Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine July 2017 | Page 250

Isulukati Waterfall
The muted sound of men shouting turns your head to a
magical scene framed by greenery and golden sunlight:
off to the right, a crystal waterfall emanating from a blur of
forest in the distance tumbles over a shiny black rockbed to
flow into the Atlantic Ocean below. To the left, a group of
muscular, half-dressed men sits around a long tree trunk,
carving out its insides with small axes. Today the group has
felled a gommier tree (not an everyday occurrence) and is
carving it into a canoe. Your guide points out the pile of
rocks nearby which will be used to “stretch” the inside of
the boat and help form its shape.
A dryness in your throat and the shirt sticking to your
back mean it’s time to leave the model village and head
back to the present-day Kalinago community where you’re
homestaying with a local family in a traditional thatched
hut. 15 minutes later your host greets you with a tall glass
of coconut water, which you hastily gulp down after she
ushers you inside. The relief from the outside heat is instant
and the coolness within embraces you in a silent greeting of
Mabrika!. You lie down on your mat under a heavy blanket
of contented fatigue and let your eyes narrow, shrinking the
needles of sunlight overhead. Before long you have drifted
off far away into a fading swirl of steaming coulirou aromas,
spirited young voices playing in the river, undulating hills
of fresh green stretching to heaven, and the soft whisper in
your mind’s ear: “Aitina Kalinago, aitina Kalinago…”
Photo Credit: Nancy Duemling
References:
Caribterritory.com | kalinagoterritory.com
http://healingherbsofthecaribbean.blogspot.com/
Kevin Dangleben, Kalinago Tours – kalinagotours.org
Young Kalinago girl with catch
Photo Credit: Kalinago Tours
Homestay in a Kalinago traditional residential hut