Dec. 20, Cumberland Bay
The day started with intermittent showers, but cleared up in time for our trip to Dark View Falls. We had breakfast onboard of bacon, eggs and toast. Our driver arrived as scheduled and we met him at the dingy dock for our trip. The drive is almost as interesting as the park itself; you pass through all the towns on both sides of Chateau Belaire and this time of the year they are all decked out in Christmas decorations for the annual competition between the neighboring villages.
The island is very verdant, and all the hills and valleys were full of foliage of various shades of green. We arrived at the park and paid the 5 EC admission fee, the European Union has made an investment in this park and it is well maintained, with many spots that would be suitable for a picnic lunch. I lead the march to the falls having been here a couple times already. The bamboo suspension bridge is a little tricky to cross as the bamboo gives slightly under your feet and the bridge has a tendency to sway from side to side as you cross, the raging stream beneath it adds to the challenge, if only psychologically. The lower falls isn’t much to write home about, but the climb up the many steps to the upper falls is worth the effort. I am always amazed at the force of the wind of the falling water, it was enough to blow my tee shirt off the flat rock I had laid it on while getting ready for a swim. The water comes from high in the mountains and is very “refreshing” to say the least. The power of the water is something to behold when you are standing underneath it, feeling as though you are being pushed down by the force. We all took our turns under the falls, my greatest fear being a coconut or tree limb being carried over and whacking me on the head. After a time in the natural pool and some photos we made our way back down the trail for the ride back to the boat. With the taxi fare and admission it amounted to about $14 each for the four of us.


The upper falls


The last bit of the trail is a scramble up the stream and over boulders

Once back on Skyelark we prepared to set off for Young Island Cut; Joseph rowed up in his small fishing boat with a bowl of tri-tri cakes, we had requested them as a starter for our planned manicou meal next week but there must have been some miscommunication, either way we would never turn down the opportunity to try some fresh tri-tri cakes. Tri-tri are small fresh water shrimp-like creature about ¾ inch long and could almost pass as some kind of insect larvae. They ended up as our lunch accompanied by salad and fresh baguette slices.


A bowl of fresh tri-tri (photo from a previous trip)

We usually have to motorsail up the coast; but today due to the wind angle we were able to sail along nicely under partially furled headsail alone reaching a speed of 8 knots in the 22 mph wind. We furled away the headsail and motored into the channel and took a mooring, necessary here due to the swift and sometimes changing current. Dan dropped us off at the dingy dock then he and Em went to the customs office by the airport to clear us in (the customs officials never turned up at the office in Wallabalou yesterday afternoon) while Jan and I walked up the the French Veranda Restaurant for a couple beers and wifi. The restaurant is very nicely appointed with linen table clothes and napkins, it’s impeccably decorated open air dining room looks out over the water. As nice as it is the prices here are still quite reasonable and after checking out the dinner menu we decided we would return for dinner in the evening.
Back on Skyelark we enjoyed some sundowners and got ourselves cleaned up for dinner. It was with great anticipation that we headed to the restaurant, having pretty much already deciding on our choices while perusing the menu. We tied up to their dingy dock but were disappointed to find the restaurant was closed for a private party so we made our way down the boardwalk to end up at a local place which had two selection, chicken wings or grilled snapper. After dinner we returned to the boat for some rum nightcaps and conversation before heading off to bed.