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.

Hi Sammy... Great report, as always.

Looks like the Tri Tri might be Elvers (young eels that spend time in fresh water before heading to the oceans).
Big thing in my local river, The Severn, in England. Here's a link that I hope will work ( not all BBC links are available outside of the UK) http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/gloucestershire/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_8864000/8864173.stm

p.s. Are you doing any of the WARC?

Hi Mike, A couple of the fellows onboard are familiar with the eels, but they don't think thats what they are. These things have a crunchy shell and they turn from blue to pink when you cook them which makes us think they are some type of crustation.
Yes, I am going as far as the Galapagos Islands, then I will spend a few days on Ecuador with a stop in South Florida to visit family before going home. I told my boss I would be back the second full week of March.
Skyelark is dropping out of the WARC in Austrailia, they plan to do some charters in Indonesia and next years holiday charter will be out of Phucket Thialand, I'm looking forward to that one!
Cheers

Where has the time gone? Seems like yesterday I was reading Sammy's great Caribbean reports and here they are again - but I'm happy to be reading them. I look forward to reading about your adventures on Skyelark as you proceed west and through the canal. This should add some new sailing and eating adventures for you to tell us about. I look forward to reading your reports and give my best to Dan and Em.
Fred

Are you not doing the WARC Fred? I hoped you'd be going on some of the trip. The canal is a great experience. Still time to sign up perhaps!!

Hey Mike,

Not doing the WARC, but I did do the Malts Cruise on Skyelark in July and am doing a charter with Conch in January and then a couple more trips in April/May so my sailing budget is pretty much exhausted.
I guess I will have to do the WARC vicariously through Sammy's great reports.
Best Holiday wishes to you and Jean,
Fred

Best wishes to you as well Fred.

Hopefully Sammy will get to post reports while at sea using the sat phone. Photos take too long ( read too much money!) but text is easy to send and the photos can be added when they get to land. The trip around the corner of Columbia was tremendously exciting when we did it so I'd like to read about that from the comfort of my armchair <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />