BASSETERRE, St. Kitts –Nationals and visitors will be able to tour the rainforest in a new and exciting way, flying hundreds of feet over green foliage and getting a spectacular aerial perspective of Wingfield Mountain thanks to Sky Safaris Inc.
Located at Wingfield Estate on the plains of the old sugar ruins at historic Romney Manor, Sky Safaris Inc. is expected to offer patrons about two and a half hours of “an exhilarating, adrenaline-pumping ride through the sky” travelling up to 80 kilometres per hour. The entire tour consists of five lines, the longest being 1400 feet traversing the Wingfield River at just about 250 feet above the river bed.
Executive Director Clayton Perkins at the parent company, Delisle Walwyn, told SKNVibes that the first line is one of the shortest and gives guests a warm up flight and a general overview of how the flight works. From the practice line, guests are transported to Line 2 by Land Rover where the real fun and excitement begins. Line 2 stands on one of the peaks in the rainforest and from there, everything goes downward to the base of the river. Each line, he explained, sends patrons flying carefree through the air to another line until the full five-line gliding fun comes to an end.
“Canada-based Skyline Eco-Adventurers Ltd., popularized by its zip-line sky tours in British Columbia and Hawaii, partnered with Greg Pereira of Greg’s Safaris to start the development project in St. Kitts. Late last year Delisle Walwyn was approached to partner in the joint venture.”
In outlining the company’s environmental commitments, Perkins informed “We offer the best eco-adventure on the island! In fact, we have ensured that during the installation of the equipment, in preparation of the site, that we left the smallest tracks possible for footprints. We have two Land Rover jeeps which soon will be converted to use bio-fuels so we would be able to use cooking oil to generate our vehicles.
“Our project will not cause pollution or any detrimental impact on the fragile yet beautiful natural surroundings. If you stand on the level of Line 2, you would see that we were very careful with our actions even with trimmings; we simply cut a small window through the rainforest for the guests to fly through.
Engineer for the project Kevin Smith explained that the zip-line technology used throughout Sky Safaris is “top-of-the-line, cutting edge technology” and is “the only one this advanced in the region”. He informed that the system has been over-engineered as a standard procedure and indicated that the lines can hold up to 120 000 pounds of tension and would therefore be able to stand even if a tree falls onto the wires.
Smith said the lines are much faster and have a fully-engineered brake system which consists of over 50 feet of spring coils that stops the ride. The ride also uses paragliding harnesses which he opined “separates us from many other operators in the region. Our harnesses have one clipping point on each side to provide a comfortable flight while at the same time, prevent the guest from spinning”.
Perkins said full line inspections would be carried out every day to ensure that there was no damage to the lines, and informed that the site has many redundant safety features to provide maximum safety.
There will be a small gift shop and bar for visitors to leave with souvenirs or just grab a cold drink and relax in the shade of the trees.
The expected preliminary prices for non-nationals are US $89 for the full tour, US $59 for a 3-line tour and short rainforest walk and US$45 for guests choosing to take the 3-line tour. A US $10 charge is applied if transportation to the site is needed. Locals choosing to take the full tour would be allowed two persons for the price of one and reasonable discounts on other rates. The exciting venture is set to be launched in February.
