As one of Sarah's ambitions is to see parrots flying in the wild, we joined a Norwegian family and guide Geoffrey on a trip to the Syndicate Nature Trail and waterfalls. Geoffrey drove us out of Portsmouth giving us the local history and showing us how the Ross Medical University is developing. All the student accommodation is in locally owned apartment blocks He showed us the house where the island's oldest lady, 128 years old, and her neighbour and best friend who was 124 years old, had lived before they died last year. We then drove up towards Morne Diablo, where the nature trail is. We had a pleasant walk along the forest trail, although a group of American students had made it difficult to hear the birds at the start due to their raucous behaviour. But once we had let them get far ahead of us we could enjoy the atmosphere and the calls of several indigenous birds, including the calls of the Sisserou and Jaco parrots, who fly down from the high mountains every day to feed on the fruit in the lower forest and the adjacent farming area. For the first time we caught glimpses of them flying above the trees and could clearly hear them calling.
We then wandered through the adjacent farms and down to the Syndicate waterfall for a swim, before eating juicy sweet grapefruits with the land owner, as he recalled with us the story of a local school visit, where they left five children behind overnight causing a massive police search. Luckily, the children were all found safe and huddled together by the waterfall early the next morning. You can imagine Sarah's thoughts on that particular school trip!We managed to get back down to Portsmouth safely though and were back on board Stream in time for a leisurely meal before an early night, ready for the sail north to Gaudeloupe in the morning.
Biggest buttress roots I've ever seen, and that's saying something given those I photographed in Cambodia!
ReplyDeleteGood to have found your blog and caught up with your antics, or should I say athletics (I'd expect nothing less from a day out with Seacat!) Brilliant places he knows. I'm now in the process of convincing the GA that we should run a study tour to Dom, Martinique and Grenada (One of our number has plenty of good contacts there)... but as one who promoted the idea of a study tour to Russia this summer... I may have lost some cred! We can't recruit more than 6 for that trip (St P up to Murmansk) and there seem to be more than a few sticky fingers trying to dip into the till. Not sure if we'll go after all. Decision in a week or so.
Love the new dinghy.
Sarah will, perhaps, be wanting to hear the outcome of the election in May before deciding to try and re-enter the world of education....!!!
Easy on the Chairman's Reserve, Darrell!