In early April, I was blessed with the opportunity to join my husband on a work trip to the island of St. Martin. This is a yearly trip he makes and I've been fortunate enough to tag along a handful of times. Although it doesn't top my list of favorite places to vacation (due to everything being pricey, congested roadways, and lots of litter in non-touristy areas), I certainly enjoy relaxing poolside with an ocean view while catching up on a little leisure reading. Ain't nothing wrong with that!
If your geography is as bad as mine, here is a little help in locating the island.
And here's a little evidence to prove that much of my time on the island was spent with my hiney firmly planted in a lounge chair with a frozen, virgin drink in one hand and my ebook in the other. I seriously polished off 3 novels on this 4 day trip and loved every second of it!
Soaking up some sun at The Westin - Dawn Beach
But, I can only stay vegged out on my rear end for so long, so the hubby and I did take one little adventure on this trip. We braved the local traffic and headed over to the French side of the island (the island is divided between France and the Netherlands) to Loterie Farm for our first ever zip-line adventure!
Arriving at Loterie Farm we kind of felt like we had stepped onto a whole other island. The landscaping was well groomed. The vegetation was lush and green. There was no trash littering our view. And we loved watching several large iguanas cruise around the property like they owned the place.
Isn't he a doll?
Loterie Farm not only offers zip-lining, self-guided hiking adventures, and a luxurious pool with cabanas situated near a flowing stream, but also features a bar with lounge area and restaurant. It really had a trendy, treehouse kinda vibe and we enjoyed hanging out here until it was our turn to zip.
Walkway leading up to the bar and lounge area
Inside the lounge
We had done plenty of lounging prior to this point, so we only stayed long enough to indulge in a piece of blueberry pie (and then a fruit plate to make ourselves feel better about the pie). And then it was time to get down to business...
All suited up and ready to fly!
I was getting pretty nervous at this point and still trying to figure out why our tour is called FlyZone EXTREME. I wasn't so sure I wanted my first zip-lining experience to be extreme. But at this point there was no time for being a sissy, so after a few safety instructions, I clipped on, took a brave jump off the platform and enjoyed the ride...
...and I LOVED it! Soaring high above this lush canopy of protected forest with a view of the Caribbean Ocean to the right was spectacular!!
Here goes hubby soaring over the tropical forest.
It didn't take long for us to figure out the meaning of extreme on this tour. Between zip-lines we had to navigate a series of interconnected obstacles snaking through the trees. This really added to the adventure and made us earn our free ride along the zip lines. Here's just a couple of pictures of the obstacles...
Along the tour we had a great experience with our guide who was very knowledgable, extremely helpful and patient, and always looking out for our safety. We never felt rushed and were allowed to move at our own pace.
After an hour and a half of high flying fun and a short hike, we arrived back at Loterie Farm a little bit sweaty and a whole lot wind-blown, but with big smiles to prove our first ever zip-line experience was an awesome success!!
Have you ever zip-lined and where? Would you do it again?
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