The first adventure was a jungle walk to a ruin of an old sugar mill together with all the horses. We had to cross quite a wide river to get there and then go through the jungle on paths that were so faint you could hardly see them. It was just so green! Lots and lots of different shades of green, and it was really beautiful. When we had bushwhacked (not literally) for a while, we came to the old and crumbing ruins of the sugar mill.
We found out from reading the inscription on an old piece of machinery that that part had been made in Glasgow in 1855. So we figured that a bit over 100 years was approximately how long it took for nature to take over. Because nature really had taken over this mill. There were tree creepers everywhere, and even a big tree. Everything made of wood was gone, together with a lot of the iron and steel parts, so the only things standing were the crumbling stone foundations. The hill behind it was covered in huge leaves the size of umbrellas, and it created a nice backdrop for this example of nature taking back its own.
Then we walked through the jungle a little bit more, and came out on the beach. It was a beautiful bay, and I spent some time just sitting there enjoying the view and listening to the waves breaking. I thought it reminded me of the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' films, especially the rock outcropping which was almost an island (see picture). We walked back mostly along the beach, and came back home in time to see another wonderful sunset.That evening Stina and Farah had decided that a good way to end the clinic was to take all the participants (luckily including me) out to dinner. We drove for approximately an hour towards Kingstown, and parked by what looked like a shut down restaurant. Then Stina said that we had to cross the river to get to the restaurant we were going to. So everyone rolled their trousers up and waded into the water. It was a bit chilly, the river had a rocky bottom, and we were wading in the dark. As you can imagine, it was quite a challenge.
We got safely across to the opposite bank, and arrived, after a short beach walk, at the Black Baron. It was a pirate themed restaurant run by a French couple. The food was absolutely delicious, and the setting was just wonderful. The restaurant mainly had guests from sailing boats who stop there to eat (that was why it was hard to get to from land). It was nice and rustic, and it had posters from the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' films. What a coincidence! I hadn't known we were going to a pirate restaurant earlier today when I thought of the films! So the restaurant adventure was a success, even though one of the others fell in the river on the way back. It was so nice in the restaurant, and I felt a bit like a child in there, especially when the participants of the clinic started dressing up in pirate things.
Overall, this day has been wonderful. Two great adventures in one day! Wow!
Books read: 17
Pages read: 4582
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