Now sit right back and I’ll share a tale, a tale of a cycling trip.
With… Eliz-a-beth and Brady too,
Tam-ara and the local guide,
here in St Lucia, Africa!
Similar to Gilligan’s Island, for me the bicycling trip started out with a potential to be a fateful trip…my front tire was low…but we got that fixed and were on our way! Brady and Elizabeth had met Lawrence earlier in the day on a gator/hippo tour and he offered to take them and any of us other WR’s on a tour around St. Lucia, providing we rent our own bikes. The three of us were up for the offer and we pedaled on our way starting in the southern part of town along toward the beaches. Lawrence took us to an area where at times various herds of wild animals ranging from deer to hyenas come to drink. Today, there was none…well aside from a baby Dung beetle nearby. You could tell that Lawrence is passionate about the wildlife and experiencing nature with them. He soon became to me our own St. Lucia crocodile hunter. We looked for foot prints of animals in the mud at the water hole and listened to the noises of the area. He in fact was the one to show and explain to us the life of a Dung beetle.
We then continued along some trails and passed the stables for horseback safaris. I was able to leave my bike for a minute and try to make friends with a horse named Jack. (for those who want to know out of the 5 horses only one saddle was English). We then went back through town and into my favorite part the forest! I would have never known it was there, only 2 blocks away from the market I was at the day prior. Again God’s creation baffles me and I don’t even know a 600ith of it! We saw a fawn, but not many other animals.
Then Lawrence found out we hadn’t been to the docks yet so we continued north to the river a couple miles before it joins the ocean. Here we saw fishermen’s beach and some fish actually being filleted. Past the docks there was a boardwalk that we proceeded along, most of it was forest like and then we stopped at an area that would be helpful to see hippos and crocodiles (truly our crocodile hunter!) Also when we were at this beach Lawrence told us about how he knew of a snake that lived in a tall rotted out tree trunk that we were standing near. He stepped up alongside it and peered down to see if the snake was still dormant. Thankfully for us ladies it was. We then were at the point of beginning our return.
Now on the way to the dock we all enjoyed a breezy coast downhill, now we had the feet to pedal all the way up it. I like the way Lawrence thinks, because he challenged us to challenge ourselves that we could pedal the whole way up, without stopping or deciding to push. I love these personal challenges proving to myself that I can do some physical feet and stretching my mind over matter. The only problem was that my left pedal fell off ¾ up the hill! I wasn’t really sure what happened at first, but thankfully we found all the pieces and were able to make it work again. We went back through the forest part, not necessary, but we all enjoyed it so much it really was. The only problem was we had to stop every 5 minutes to make sure my pedal was still tightly bolted. But because of this I was able to see some monkeys!! I again wasn’t able to really get any picture worth sharing. 3 hours after we initially pedaled away our tour ended with some fun times and sore bottoms!
This week-end has been such a blessing, this excursion in particular to go and do some cardio and relieve some built up stress/tension whatever it may be, releasing those endorphins! I also am so very thankful for the chance to do something like this with my sisters to be able to share this experience and these stories. Lawrence was such a blessing and a genuine guy, I greatly appreciate his insights regarding South Africa and pray that situations will change for the best.
Please note: Excursions like this are funded from personal money. You have entrusted us with the money God has given you. Be confident in that we are called into responsible stewardship of Kingdom money and
WILL NOT jeopardize the ministry budget on Holiday expenses.
