Day 6 - Johnny Dep Has Stayed Here. Butt pirates of the Carribean.

Day 6

Today we drove up to a trail which lead to a waterfall known as syndicate falls. The trail lies in the shadow of Morne Diablotin, and so receives abundant relief precipitation when the wind is right. We drove through higher altitude pineapple fields nestled in banana plantations, and along the way witnessed lots of fruits we had not seen growing here yet. We passed a fruiting mango tree (rare since they are out of season). After taking a wrong turn down the right dirt/mud/chuckhole road instead of the left one, I had the chance to witness many more plants as I reversed. In my familiarization with the foliage I noticed Starfruit, figs, papaya, grapefruit, a strange red flower that a customary Christmas drink is made from . . . not bad for reversing through 30 feet of bush. On the hike in to our trail we also found a huge avocado, which we made short work of, it was delicious. The hike into syndicate falls was entertaining. It is amazing what scale things grow to here. The ferns grow into literal trees here. They are often 30-40 feet high, and sometimes form the sole canopy. Their woody stalks could actually be considered lumber, and the rough bark at their base makes sections of grippy fern trunks ideal steps for jungle straircases on muddy trails. The trail snaked across several streams, which we adventurously forded. We ended up looking at a spectacular waterfall cascading down a jungle cliff in the middle of the woods. The water shot off of a ridge 60 feet up and slammed into a deep blue pool surrounded by orange silty rocks. Spectacular. Later we visited a beach known locally as #1 beach, where some scenes from Pirates of the Carribean were filmed. (Chris informed us that Johnny Dep and Elijah wood have actually both stayed at this lodge, along with numerous other cast members) The beach has sand which is volcanic in origin, and is as such black as tar. We occupied ourselves braving the rough waves for a short time, and then learning how to prize coconuts from unwilling palm trees for an hour or so. It is incredible how much liquid these vessels can hold. More than one can comfortably drink in a sitting. There is no need to go hungry in these places, especially if one is handy with a pole of bamboo such as those that abound here. To add to the excitement of our day, we saw about 5 or six parrots (which are rare and endangered here) of the Jaco type. The national bird is the other; the sisserou. We hope to come across these as well.