The Aerial Tram Tour on the island of St Lucia was my second choice,

What I wanted was an Adrenaline Zip Line Adventure,but as I was the only one,yes,out of the well over a thousand people on Columbus, there was no-one else wanting to do it,it could not take place and it had to be the Aerial Tram tour for me.Sixteen of us were up for it and a very nice comfortable bus,identical to the one in Costa Rica, came to pick us up.The driver was competent,too,unlike the Tobago nightmare. I was on St Lucia several years ago, cruising on the Queen Elizabeth.I did not take a tour then as heavy rain was forecast,but I went for a very long walk.I liked very much what I saw,the terminal clean with numerous shops and small restaurants.Castries,the capital,has the most enviable position - it is set in a bay,the setting is glorious and that is what I remembered the most,the utterly exquisite picture postcard views of the ships and the whole of the harbour from the other side of the bay. The drive to The Aerial Tram took us in a totally different direction.An effort had been made to keep the sides of the roads shrub and grass free.Posh,large cars stationary outside dirty,crumbling shacks,men washing their pride and joy whilst the courtyards were overflowing with refuse of every kind.Shabby,scruffy deserted settlements.People leave in search of work, of a better life and never come back.No-one to take care of what once was a hearth and a home.Suddenly several colourful buildings,neat,tidy,clothes flowing on a wash line,flowers in the front little garden,just a tiny patch,at the back a forest,spectacular,never ending forest. We pass The Baronneau Police Station and then we stop, the road undriveable,massive holes,we move at a snail's pace.The bus driver shows his mettle.New structures next to fallen down shacks,no effort taken to clear out the remnants of life that once was.Rum,rum,rum sold everywhere,opium of the poor.Men barely on their feet leaning against counters, against walls,sitting on the ground.And more shacks with signs of life,then a beautiful house on stilts.two cars in the forecourt,a small boat.Round the corner a banana plantation with a rich owners's ostentatious house and the poor workers little sheds.More deserted villages.The neglect,the poverty omnipresent.And so much greenery,one large forest.And we have arrived.Calabash.The Sky Rides Base is situated at 2000 ft [609 m] above sea level in the Ecological Park of St Lucia's Forest Reserve.Open air gondolas seat 8 plus a naturalist guide.We see hummingbirds but no bananaquits.We take photos of majestic gommiers,towering chatanniers,the strangler ficus that will soon kill the host tree it is wrapping itself around.There are giant ferns and heliconias,and magnolia trees, centuries old trees.The wonder of it all. I took a photograph of a dragon's blood tree.[ Rodial make cosmetics from the sap of the tree.I must try it when I return home.] The tram ride ends too soon.I leave humbled by the magnificence of nature,The Aerial Tram tour was my second choice,but I am so glad I went.