise things Laza shared with me.

“Believe in yourself, because it doesn’t matter what you start, you’re always going to get bad advice” – Laza

“Kiki, I opened this bar about two years ago, and it took me two years to build it. I’m not finished, but everything you see here has taken some time because I built it with my own hands. I had to learn how to work with Bamboo, now I have a better understanding of it, I’m going to do more.

Tourist from all over the world pass, and they love it. They love the natural look. It’s peaceful, quiet and scenic. It’s for my people too, my community. I even built up the gym on the beach; it’s for anybody. It has a nice vibe here.

You see, when I travelled to America, it opened my eyes to a lot of things. When I returned home I started working in my mum’s shop not too far from this location, but I used to ask myself, why is my mum renting when we have a piece of land on the beach. The first thing I did was speak to my Grandmother about the land, she gave me her blessing, and that was my start.

If I’m honest, this is always something I’ve wanted, but there is more to it. You see something like Petite Anse Hotel, as a little boy growing up going fishing on the rock, I used to look at my community and say to myself, Saint Patrick need something like this. I imagined it as a youth, and now as a man, I’m looking at it, too bad it’s not me but its there. So for me, this bar is just the beginning.

When I opened it, a lot of people told me that Mt Rodney was not a place to do business. But now they’re coming and they tell me they love how it turned out, but I won’t remind them that they didn’t believe, I just believed in myself.

Believe in yourself, because it doesn’t matter what you start, you’re always going to get bad advice. Somebody will always tell you, ooh they don’t think it’s a good idea to do this or that. They will always find some negative thing to discourage you. So you have to know what you want, and you have to be strong!

I have to be strong for my three children. Becoming a father pushed me to do more for them. Being the best Dad I could be to them is my goal.

What I would say to you or anyone who has a business goal is, save your money now!”

Bless, Laza. 

Love, Kiki.