River Tour, part II

As we bid farewell to Leslie and his farm, we trudged back to Eddison's boat and meandered down the Indian River where we met Ken G. and his radiant red van.  Ken G., as everyone calls him, is Eddison's land tour partner, and was taking us to Syndicate Falls, deep in the rainforest.  We all piled in and sped off down the two lane road towards the middle of the island where we accessed Mount Diablotin National Park.  Ken G. was super fun to hang with all afternoon.  He is happy and animated,  about 7 feet tall, slender with pants that some might call baggy.  He LOVES kids, has 4 of his own and was great fun for all 6 of ours.  He was superb at pointing out anything and everything we might want to know along the way including stopping the van in the middle of the road if necessary (for a photo of course).

Ken G's red van

Erica sits up front

Entering the National Park.  As we climbed higher and higher up the mountain, the foilage definitely changed from dry and overgrown to lush and fertile.

View as we drove to the trailhead

See, I told you Ken G. stopped for photos.....right in the middle of the road!

Not only that, he got out of the van to fetch us some fresh grapefruits, guava and starfruit.

Local coffee beans.  They turn red when they are ready to be harvested and everything is done by hand.

Poinsettia's and it's not even Christmas time!

More fruit, Ken G. shares with the troops

Porter and Olivia examining the map

Beautiful ferns. Everywhere. All kinds. Short. Tall. Big. Small

Local Gummier Tree.  These trees grow humungous!  They were once used to carve canoes way back when by the Carib Indians....they have no knots so they are great for boats (no leaks!)

Another TALL Gommier Tree

Syndicate Falls that-a-way

Anything Goes, Patronus and Virginia Dare...what an impressive group

Ken G. helps everyone cross the river safely

African Tulip tree (red flowers)

Adults crossing the river again

Finally, Syndicate Falls - ohhhh Ahhhhh.  By the way, this was the first waterfall many of the kids had ever seen, so it was pretty exciting stuff.

We braved the frigid fresh water to swim behind the cascading water!

Nuff said - Love this!