Moorglade's Voyage - Kirsty does tourism

Kirsty does tourism

Moorglade's Voyage

Ted Wilson

Tue 26 Apr 2011 15:15

Our position is 14:05.47N 60:57.81W

We awoke on Good Friday to the sound of singing as apparently the priest was processing through the town to the church. Ted took Kirsty over to a headland for a quick snorkelling session before the days activities and then Francis arrived to collect us from the boat bright and early (9am) to take us on a tour. The discovery that there was a cocoa plantation to visit meant that we wanted to change the originally suggested itinerary and Francis had no problem with this. However when we arrived ashore there were some anxious moments while we waited for JoJo the taxi driver, with Francis telephoning furiously, but he turned up in Caribbean time and we set off to visit the sulphur springs. The sulphur springs were impressively smelly and steamy and we were happy to be behind a handrail after we were told about a guide who had fallen through the rock a couple of years back. He survived with 2nd degree burns, but had moved on from guiding to farming after his recovery!

After the sulphur springs, we headed off to the cocoa plantation, which wasn't actually doing commercial production but a guided tour did show and tell us about how cocoa, sugar cane and coconuts were processed. First we saw a mule-powered sugar cane crusher and had a drink of some juice. Then we smelled and tasted cocoa beans at various stages of production starting with the juicy fresh fruit around the bean. We then had a sniff of the vinegar that is produced during fermentation. After fermentation the beans are dried and roasted and finally a man dances on the beans in a big bowl which polishes them before more drying. We tasted the bitter dried and danced on beans without thinking too much about the cleanliness of the man's feet! Finally we purchased a stick of the ground cocoa block that is used for cocoa tea and tasted that a couple of days later. You boil up the grated stick with nutmeg, cinnamon and a bay leaf and add milk and sugar to taste. It probably wasn't quite tasty enough to warrant the effort and washing up! After the cocoa tour, we saw coconuts being split on a very sharp spike! There is a coconut factory in Soufriere that roasts the coconut meat too extract the oil which is used to make margarine and soap. After our tour of the plantation we enjoyed a tamarind juice and were whisked onwards by our taxi to the botanical garden. We spent some relaxing time strolling through looking at the flowers and plants and being given a cooking lesson by JoJo who had decided to guide us himself for this visit despite his apparent lack of knowledge about matters botanical. He did take a nice photo of us all at the Diamond Waterfall which was at the end of the park. A spot of shopping and bird watching in the gift shop and it was time for our tour to end with lunch on the waterfront. Roti and fish with lots of provisions!

We returned to our batcave anchorage for an afternoon's relaxation and a tasty pizza onboard. Shining our brightest light onto the entrance of the batcave in the dark enabled us to see the bats at their most active! The following day we set off for Rodney Bay but made a slight diversion southwards so that I could see the bay in between the two Piton mountains. Unfortunately the pitons were shrouded in cloud, but we did manage to find ourselves being sold a whole tuna by a blinging boat boy who had to razz off back to Soufriere to get it and sold us about 3 times as much fish as we'd asked for... Still Dad set to work gutting the fish whilst we motored north with a bit of help from the sails. Luckily as we progressed north we got enough wind to sail unaided which was nice and we passed the barrel of beef rock before tacking into Rodney Bay. Whilst it was not ideal as most of the shops we needed were closed for Easter, being in the marina did give us an opportunity to use the shore power, do a bit of laundry and people-watch those on other boats around us. On arrival and before our fresh tuna supper we had cocktails on the marina front, the live band of ancient musicians were entertaining, but probably not quite as much as their number one fans - some very enthusiastic singing and dancing martiniquans... The dinner was a culinary feat, with a goats cheese starter, tuna ceviche fish course and a fried tuna fillet for main with Grenadian chocolate for pudding.

It was raining quite heavily the following morning when Mum and I had planned to go riding. However as soon as we had called to discuss postponing to the afternoon, the rain stopped and there was blue sky. The ride was lovely, with well trained and kept horses. We cantered along the beach, stopped to remove saddles and put on our swimming things, then set off into the sea. The horses didn't seem thrilled to be in the water and were quite vocal in their complaints, but the sea was lovely and cool and the new experience was enjoyable. We rode back to the stables through the woods, passing some excitable kids on an Easter break, admiring the cricket stadium and stopping to remove a loose shoe from my horse, SpongeBob.

After the riding, we spent a relaxing afternoon in the marina before heading ashore for some mahi-mahi and indulgent coconut cheesecake. The following day, after a quick trip to the supermarket in the dinghy, we set off for Pigeon Island, where we anchored off the beach, which Easter had made much busier than when Mum and Dad had visited before. Ashore, we climbed up Signal point and Fort Rodney to lovely views as far south as the pitons as well as over the isthmus that was built to connect Pigeon Island to the mainland. Following a bit more birdspotting, flora photography and a drink in a beachside restaurant, we headed back to the boat. Mum and Dad in the dinghy and me swimming.

The evening was spent logging our birdwatching efforts in the book and preparing dinner which involved pork chops in apple and Piton beer sauce, chips and a delicious piece of Roquefort. The next morning we confirmed the identity of the Brown Booby flying overhead and detoured back to Rodney Bay marina to refill our gas and to clear out before beginning the passage back to Martinique. Whilst I've packed in lots of visiting and relaxing, sadly my holiday seems to have gone by all too quickly...