Day 638 was an early start for our big east coast tour day. Up at 7, Sheldon and I prepared breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast with bananas mango and coffee/tea for me (without baileys I cannot do coffee) While we all got ready Sheldon finished Merry Christmas Alex Cross, he only started it sunday night!
Greg loaded us up and our cooler of Piton and tomato juice and we set out just after 8:30. We finally were up in time to get a coco tea. It was an interesting breakfast meal in a cup flavored with chocolate.
After a meandering drive thru Castries down government house road our first stop was Treetop ziplines arriving just after ten. Sharon conquered her acrophobia as we mastered 12 different lines. Each had different speeds and lengths as well as stunning views. The venue was very well laid out, new, secure and well marked with stories on most platforms. We were with a group of about 25 many being small kids. It took us about 2 hours to do all 12 with the last 2 in a torrential downpour. For the $65 US/person it was worth it. Time to crack a cold Piton with tomato juice for the ride. Here on St Lucia it is allowable for the passengers to drink while riding, there is no radar, no breathalyzers and speed limits sketchy.
After many more hair pin turns and lots of sights we arrived at shangrila, other wise know as la tille waterfalls, a privately owned by John. After changing we headed out, a very healthy looking dog (whom i called rusty) encouraged us to take a trail and since we had no guidance from our tour guide off we went. Apparently this was the wrong trail as the guide whistled a few times to let us know. Back at the top we followed him down to the falls. It was lovely. Sharon and I chose to photograph the place rather than jump in but the boys did. We were shown church beans which were a brilliant red and black however they are poisonous. At the top they had served us fresh tamarind seeds coated in brown sugar and fresh coconut, so yummy. A quick feeding of the greedy fish, photo with John and we were off yet again.
this time we stopped at Dennery viewpoint to quickly grab a chicken pâte, which was a ground chicken pocket for lack of better description. Sauces such as garlic and hot added to it as it was a bit dry but it filled the gap.
Greg drove like an Indy car racer to get us to the rum factory. It had closed but the gal he knew said we could make the rum tasting part. However once we got there another fellow he knew offered to give the tour if all 4 went so we obliged. It was a far better tour than Mount Gay in Barbados due to the private group :-) The $54 EC ($20 US) per couple included a taste testing at the end of any of their rums free poured yourself! Lesson learned was that all alcohol contains fusel oil which causes hangovers as well as rum and coke is the silent bomber as it is two sugars mixed. Rum is made from molasses, water and yeast. St Lucia does not grow sugar cane to make the molasses anymore but rather import it from Guyana. There were many varieties of rum and liqueurs to try, nuts and rum, 160 proof and a a forgotten cask special. VAT was 15% which is on all items but food I guess, holy!!
Back in the minivan we shot off north thru Castries again up government hill stopping to see the view overlooking Castries. We drove thru town up to Vigie Lighthouse as our last stop. By now it was about 4:30 , after a group photo we were dropped at the condo tuckered out. This tour he charged $130/couple.
I checked my iPad to get update on Dad but he was just slated for surgery. We all showered and dressed to go out and eat. A cold beer while blogging was tasty while everyone got ready. We decided on Chinese food stopping to snap a few pictures of Baywalk mall especially the MAC store. We ran into Kristine our housekeeper and she suggested the Jade Terrace right across the road from us in the mall. It was very tasty especially since we were all famished. VAT or value added tax here on the island is 8%. Most restaurants charge a 10% service charge on top of that too.
Once we got back to the condo at 7:30, Mom had updated Dad's surgery had went well and he was recovering in his room watching Mantracker. Very glad to hear that. I finished updating the blog while the others watched TV before we all retired to bed after another event filled day.
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