Tour of the Windward Side of the Island

Tuesday, August 15.  Beautiful sites awaited us after a wonderful, restful night.  It is beautiful here in the Argyle region of the island.  From the balcony we overlook the ocean and grazing cattle.  Cute geckos on the walls.  A light breakfast on our patio.  What a lovely way to start our day!

Animals are staked out to graze all over the island.

The island motto!  Relaxing is called "liming".

These cute critters are all over the place.

Gwen arranged to have her friend and neighbor, Gary, take me and Shannon on a tour of the Island. We left about 8am and traveled north on the windward side of the island.

The roads are narrow and windy, and they drive on the left side... I would have had an accident in the first 10 seconds if I had been driving!!   Gary took us through the small villages and we saw the gorgeous shore line, local neighborhoods and busy crews cleaning the hillsides of overgrown vegetation that clog the drainage ditches.

   There has been a lot of damage due to heavy rains.  But it was still beautiful.

Washed out river bed.

We made it to the north end of the road where there is a park overlooking the Owia Salt Pond.

Owia Salt Pond

  The salt ponds are actually a portion of beach that is protected with rock "barriers" that protect swimmers from the dangerous currents.  An ocean swimming pool, if you will.

 On our way back we stopped at the Black Point Tunnel, where a portion of Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed.

Entrance to the tunnel

Gary, our tour guide, and Shannon about to enter the cave.  We saw a few little bats in there.

The other side of the cave.  When that are of the sea was calm, the boats would transfer their cargo.

  The Jasper Tunnel was built about 1815 to provide and access route for sugar exports.  The black sand beaches are heavily vegetated with coconut trees and huge almond trees which provide wonderful shade for picnickers!  Shannon spotted baby coconut trees on the shore!

Baby coconut tree!  See the little roots reaching into the sand and the tiny tree growing from the big coconut seed!  

Giant Almond trees.  Provide lots of almonds, but mainly used for the wonderful shade!

Almond trees being trimmed.

We had a very nice lunch at the Paradise Hotel restaurant.  We got to meet Gary's wife, Laura, one of Gwen's best friends.  She set us up with at a lovely table overlooking the water where we had some rum drinks and a local favorite called Roti, a spicy curry mixture of potatoes and meat or vegies in a homemade roti wrap.  (Think giant burrito... but different!).  Very tasty!  Followed by a scrumptious Bananas Flambe!  We were ready to roll out of there!

Shannon with her Diamond Colada

Stacy and her Diamond Fruity Punch!  And it did pack a punch!

View from our table.  We are looking at Young Island, a private resort island.

Roti and cole slaw!  Scrumptious!

We had a nice relaxing rest and cool off at the house, then off we went to swim in the local "salt pond" a short distance from the house.  The water is only 1-2 feet deep, but it was fun to float around with the waves crashing outside the rock barriers.

Inn the "salt pond".

As the sun was setting, we walked back to our lodging for a shower and light dinner.  We were hit with a little rain.  The weather is a bit hot and humid, but the constant breezes keep it nice!

Shannon with her little treasure.

The anemone that Shannon found. 

Looking down on the "salt pond" from the lookout hill.  

Time to rest in preparation for more adventures tomorrow!