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.
Ajoupa
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 …”
[ This story was first published in our July 2017 issue ]
References: Caribterritory. com | kalinagoterritory. com | http:// healingherbsofthecaribbean. blogspot. com / | Kevin Dangleben, Kalinago Tours – www. kalinagotours. com To Table of Contents