#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream
Epiphany at the waterfall.
We were on our way to visit a vanilla plantation in Basse Terre, a day trip on the rainforest side of the island. We took a spontaneous detour up a narrow road when one of us spied a sign for a garden. We stumbled into a tropical paradise - Le Jardin de la Rencontre.
After being offered glasses of fresh guava juice and tiny freshly picked bananas, our guide, Marcielle, offered to take us on a tour of the banana plantation, and promised us a swim at the waterfall.
Miquel, who runs the plantation, taught us everything we wanted to know about how the bananas are grown, organically, under his care, and shipped off to France, where their bananas account for 40 percent of the market.
Every minute of this day was a feast of beauty - language, tastes, new friendships, smells. . . sounds. . . But it was at the waterfall that I had my transcendent experience. The pulse of the water against my neck and back, looking up at the four story high vegetation, I was awestruck, humbled with wonder.
I have never felt so small, I thought.
And then I heard my voice again -
No, not small. Right sized.
As we left, Marcielle showed us one more time around the garden - he grows vanilla! So, we had found the plant we'd left home for - not in the place we planned, but the in just the right place after all.
All the way home my fingers smelled of coriander and patchouli, vanilla and camphor.
Tonight, I am wondering how I will I find my way off this island in three days.
All photos and text copyright Kelly DuMar 2017