Hiking St. Lucia- into the Rain Forest- part 2.

[amstony]

The Forestierre Rainforest trail

My second hike in St. Lucia was in the Forestierre Rainforest Trail, located in North Central St. Lucia, and part of their well maintained rain forest preserve.

I had never been into an actual rain forest, so when I saw this hike in the resort tour llistings prior to leaving on vacation I decided to sign up when I checked into the resort. It was definitely well worth the time and expense! ChanelGirl sat this one out at the pool!

The Forestierre rainforest trail is approximaytely an hour from the resort town of Gros Islet, where I was staying. Along with me, 2 other couples had signed up from this resort, and when our guide company showed up, we stopped at another Sandals on St. Lucia in Castries and picked up 2 other couples. So we had a total of 9 tourists from the U.S., Canada, Britain, and France on the hike, including me. As it was, I was as usual the best prepared, I had my boots, camelback pack, extra water, bug spray- thanks to ChanelGirl, power bar, and of course camera. Amazingly, despite what your told before hand we had a people in dress shoes (yep), one girl in sandals, and the others were in sneakers, no one brought water. I was glad I was ready as the day went on!

So at 8:00 AM we headed out, picked up our other hikers from sandals and after a few picture stops along the route to the trail, we arrived around 10:00 AM. Upon arrival we were met by the Park Ranger who supervises this trail, Shaun Francois, he has run this trail for over 5 years, so knows it very well. All rain forest hikes are lead by St. Lucia Park Rangers, you are not permitted to venture in on your own. The rain forest preserve on St. Lucia accounts for approximately 2/3rds of the islands land mass, and it was very well protected. This potions recieves 160" to 240" of rain per year.

The hike was 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) and we traveled along the Forestierre rain Forest trail. This trail was very interesting. A portion of the trail traverses part of an old French road, and it is several hundred years old. It was used by the British and French Armies, and the Brigands, to move around the island undetected, and later as a trade route. Some years ago it was placed under the park rangers, who maintain it to this day. The park rangers ahave trail maintenance crews, and when not available they perform all trail maintenance. This was a Very well maintained trail, considering the environment it is in.

The most distinctive features of this terail are the abundance of large spectacular fig trees, epiphytes, and ferns. The trail begins with a gentle slope through natural dense foliage, meandering through L'Encens trees that produce a white sap that has a very pungent smell and is VERY flammable! This is a problem during T-Storms because this stuff will burn continously if lit. Another type of tree is the majestic Chataigner tree, which is supported by a system of buttresses that fold around the tree. There is also some very interesting wildlife to look for: Boa Constrictor snakes and Fer De lance or Viper snakes . the protected St. Lucia parrot, Iguana's and other stuff, including mosquitoes! The trail continues along and then you make a sudden 566 foot elevation gain and climb to the summit of Mount Forestierre , which between that and mud, heat and humidity made me glad I had water and the proper shoes! At the end of the trail over the summit your met by the Tour Guide ompany, Island Adventures, who then take you back to the resorts.

Upon arrival, chanelGirl had a Piton beer waiting for me, which was very refreshing!!!!!!

All told a cool hike and nice way to spend 3 hours in a vastly differnt environment than the Northeastern mountains!

JPEGS are attached.

 

[amstony]

This next series shows llot of the vegetation along the trail.........no Boa's or Viper snakes were seen, but we did hear the St.Lucia Parrot, an endangered species.

 

[amstony]

This set takes us up and over Mt. Forestierre..........

The huge moths were on an old building at the trails end! The gig moth was at least 5" wide!

And that was that, my hiking was done for this vacation.

I had hoped to climb Gros Piton, one of the twin volcanic peaks on that Friday, but no one would go, you needed at least 2-3 others to go on the hike for safety reasons since it so steep. I'll have to catch that next time!

 

[Amicus]

The joys of rainforests

Your pix bring back welcome memories of a similar St. Lucia rainforest tour I took in March, '96. Our group (better prepared - all at least had suitable footwear, backpacks and water) went in on a military-type half-track over very rough and muddy logging roads (which were nonetheless less muddy than usual, as the rainforest had been oddly dry for a few weeks). I don't recall that our guide was a state-employed Ranger, so that may be a change.

What we saw resembles your pix, and we heard those rare parrots too. The other sight that sticks in my memory was some enormous mahogany trees, unusual in having survived the loggers for a century or so, since their wood is so valuable.

If you want to visit another rainforest that's relatively accessible to all, I recommend El Junque, on the NE coast of Puerto Rico (just a couple of hours' drive from San Juan). It's a US National Park with a good network of hiking trails, and it rained on cue (on otherwise sunny days) on both of our visits.

 

[amstony]

Amicus,

It may hAve been ther same tour, you never know. We used an open top jeep land rover to get out there, anything less and we'd still be stuck in the jungle! island Adventures had a tour guide and driver along for the hike, besides the park ranger who runs the trail.

I was impressed with how serious they enforce the environmental laws there. I asked the ranger about enforcement. If your caught vandalizing or tresspassing or anything of that sort it is an automatic $5,000.00 U.S. fine.

The second offense is one year in a St. Lucia prison. We drove by the prison on the way to the airport the last day, did not look like a place for an extended stay!

 

[Abster]

Nice!

Lovely pictures. Thank you!

 

[alpinista]

That's some amazing terrain, Tony! Thanks for sharing the pix. It's always fun to see something different than the mountains we have here!