These little crabs have burrows in the mud. They are fun to watch!
A rare blue crab!
The cocoa tree and fruit. (I actually thought cocoa beans grew on shrubs like coffee beans...)
The inside of the fruit. The white stuff covers the cluster of seeds. The white stuff is very sweet and yummy to suck off the seeds.
Monday, April 22,
2013
Got up early to check
out the little crabs that live along the sides of the road, around the drainage
ditches. They have made amazing holes
that they scuttle back into as you approach.
I don’t know how to describe it, so you will have to see the
photos!
A group of us met to
go on a tour of the island. Our driver/guide,
Michael, was very good. We learned
history, saw several little towns, went up into the rain forest, visited the
Belmont Estate, the River Rum Distillery and a local eatery. It was a full day!
The Belmont Estate is
a 300 year old plantation. This functioning
estate links the past to the present, providing visitors the unique opportunity
to become familiar with the centuries old practice of processing cocoa and
producing some of the Caribbean’s best chocolate. The chocolate is really good! We got to sample two different chocolates and
had “chocolate tea” which is basically “hot chocolate” that is made with water
but has wonderful spices added to it. It
is really tasty!
The River Antoine Rum
Distillery and Estate is the oldest working rum distillery in the
Caribbean. They still use traditional
methods for rum making.
The roads are pretty
narrow on the island. They drive on the
left side of the road. Vehicles stop on
the side of the road as needed, others just have to honk their intentions and
go around! The roads up the mountain
into the rain forest are very twisty and windy… some folks felt a little
queasy… Woofie and I rode up front, so we were fine. But it was a little scary when other vehicles
are coming right at us as we went around corners.
Heather and I walked
back to the market for a few more things.
We bought some wonderful local fruit at a street side stand. Mangoes, watermelon, limes, papaya and
bananas. Michael said the only things
they don’t grow here are apples and peaches!
A person could get used to the wonderful produce….
Domino, Avery (a vet
student at Ross University on St Kitts Island) and MacKenzie (an assistant at a
vet hospital in DC) rented a car (Avery knows how to drive here) and toured the
entire island and up into the rainforest. They also had a very good time,
though the two passengers were worried about the opposing traffic!
Visited around the
pool then we all went out to another local eatery for dinner and chatting. It has been a nice day!
Tomorrow clinics
start… need to get some stuff done with this blog….
Later!
Stacy and Woofie and
Domino
The inside of the seed, the cocoa nibs
The final (YUMMY) product!!
Woofie tried the rum punch. He said it was pretty good!! (60 proof!)
Woofie looks a bit blitzed (lol), love the neckwraps! oh yeah, chocolate, how lucky to see that and experience the real thing. love the crab pictures....along the road, wow. the tour sounds great, what a lot of fun....before the work.
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