Do you know how great it is to do something you have wanted to do for many years? Well, I can truthfully say Wednesday, January 6, 2010 will remain an answer to one of my dreams. Bill and I rode the Sky Rides (which includes the aerial tram and zip lines) in the Rain Forest of Saint Lucia. First let me say that the Rain Forest Corporation is a Florida based company who has built these wonderful experiences in Costa Rica (2), Jamaica, Dominica and St. Lucia. They are built to ANSI standards with triple redundancy so they are very safe. To start our day, we took a van ride from the Rodney Bay Marina for a 45 minute drive thru the island and many small communities and finally up to the base of the mountain. We were met by Anissia, a lovely girl who was to be our lead guide and another young man named Terry who was our secondary guide. We were separated into groups of 6 and taken to the equipment staging area where were fitted into a climbing sling (you step into the gear which goes around your legs, your waist and fitted with a shoulder harness). There are 4 steel carabineers and rollers. We were given gloves, a hairnet (for sanitary purposes) and a hard hat helmet. Once geared up, we were taken over to the training zip line. It was only about 6 feet above ground and about 30 yards long. Here the guide showed us the proper position to be in for a safe and fun zip ride. We experienced a quick and exhilarating view of what was to come. We were then taken to another staging area for the Aerial Tram ride up the side of the mountain.
The steel bars on the sides and top allowed for good visibility everywhere. Bill and I sat in the first seats so we could look down and forward easily. As the tram started forward we silently glided up through the lush and beautiful rain forest. The huge trees that went hundreds of feet in the air were many varieties but the most impressive to me was in the ficus family and banyans. Along the way we were thrilled to see several humming birds with colors that boggle the imagination. We also saw a cute little Banana Quit which is a very small bird with a yellow breast. The forest floor which was sometimes 100 feet below us was crowded with ferns, some Heliconium flowers, flowering bushes of lovely colors and giant fern trees. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the flora and fauna and gave us the botanical names of the flora and a history of the rain forest and how hard the Rain Forest Corporation worked to make minimal impact on this protected forest. She said the guides were thoroughly trained on the nature to enhance our trip. I was absolutely in "hog heaven" with all the beauty. When we arrived at the top of the staging area (after a 45 minute tram trip), we exited the tram at a landing station where we began a short hike to the first of the sky canopy (zip line) stations. These stations are amazing in their construction. The first station, called a platform, is the only one with stairs up to it. We climbed about 25 feet above the forest floor. The platform is around a huge tree. A metal frame is built around the tree and hung by cables from above the platform higher in the tree. It has a wooden floor and railings to keep you from falling off. The minute you step on a platform, you are hooked to a safety line that is attached to the tree. The secondary guide zips across to the next platform to wait for us to arrive. Then the primary guide begins the process of attaching one person at a time to the zip line. I stepped on a small platform that raised me up to a level where my head was below the lowest of two steel cables about 3/8" thick. My roller and carabineers were attached to both lines and an additional safety carabineer was thrown over the lower cable. I took my left hand and placed it around the lines from my climbing sling and my right hand stretched behind me to encircle the lower zip line. This was done to keep me from going in circles facing backwards. We were told when we approached the next platform our second guide would cross his arms to signal us to gently press down with our right hand and that would slow our arrival to the next station. Once I was "geared up", I leaned far back to a prone position then I crossed my ankles, said a quick prayer to my angel, Jerome, then let it fly. The speed I went down the first zip line was just amazing and so much fun. However, I won't try to fool you that I didn't have a few moments of "oh my gosh, what am I doing up here."  But it was a fantastic adventure. My arrival at the first station went perfectly and I felt zip line ready. Bill went before me to take pictures and he was like a pro. Once all six people were on the second platform, our primary guide zipped over looking very relaxed. From there we did 9 more zip lines. Some were short lines of only about 30 to 40 yards and others were 100 yards or so. The highest point we zipped across was 100 feet above the forest floor and awesome to see. On the longer zips we went faster so the secondary guide had a rope with a rubber stopper on it that he could use to slow us down if we were descending too fast for a safe landing. To my knowledge he never had to use that. One time I grabbed the line to slow down a little too hard and my arm whipped back to slap me in the face...once learned never repeated. Ha. The 10th zip line was 100 yards long down to the forest floor again and what a thrill. I was laughing all the way. We had to hike back up the beautiful trail to the aerial tram station which was quite a job for me since I was in poor hiking shape being on the boat for 2 months. However, it was beautiful to be down on the level of all the beautiful trees, flowers and ferns. Once we arrived at the tram station, we had a breathtaking 45 minute ride down the mountain. The downward cable line was much higher than the upward trip so we have a view of the mountains and villages for many miles. In several places we could see the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. It was quite a fantastic trip and even though it was a little expensive ($100/person which includes the van trip to and from the Rain Forest), I would have paid double .
At the end of the ride, we were offered a rum punch or water (ha, guess what one we choose). I'll never forget the fun we had this day. Back to the boat and to review the wonderful pictures Bill took to document our day. If you ever get a chance to go on a Rain Forest Zip Line, we heartily recommend it.