St Lucia: into the wild

it seems hard to believe that i didnt really know how to ride a bike until 2008. friends had sort of shown me when i was a kid, and other tried once in Estonia in about 2003- but biking was never something i was comfortable with until my previous employer decided to participate in the UK government's cycle scheme. We were all called into the staff room and informed that the company was dedicated to fulfilling its "corporate responsibility" and being "green" and as a result had decided to heavily subsidise all members of staff who would agree to ride bikes to work. since it worked out being practically free, i signed up on the spot and 2 or 3 weeks later was issued with a cute red brompton. the hard part came next when i had to figure out what to actually do with it. Learning to ride a bike is probably never easy, but i am sure that London traffic didnt help. but i got better, and i now never take public transport unless i am going really far or have tons of suitcases with me. so, perhaps mistakenly, i like to think of myself as a cyclist, although in reality my cycle experiences are rather limited. when i found out i would be going to St Lucia, someone told me that it was possible to cycle through the rainforest there, and i was immediately intrigued. Sure enough, you can actually rent bikes there cheaply and easily and go off on your own through the rainforest, so i persuaded a girl about my age from the ship to join me, and off we went. I was amazed that the rental bikes were of top quality- i am used to riding a Brompton, so getting on a massive full suspension off road bike was initially baffling, but soon i felt as though i was biking on air. Riding was a pleasure, not effort, even going over rocks and through mud. but even that feeling of lightness could not compare to the feeling i had getting out on the road, looking ahead, and seeing nothing but endless layers of trees and green space. i have never seen nature so raw before. the road, which at times dwindled into a muddy single file path, twisted and turned through the forest, at times winding along the edge of terrifying ravines. whilst on the bike, i would be too scared to look down, but a few times i dismounted and simply stared at the ravines filled with some of the world's most lush vegetation. it was breathtaking.

then, suddenly, there was a waterfall. i jumped into it, then met up with a bunch of locals who showed us how to smash coconuts and eat them...and there we all were, sitting by a waterfall, eating coconuts and staring at the vegetation. It was all most surreal, but tremendous. it reminded me why i travel.