โ˜€๏ธ #50 The Blind Sightseers “Escape The Lockdown” With Distant Memories: “Saint Lucia” ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡จ (2018)

Saint Lucia logo

Good morning friends! We are in Saint Lucia! ๐Ÿ˜€ โ˜€๏ธ ๐ŸŒดย 

Wowโ€ฆItโ€™s our 50th day of our trip. I canโ€™t believe weโ€™ve hit this milestone already time is cruising by and i hope youโ€™re still enjoying this adventure?! ๐Ÿ˜€ ย 

What a day yesterday! As we had to focus on not falling to our death we didnโ€™t get to see much of the rain forest canopyโ€ฆSo we thought weโ€™d book this excursion today at a more relaxing pace. Wait a minuteโ€ฆDid i say relaxing? This canโ€™t be right weโ€™re โ€˜The Blind Sightseersโ€™ lol. ๐Ÿคฃ ย 

Aerial Tram: Scenic Tour

Soar above a tropical rainforest reserve on this sky-high tour. Hop on to an open-air gondola and rise up through Castries Waterworks Reserve, where youโ€™ll have a birdโ€™s eye view over the rainforest. With towering trees, tangled vines, and brightly coloured hummingbirds, this exotic jungle is Mother Nature at her best. As you glide through the canopy, your experienced guide will share their knowledge, point out unusual plant life, and identify the calls of local birds.

Once your feet are back on the ground, your guide will take you on a short walk through the forest, so remember to wear your walking boots. And, of course, youโ€™ll need a camera to capture the colourful sights around you.

ย On the coach…

We sat at the front of the coach (thanks excursion team) and even though our muscles were hurting from yesterdays zip lining and from walking up a million steps through the rain forest, we sat back and listened to the guide tell us about Saint Lucia. I was excited as our excursion involves an arial tramโ€ฆCould i call it a cable car? If so then itโ€™s the 4th cable car of our lockdown memory trip!ย 

We heard a lot of people worrying about heights and if the arial tram would be safe. This is where another of our blind perks help us. As both me and Sarah have severe sight problems we donโ€™t know how high we are, which works great as iโ€™m scared of heightsโ€ฆAnd it worked brilliantly yesterday walking and zip lining above the rain forest canopy! So it should work well today too! ๐Ÿคฃ ย 

ย The arial tram…ย 

Me waiting for the Gondela

ย Standing at the start of the arial tram circuit we had a few minutes to wait for our turn to begin.ย 

Me and Sarah sat in the arial tram

ย Yay we are on board and ready to go! Unfortunately we didnโ€™t take many photos as we simply didnโ€™t want to drop our phones out of the arial tram and onto the floor miles below us.ย 

close side profile of my face as Sarah is sat right next to me and the rain forest behind me

Heyโ€ฆThatโ€™s a sneaky shot, lol! ๐Ÿคฃ ย ย 

We continued to travel through the multiple layers of the rainforest in our open air ride, we travelled all the way from the forest floor and all the way to the top (and beyond) of the canopy!

Our new car was sturdy and felt very safe, and our guide continued to tell us about the incredible trees and plants we were passing, then as we climbed a little higher the leaves of the trees began to overshadow us and block our view…

And then…

Iโ€™m not sure what just happened? But it seems like weโ€™ve just travelled through a classic literature portal in our arial tram which has just trasformed into a โ€˜travel boxโ€™ and we seem to be travelling through โ€˜Brobdingnagโ€™ as we glide through the pages of ‘Gulliverโ€™s Travels’ part 2.

This is my roundabout way of saying the leaves were enormous! Iโ€™ve never seen leaves this big ever, 1 leaf easily covered the whole tram and was so wide it was beyond belief!

We were coming up to the half way point where the tram turns around to make the return trip down, the breeze up here was lovely and there is a nice view of the northern part of the island and both oceans come into viewโ€ฆIf you could see them, lol! ๐Ÿ˜€ ย 

Sat looking from the arial tram looking over the top of the rain forest

view over the huge rain forest

Very close up of me looking near the camera with the rain forest behind me

ย The rain forest floor…

After the tram ride, our guide took us on a 20 minute walk and continued our education of the fascinating trees and beautifully vivid flowers on the forest floor. The path was treacherousย and laced with tree roots, rocks and hidden holes, so when iโ€™d engaged my knees into full suspension mode i was ready to go! The combination of my warrior wife and my super duper sandals protected me once againโ€ฆThank you Sarah! โค๏ธย 

A complimentary (and very tasty) glass of non alcoholic punch ย was welcoming us upon our return from the all terrain walk. There is a nice gift shop with locally made sauces and spices. We bought the photo of me and Sarah sitting in the tram from here (2nd photo in this post) which is a lovely memory for us. ๐Ÿ˜€

Back at the dock…

Right we were on a mission to try and find (and eat) some Breadfruit. This was our 3rd cruise in the Caribbean (5th in total) and the guides always talked about the Breadfruit but weโ€™d never got the chance to eat it. But today is the day. We walked out of the dock and we were instantly greeted by a street with shops, market stalls and men trying to arrest you (i mean sell you things). Our plan (so we didnโ€™t get lost) was to walk up the right hand side of the street as far as we could go, then return by crossing the road and walking back down to the shipโ€ฆSound simple enough. ๐Ÿ˜€ ย 

We didnโ€™t have to walk far before we stumbled upon a fruit and veg stall, and after a while of Sarah looking at each vegetable she said โ€œSteve i donโ€™t think i recognise any of the vegetables at all?!โ€ The man on the stall asked if we needed any help? Sarah said โ€œYour vegetables are amazing and look nothing like anything back in Englandโ€ โ€œThank you and that is Dasheen you were just looking at, itโ€™s local to Saint Luciaโ€ he said as Sarah continued โ€œWe are looking for some Breadfruit to try, is there anywhere here we can try some? Weโ€™d also like to try Dasheen too?!โ€ โ€œIf you go over the road into the indoor market there is a place who cooks it all dayโ€ โ€œWow thanks very muchโ€ Sarah said and we crossed the road.

Breadfruit & Dasheen…ย 

We found the little cooking place and it had a few tables outside. The lady said โ€œ Hi Can i help you?โ€ Sarah said โ€œWeโ€™re looking to try some Breadfruit and Dasheen if we can pleas?โ€ โ€œWhat would you like them with?โ€ โ€œJust some Breadfruit and Dasheen on their own pleaseโ€ โ€œWhat with?โ€ โ€œItโ€™s ok weโ€™d just like to try them to see what they taste like, so on their own pleaseโ€. The woman getting a little impatient said โ€œYou have to have them with something theyโ€™ll be too dry on their ownโ€ I thought it wouldnโ€™t be too dry for me as i can eat dry toast without butter for some reason, but i digress. Sarah asked โ€œWhat would you have with them as we canโ€™t see well enough to see your menu?โ€ โ€œIโ€™ll make it nice for you, take a seatโ€.ย 

The lady placed the food down in front of us and we got stuck in. Sarah said โ€œWow it looks like Tipexโ€ We both tried some Breadfuit and decided it tasted of absolutely nothing! I said โ€œI didnโ€™t think something could taste of nothing?!โ€ ย After we both decided it was used as a filler like a potato we started on the Dasheen. โ€œWow, now thatโ€™s niceโ€ we both said โ€œitโ€™s so herby and really tasty we shouldโ€™ve just had a plate of thisโ€ i said โ€œYeah but there is no way iโ€™m asking the lady, lol!โ€ ๐Ÿ˜€ ย 

The bird feeder…

We left the indoor market discussing Breadfruit and Dasheen as we walked back towards the ship, when a really funny and cool guy walked over to us. He said with his thick Caribbean accent ย โ€œWould you like a bird feeder?โ€ Sarah said โ€œNo thanksโ€ we had only slowed our pace down a little โ‡งThis bird feeder is the one you wantโ€ โ€œWeโ€™re good thank you we donโ€™t need a bird feederโ€ The man had walked in front of us now so we stopped โ€œI made this bird feeder and itโ€™s just $30 USโ€ โ€œยฃ30 dollars, we are fine thanks and thatโ€™s too muchโ€ โ€œok, $25โ€ the man said as he was making us laugh with his humour โ€œThatโ€™s still too much and we donโ€™t have room in our suitcases anyway for a bird feederโ€ The man made a small laughing sound and said โ€œWatch thisโ€ฆYou see this is a special bird feederโ€ he continued as he pulled a couple of wooden bits off the bird feeder and made it smaller โ€œThis is a special travel bird feeder as it comes apartโ€ Oh man i thought heโ€™s got us on that one, lol. Sarah continued โ€œItโ€™s still too much for usโ€ Afterr another 20 minutes chatting with this man (we really liked him he had such a cool character) Sarah bought the bird feeder for $15. ๐Ÿ˜€ย 

The bird feeder

Back on the ship…

ย With another relaxing strong iced coffee we chatted about the fantastic day weโ€™d had and the experiences weโ€™ve shared, and it wasnโ€™t long before we had the photo shoot and the lovely evening meal.

The food photo quiz…

I wonder if you guys could help us? Weโ€™ve taken this photo of a fantastic plate of food but we have no idea what it is? And we canโ€™t remember? Could you have a go at describing it for us? We just know we must have loved it as it inspired a photo. ๐Ÿ˜€ ย ย 

IMG 0352

ย The photo shoot…

We had such fun messing around (i mean being serious) during the shoot. The photographer was great and kept talking so i could have some idea where they were standing. Now we have even more photos together that weโ€™ll cherish. โค๏ธ ๐Ÿ˜€ ย ย 

Sarah and me touching foreheads

Me and Sarah both looking at the camera

Sarah * i looking at each other and Sarah has her hand on my cheek

Sarah with arms aound my shoulders

Sarah with arms aound my shoulders

Photo of me in a suit and a purple spooty bow tie

Sarah with head laying on her arms and a huge smile

ย Weโ€™ve had another memorable day, isnโ€™t Saint Lucia beautiful? Have you got any rain forest experiences?ย 

Thank you once again itโ€™s such a blessing to have you guys join us on our adventures. ๐Ÿ˜€ ย 

But the drama, fun and exploration hasnโ€™t stopped yet!

To be continued…ย 

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โœžFollower of Christ, Husband, Guitarist, Drummer, Photographer, Health & Fitness advocate....Oh and i'm also Blind too! ๐Ÿ˜€

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