I woke up at 6:30a with an upset stomach. Dealt with it by skipping breakfast and downing six or so Pepto tablets. Addison and I boarded the shuttle just before 8:35a. Turns out it was the wrong shuttle (room 142 vs. 143), which I realized immediately when we arrived at a garage with buggies for the buggy excursion. Luckily they were able to take us back to the Windjammer in time to board the correct shuttle. The driver was great and imparted all sorts of plant and St. Lucia facts like bamboo grows 3 to 4″ per day as well as many notes about the rain forest. He stopped by a tree, grabbed some leaves and crushed them, passing them among us. He asked us to smell them and identify it — cinnamon. Also saw a wreck shortly after leaving the Windjammer, guess the traffic doesn’t always work perfectly. I had a great conversation with a couple from Toronto who were traveling with their high school aged son.
Puffy white clouds and a deep blue sea almost make up for the lack of Pitons
View of the interior of St. Lucia
After about an hour’s drive through to the mountainous interior of the island via winding roads and small villages we arrived at our destination. We shoved the backpack in a locker, signed some release forms, and got strapped up with safety gear after using the bathroom one last time — so nervous. We broke into smaller groups of eight, the Canadians were in Addison and I’s group. We did a quick test run on a small zip line. It wasn’t bad at all and quite fun, though I didn’t listen too well as I didn’t land correctly.
The Zipliners, our guide on the left then the three Canadians, two UK on the right
View of the zipline test run
We rode on a large Gondola up the rain forest-covered mountain. We learned lots and lots about the plants of the rain forest and even a bit about the wildlife. I was surprised by the large number of Norfolk pines, turns out they were imported but thrive in the climate. There were also banyans and tall tree ferns. Grandmothers typically teach kids from four years old what plants to use for curing, preventing, etc. and how to use and grow them in their kitchen and back garden. As for wildlife we learned about a few snakes — boas, fer-de-lance (a viper, very poisonous), and the worm snake (smallest in the world) — native to the island. The island even has tarantulas, though we didn’t see any.
Norfolk pines, an introduced species thriving in St. Lucia
Large ferns seen from the gondola
Vines, vines everywhere!
Jurassic-like tree ferns
Some kind of orchid, I think?
After stepping out of the gondola we walked downhill for about twenty minutes or so to the start of the zip line course. It was a bit muddy, steamy, wet with slick roots lacing the path. We stopped by a massive chestnut tree for pictures and to catch our breath for a bit. The zip line course itself was nine platforms, eight zip lines, the longest of which was 566 feet long. It was really fun and thrilling and they really seemed to have safety as their top priority. We had two guides, one that would hang back and hook us to the line, the other going ahead to the next platform to ensure we landed safely and our guide lines were unhooked from the zip line and attached to the tree. In this way we were always strapped to the tree so a fall off of the platform (or collapse of the platform) wouldn’t kill us. Very important as many of the platforms were high up, some 60+ feet! In addition to the Canadians we were with a group of three from the Channel Islands in the UK. It was quite cool in the canopy and it was amazing zipping above the forest floor. A fantastic experience.
Large tree in the rain forest
We trek on to the zip line course’s first platform
More rain forest vegetation
Humongous tree in the rain forest
Addison and I standing at the base of a large chestnut tree
The first zip line platform
Trees and vines
A look at the safety system with straps all tied to the trees
Some of the platforms were quite high off the ground
Addison zooming in!
The last zip line ended on the ground, whereupon we unhooked and walked back uphill to the gondola. The ride down was quiet as people were tired and sipping from the very welcome drinking water. The views of the sea to the west and ocean to the east weren’t great due to haze, sadly, but it was still a nice ride and we got to see a 120 foot tall magnolia that was absolutely massive. At the bottom we turned in our equipment, tipped the guides, and went to the gift shop where we bought a magnet, postcard for Genetta, and a picture of Addison on the zip line. Addison kindly bought a gift of tea for Genetta.
The zip lines were anchored so that the trees weren’t harmed
Another very Jurassic scene, thankfully dino free!
So much odd vegetation
View of the mountains seen from the gondola
Towering canopy and mountains beyond as seen from the gondola
Massive (over 100 feet!) magnolia tree
Looking down at a tree fern
One last look down at the rain forest
The bus ride back to the resort was mostly quiet and on arrival at the Windjammer we tipped the excellent driver. Michelle was waiting for us with Addison’s phone in the lobby — he was grateful for that, having been separated from his device for so long (the horror!). We once again ate at Jammer’s. Michelle had the fish (mahi mahi) and chips which she thought was decent enough. Addison and I had Heartbreakers — a burger with bacon, cheese, and fried egg — and fries. For dessert Michelle had a scoop of chocolate and I had two scoops of coffee ice cream. We talked about the day, Michelle had gone for a nice swim at the pool near our unit and generally relaxed.
Michelle and Addison headed back to the room while I hung back in the lobby to reserve a whale watching trip for 8:20a the next day. I then headed back to the room to relax and watch TV (2012, not a great movie). We headed down to dinner just before 6p, Addison and I walking down first so we could stop by the small grocery store along the way with Michelle coming down shortly thereafter. The grocery store had a lot of British type goods like shortbread and the like as St. Lucia was a former British colony. I had hoped to see the sunset before our 6:30p reservation but a beach wedding was happening and we needed to keep our distance.
Looking down at Windjammer Landing’s buildings
Soft sunset light at Windjammer Landing
The beach at Windjammer Landing
Showed up promptly at 6:30p for our reservation at their steak restaurant. They had no record of it, grrr! They seated us anyhow, thankfully. The bathroom doors had really neat carvings, I was trying to take a picture of one and the door opens and the surprised person within must’ve thought I was trying to take a picture of someone in the bathroom. Turned out he was the sous chef and apparently the carving was by the former chef of the restaurant who had since left the resort and opened a studio. Neat!
Cool bathroom door carving at Windjammer Landing
Dinner was quite expensive and while OK wasn’t WOW. Michelle had the catch of the day (mahi mahi, again); Addison had a ribeye with butter sauce and mashed potatoes and steamed carrots and zucchini; I had filet mignon with mushroom sauce, mashed potatoes, and steamed carrots. For dessert Michelle had some coconut cheesecake (pretty good) and I had a coffee with half-and-half and sugar. Service was quite slow despite there not being many other diners. One highlight, however, was a spectacular sunset glow on the sea – a very deep purple!
Amazing sunset purple color in this completely unmodified photo!
Afterwards we headed back to the room to relax, watch TV (including their C-SPAN equivalent with their parliament discussing a plan to do roadwork over the next decade — sorely needed!), blog, and offload and upload photos.
Route for Wednesday April 4th, 2018