January 6, 2019
We went on quite an adventure today, the ARC puts together tours to entertain us, of course, you can choose if you want to go. The trip was zip lining, and honestly, I’m a total wuss with these things. I dislike the rides that are fast or high up, for example, I was fine with these zip lines but I don't do so well on roller coasters. The zip lines were mainly slow but the fastest one was 30mph. I’m slightly scared of heights, but surprisingly, I wasn’t that scared even though we were really high above the ground. The drive there, across the island itself, was entertaining with our amazing tour guide telling us about St. Lucia and its history. On the drive back our guide gave us some treats; the white lining of the cocoa pod, the bay leaf, cinnamon bark, and the classic flesh of a brown coconut. Let me explain. The cocoa pod is an oval with ridges similar to a water or soda bottle. The cocoa seeds are surrounded by this white goop that tastes close to coconut or mango. The coca inside the pods is waxy and purple and it tastes like a crayon. That is what chocolate looks and tastes like when it is unprocessed. The bay leaf is what they use in the St. Lucia spiced rum. When you crush it, scents of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and other spices waft through the air, kind of like wintergreen. Some people might not know this but cinnamon comes from the bark of the cinnamon tree.
Cinnamon sticks are the bark left in the sun to dry and you grind that up for cinnamon powder. The flesh of a brown coconut is straight forward, and it tastes like coconut.
Catherine