Barre de l'Isle - into the Rain Forest

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I slept through to the alarm this morning. When I awoke, the sun had been up for some time and was already hot. Sneaking out from under the covers, I showered and went for breakfast. Fresh pineapple was on the menu today as was watermelon. This was followed by coffee, and a mushroom and onion omelette. Bread and banana provided the finale.

Back in my room, I emptied the fridge of my frozen water and ensured it was hidden from the sun in my backpack. After liberal coverings of sun cream, I donned my hat and headed down to meet my driver.

There are not that many roads in St. Lucia (it’s only 27x14 miles) and again, we headed through Castries, by the hospital in Cul de Sac and up into the central hills. Today, this was as far as we would go, and today’s walk would take me along the ridge towards the east coast, before dropping down through meadows and back to my transport (VIEW ROUTE).

Stopping by the side of the road, I walked up a track into the ranger’s hut where I was met by Mathas, another Rasta Man. Sporting jeans and a tee-shirt bearing an image of Abraham Lincoln, his long dreadlocks were covered by a plain, beige hat.

After closing his windows, locking his door and placing a metal security gate across the front door, we walked through a forest nursery where the new trees were to address the damage wreaked by the recent hurricane, and down onto the trail.

By the side of the trail, Mathas showed me where he was preparing to make charcoal. In his maintenance of the forest, much of the wood could be used for turning into charcoal. This was stacked and covered with leaves and branches. The resulting large mound would eventually be covered with earth and charcoal eventually retrieved after three-days of smoking. None would be sold as it was too labour intensive to produce.

Continuing through the moist forest, we descended a slippery slope and across an old wooden bridge before having to climb the far side. There, Mathas found some frankincense (as one does) and managed to create an incense holder from a dried leaf. The smell was rather apt for a Sunday morning.

We climbed up through the trees, passed mature strangler figs whose host tree had long since disappeared, and out onto the ridge. A cool wind blew in from the Atlantic and the temperature was now a bearable 26°C, compared to the 34°C at the start of the trail.

Incidentally, this trail was used as a means to get from the eastern part of the island to the west. In particular, escaped slaves would use the trail to reach the relative safety of Soufrière.

Great buttresses barred the route, occasionally being only a thin ridge with long drops on each side. Birds sang and crickets clicked away, imitating mobile phone alerts. Bromeliads appeared oblivious to their precarious vantage point on tree trunks and heliconia shone bright red in their wet green environs.

Finally, after one final climb, we began the descent towards Dernière Rivière. On coming out of the rain forest and into the meadow, the difference in temperature was noticeable. A sudden increase in 8°C is not easy to miss. The ground was damp underfoot and, a cattle egret was keeping its feet dry by cadging a lift from a passing cow.

Suddenly, we were in a banana plantation. Blue bags hung all around, shielding their precious contents from the birds. The farmer came out of his hut and showed us his crop. Nutmeg hung above pineapples, adjacent to bananas, coconut and cocoa. Oranges grew a short distance away, next to mango and cashew, the yellow, juicy fruit of which is sweet and divine.

Coconuts were brought down from the palms and opened to reveal the cool water and soft pulp. Nutmegs were picked and opened, the red mace covering the nutmeg in a symbiotic embrace. Cocoa pods were split to reveal the purple beans inside. Spare coconut water was siphoned into empty plastic bottles to be taken back to the hotel for cooling in the fridge.

And with that, we headed off. Avocado grew tall, towering over the cinnamon growing beneath, providing shade in the final moments of the walk. There, at the end of the track, my driver was waiting.

After tea, I went back to the Jazz Lounge and enjoyed a very pleasant evening in the bar. Later, I got to choose the music - Keith Jarrett - and tomorrow, the owner is not working and promised to empty a few crate of Kubuli with me!

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Photos

Nutmeg fresh from the tree
The yellow outer casing is thrown away, leaving the red mace and the brown nut (the nutmeg)

Comments

[Stephanie and Andras]

Loved all your botanical photos - particularly of the nutmeg and cacao. Looks like a great trek - thanks for sharing!