It was somewhat of a paradoxical outing – “Visit manicured gardens and a wild rain forest . . . This is a demanding walking excursion; sturdy shoes are required”.
We were working our way through the West Indies and found ourselves on the island of St. Kitts. We had signed up for an excursion that appeared to be a perfect blend of our interests – the art of batik, a garden stroll, and a rain forest hike. There were twenty or so other participants on the outing.
It started innocently enough – a stroll through a beautiful tropical garden at Romney Manor, a 15th century estate that also hosted the Caribelle Batik Studio.
Bright colors of tropical flowers were everywhere.
And inviting benches.
But the star of the garden was this 400 year old Saman tree.
Standing beneath it and looking up through its canopy was mesmerizing.
It was an ecosystem onto itself, hosting bromeliads, ferns, and orchids in its massive branches.
Leaving the garden we were led down a hillside trail by our guide, getting our first taste of the rainforest. Everything was wet and the footing somewhat unsure.
Eventually we got to a road that would take us to the Wingfield Estate, the site of the true trailhead.
I somehow thought that this was going to be like the PBS shows I had seen on rainforests – a jaunt through a moist and humid environment over relatively flat terrain, but a sign at the trailhead suggested different, noting a 500 foot elevation change. Taking a quick look at our compatriots, and their assorted footwear, I thought, “this could get interesting”.
Everything was wet but filtered sunshine suggested good timing for our hike. We were just a short distance onto the trail however, when that all changed with a cloud burst above us. Not quite the storm scene from Jurassic Park, but similar effect as we all sought shelter under a big tree. This brief storm, and one a short time later, left the trail muddy and slippery.
The path was perched on a hillside with steep drops off to our right. At times there were ropes to keep one from the edge.
The setting was what one expected of a rainforest, featuring aerial roots from the Fig and Banyon trees,
and there were large trees on the steep slopes with a thick canopy and midstory.
We didn’t see a lot of wildlife but I suspect that was do our concentration on our footing as we worked our way up and down grades on the wet trails.
This rainforest was not pristine. In fact, it, the “Wingfield Watershed”, was utilized as the water source for the island of St. Kitts, and at times there was evidence of this infrastructure along the path.
Some parts of the preserve were off limits to prevent contamination of the water supply.
In addition to the slippery trail surface, the hike also had several unimproved stream crossings, and at times we had to climb over or under downed trees.
And peaceful streams were a constant.
Despite the challenge of the trail conditions the experience was fascinating. The plant diversity was outstanding, we just did not have enough time to study them. We did see some Cocoa trees but our guide”, “the Remarkable Rondal”, pointed out that they were free of fruit due to the presence of a large number of invasive Green Vervet Monkeys on the preserve. The monkeys were brought to the island from Africa as exotic pets in 17th century, with some escaping or being released into the wild, and now their populations exceeds that of humans on St. Kitts and its sister island Nevis.
Signage at the trailhead noted that there were 300 species of ferns in the preserve and we certainly saw our fair share. This is not surprising as many ferns thrive in moist, low light environments.
One interesting group of ferns that we saw were the Filmy Ferns, a group that I had not seen before. They had very short leaves and clung to rocks. Their leaves are only one cell layer thick and prone to drying out and therefore thrive in areas of constant moisture.
This millipede caught the eye of the photographer. If you uncoiled it I suspect that it would have been four inches in length. While millipedes have a squeamish factor for most people, they are absolutely benign. They are one of the important recyclers of nature, turning decaying plant debris into humus, the organic matter that forms soil.
Another interesting specimen was this saprophytic fungus that was noted on a downed log. It had a honeycomb appearance on the topside of its structure which is quite unique.
As we trekked through the forest we would occasionally hear a booming sound from the valley below. It was arising from “the communication tree”, as one guide would strike the trunk of a hollow Banyan tree with a coconut to let other guides know where they were. Basically it allowed for spacing of the different tour groups.
Lastly, you had to suspect a trophy tree photo from a rainforest outing. The aerial roots suggest a fig but I did not have time for full identification.
In summary, this was an interesting outing. From the colorful batik studio and tropical garden, to the lush, wet rainforest. There is wet, and then there is rainforest wet. I don’t want to say that Viking cruisers are soft, but we are pampered, and the rainforest trek took many of our hikers out of their comfort zone. Scurrying beneath fallen trees and working to keep each other upright was not anticipated but certainly made for a memorable hike. Undoubtedly, some pairs of shoes were stained beyond recovery. After returning home I reread Viking’s excursion description and I must say that they were honest in their portrayal. Perhaps we had romanticized the anticipated experience. Would we do the hike again – in a minute!
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Photo credits to Peggy Juengling Burns, Patrick Burns, and Kevin Burns.
Overview
Location – On the island of St. Kitts in the West Indies.
Parking – both estates had large parking areas but we arrived by tour bus.
Facilities – yes at both estates.
Trail Conditions – bare dirt with exposed stones. The paths were quite slippery when we visited.
Benches – none noted on the trail.
Kids – not advised.
Dogs – prohibited.
Suggested Paired Hikes – none.
Links:
So wonderful to have a friend like you that is living his best life with his family! Thanks for all the beautiful pictures and the places you take us!
Thank you. It has been a good ride.