AUGUST 8, 2013
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| JACK THE MONA MONKEY |
Wednesday we actually got up early! It was time to take the dingy to the dock to meet George, owner of Survival Anchorage Taxi & Tour. At 9am we boarded his van along with 10 other people & baby Marius, it is Tour Day! Rod arranged this day tour with George, our destinations, River Rum Factory,
Belmont Estates Chocolate Factory, & the Royal
Mt Carmel Water Falls. The winding mountain road took us through the center of the island. As we climbed into the forest we came to a pullout with signs announcing we are in the
Grand Etang Rainforest Reserve. The forest was full of palms, banana, mango, nutmeg, almond, breadfruit & many trees we could not identify. There were also huge tree ferns, bamboo, flowering vines, grasses & more. It was some of the most incredible scenery I have ever seen. This is also where the Mona Monkey is in residence. Turn to page 2 for a view of the rum factory & waterfalls.
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| TREE FERN |
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| PORT LOUIS MARINA |
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| ANNANDALE FALLS |
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| POINT SALINAS IN THE DISTANCE |
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2 LOCALS DIVING FROM THE TOP, BESIDE
THE ANNANDALE FALLS |
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| CHOCOLATE FACTORY RESIDENTS |
RIVERS RUM FACTORY
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| CANE PRESS |
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| FEEDING THE FURNACE |
The
Rivers Rum Factory runs much as it has since the year 1785. The antique equipment produces 100,000 thousand bottles of rum that contain from 16% to 75% alcoholic content. The latter takes your breath away, just ask Rod.
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| SAMPLE THE PRODUCT |
They begin by feeding bundles of sugarcane into an ancient press, that is run by an equally ancient waterwheel to produce the sugarcane syrup that is needed. The fermenting process is done in copper vats, heating & cooling the syrup until finally it produces the final product. Watching the employee work almost barefoot feeding the fire in the furnace, under the copper kettle was hair raising. By the end of our guided tour it was samples all round. Mmmmmmmmm........... Good.
George was very helpful keeping us on track as he wound through the narrow mountain roads to our next destination. The day only got better with a lunch stop at the Belmont Estates Chocolate Factory & finally by late afternoon the
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| MARIUS EVEN GOT WET |
Royal Mt. Carmel Waterfall. It was a long day, but the views of the coast from the top was incredible.
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| GOING DOWN |
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| ROD AT THE FOOT OF THE FALLS |
Okay. Quit goofing off and post more details!! We are so enjoying reading about your adventures! Keep it coming!!
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I would call it goofing off, well maybe. This paradise thing is all its cracked up to be. Just like life on land, life on the water goes by so fast it's hard to keep up. I promise to work on harder on the details.
ReplyDelete