1/6/2020, 9:09 AM
14°04.5200N; 60°56.9590W
Over the last week, we’ve spent countless hours packing,
organizing, traveling, and preparing for our around the world trip before
arriving in beautiful St. Lucia about a day and a half ago. Don’t get me wrong,
the preparations aren’t over, and we have a long day of work provisioning,
safety inspections, installing sails, etc. ahead of us. But we took a break to
prioritize “keeping the crew happy” (the most important thing, according to
Captain Dave) and explore this magnificent island.
Upon arrival, our first break was the beginning of rally
happy hour with the other World ARC boats. Of course, beers by the boats while
meeting new people is right up our alley. We met people on boats from all over
the world (heavily Great Britain, Australia/New Zealand, and
Scotland/Ireland/Belgium). Our fellow cruisers are interesting, lighthearted,
and so kind sailors of varying experience levels (encouraging) and we can’t
wait to start this journey with them.
Then our adventure yesterday was one of the coolest things we’ve
ever done. We took a bus through St Lucia to the inland rainforest, while our
guide told us all about the land, the people, the government, and the economy. Fun
fact: the ratio of women to men in St. Lucia is 7:1 (according to our guide,
that’s the land’s greatest attraction- insert eyeroll here). We went up over
1,500 feet into the rainforest through banana farms, villages and gorgeous
views of the blue, blue ocean. Bananas are the nation’s greatest export, and as
I write this post I’m sitting on the deck of Amazing Grace enjoying the
sweetest, most delicious banana I’ve ever had.
Deep in the rainforest, we swung through the trees on a
series of 12 ziplines, connected by rope bridges and steep stairs. It made the
Midland Canopy Walk look like a set of monkey bars. We zipped over gorgeous
streams and waterfalls. We saw mango trees and bamboo and all sorts of gorgeous
exotic plants- but to my chagrin we never saw the extremely rare St. Lucia
Amazon (parrot). In fact, there was a surprising lack of wildlife- maybe due to
the loud zip of the lines that went up to 30 MPH. It was exhilarating and
breathtaking and, if you ask admiral Anne, pretty scary!
We 10/10 recommend a trip to St. Lucia to see it. The
pictures and videos can’t compare to the real thing, but visit our blog to see pictures and videos of the fun we had: www.theseanicroute.com
Kristen Pankratz
First mate, Amazing Grace