Leaving Statia, the Nantucket Clipper cruises south to St. Kitts. This island is a very green, with lots of agriculture. St. Kitts gets plenty of rain, especially compared to Statia, so rainforests thrive here. Today we’ll be exploring a rainforest not too far from Thomas Jefferson’s grandfather’s old plantation (See December 25, 2000 journal). Checking out the rainforest with us is a student explorer, Tyler. Our Kittian guide, Chris, comes to our ship with several Land Rover 4-wheel-drive jeeps. He and his assistant drive us to the start of the rainforest trail, near the old plantation. The trail into the rainforest is like a tunnel that takes us through all kinds of trees, big-leaf plants, and bamboo. The light grows dim as plants of all sizes and shapes fill nearly every space, catching all the sunlight. We see that a war rages here in the rainforest, pitting plant against plant as they fight for space and sunlight. Plants have many different ways of surviving in this wet and warm environment. Some plants are trees with big trunks and huge roots. Other plants wrap themselves around a tree as they grow up, searching for sunlight. Still other plants live up in the trees and send down long vines that absorb moisture from the air. Suddenly, Tyler runs past us and heads off the trail. He jumps into the air and grabs a long hanging vine and swings through the trees – like George of the Jungle! Wow, that looks like fun! When Tyler joins us back on the trail, Chris stops to show us some of the things growing here. Chris says that when people hike through the rainforest, they see trees and other plants. When he hikes through the rainforest, he sees a drug store, a supermarket and a candy shop. Many of the things growing in the rainforest make good medicines and can also be eaten for food. Some plants even have fruits and berries that are sweet like candy! Chris picks something from a plant to show us. He says that kids call it "old stinky toe." It looks like somebody’s old toe! Chris said the inside is sweet and kids like to eat it, but the outside is stinky. It smells really bad, like a stinky toe, but it tastes really good. So kids hold their noses as they eat it! Chris notes that, even though we probably won’t see them, monkeys live in the Kittian rainforest. These creatures, called green monkeys, were brought from Africa by the French to be pets. They climb on the trees and vines here in the rainforest. Chris explains that there’s one tree the monkeys will not climb. People here call it the "monkey-no-climb tree." He shows us a "monkey-no-climb tree" and we can see why the monkeys won’t climb it. The tree’s trunk and branches are covered with big, pointy, sharp thorns! We continue our hike through the rainforest. All of a sudden, we hear loud screeching noises and the trees and branches around us start shaking. Chris motions us to stop and be very quiet. He whispers that we’re in for a rare treat. We’ll get to see some green monkeys! All the commotion is from the monkeys. We see them running across branches from tree to tree. A male monkey apparently has invaded the space of a larger male, who is chasing the first monkey. The screeching continues for about five minutes. Then the trees stop shaking, the monkey screeches halt, and the rainforest is quiet again – except for an occasional birdcall. After a few hours we return, hot and sweaty, to the Land Rovers. Chris’s assistant brings out snacks for us before we leave. We enjoy pieces of just-opened coconut, fresh coconut scones (like biscuits) with guava jelly, and cool, sweet passion-fruit juice. After our snacks, Chris drives us back to the Nantucket Clipper, where we rest and wonder what interesting things we’ll see tomorrow! |
Chris and his assistant unload our water, food and equipment from the 4-wheel drive Land Rovers.
We call Tyler "George of the Jungle" because he swings through the trees on a long hanging vine.
Chris tells us about a fruit kids like to eat on St. Kitts. They call it "old stinky toe," because it looks and smells like an old stinky toe! The fruit is sweet but smells bad, so kids hold their noses when they eat it.
The "monkey-no-climb tree." You can see why monkeys don’t want to climb it! Look at the big, pointy thorns on the tree trunk.
We snapped this picture of a green monkey as it ran across the branches over our heads. The monkey is not really green, but gray and black. (Look carefully for the monkey in the center of the picture!) |
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January 6, 2001
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