18th January
Today we arrived in Castries in St. Lucia. The sun was shining and it looked as though we were going to have a nice day. St. Lucia is one of the Caribbean’s little treasures, with colourful fishing villages, secluded beaches, magnificent rain forests and exotic blossoms. The scenery is just stunning. Dazzling beaches surround a patchwork in shades of green, made up of tropical fruit fields, rugged jungles with wild orchids, giant ferns and bird of paradise flowers.
St Lucia is the second largest of the four islands making up the Windward group of islands. It has a mountainous backbone with Mount Gimie at 3,117 feet, the highest point. Although much more spectacular are the Gros Piton and the Petit Piton, old volcanic spines rising sheer out of the sea on the west coast near Soufriere.
Possession of the island was a subject of constant dispute, war and bloodshed for nearly 150 years, with the island changing hands 14 times between Britain and France. On 22nd February 1979, St, Lucia became fully independent, but remains a member of the Commonwealth. Tourism is its main money earner.
Today we went on a 7.1/2 hour tour, which I think was entitled See and Sea. This meant that half of the tour was by coach and the other half was by catamaran along the coast back to Castries. We started our tour by boarding a coach for the “ See” part of the excursion. We drove briefly around the town through the morning rush hour (which was fun), then we climbed inland to view the harbour from up high. We had a charming tour guide who related the history of the island as we drove further up into the hills. We again stopped at a vantage point overlooking the famous Marigot Bay, where we also sampled the local ketchup (yellow in colour) made from Bananas. The coach then drove down the hillside to a small fishing village, where we stopped and Doreen walked around the many market stalls. After a short stop we again drove inland up into the hills again to get spectacular views of the Pitons.
Again after a short stop we drove round the valley and up to the source of the volcano, where they still have active hot springs. After a brief tour taking in the pungent smell of the sulphur at the same time negotiating with the many vendors selling their wares (needless to say Doreen succumbed to their sales patter).
We were on the move again, this time into the tropical rain forest, where ferns and palms are huge. This was where we stopped at a Botanical Garden which, although small, was well stocked with interesting and unusual plants, many of which Doreen recognised as our house plants at home. At the top of the garden was a “diamond waterfall”, which was unusual because of its many colours. Whilst wandering around this garden Doreen saw several hummingbirds, feasting on the plants, but unfortunately Geoffrey was never there with his camera.
Next we then drove around the corner and stopped at an old mill, where we were served with a superb buffet luncheon. Believe it or not we were only half way around the tour. We then drove out of the forest down to the town of Soufriere, where our Catamaran was waiting for us. This is where the Gros Piton and Petit Piton just seem to rise out of the sea.
In front of us was a trip of 2.1/2 hours back up the west coast of St. Lucia to Castries where our ship was berthed. With fantastic coastal views as we went along, halfway up we pulled in to a secluded bay and anchored for about an hour, to allow the passengers a dip in the sea. Even here anchored off the shore the local peddlers reached us in small canoes, trying to sell their wares. Geoffrey was very tempted to go for a swim but decided just to tip his toe into the water from the ladder. All too soon we were off again. However, this was when the crew broke out the rum and we drank rum punches as we partied back to port.
We arrived next to our ship at 5.00pm, after a fantastic eight hour trip. On the way back to the ship we saw a couple of friends in a karaoke bar, so we joined them for a “quick” drink or two, or three, listening to the karaoke, which was really excellent with the compare give wonderful singing performances. He was also joined by Ricky Zalez, the cabaret singer off the ship, together with several other members of the ships company.
So ended our day in St. Lucia, a very enjoyable experience.
Today we arrived in Castries in St. Lucia. The sun was shining and it looked as though we were going to have a nice day. St. Lucia is one of the Caribbean’s little treasures, with colourful fishing villages, secluded beaches, magnificent rain forests and exotic blossoms. The scenery is just stunning. Dazzling beaches surround a patchwork in shades of green, made up of tropical fruit fields, rugged jungles with wild orchids, giant ferns and bird of paradise flowers.
St Lucia is the second largest of the four islands making up the Windward group of islands. It has a mountainous backbone with Mount Gimie at 3,117 feet, the highest point. Although much more spectacular are the Gros Piton and the Petit Piton, old volcanic spines rising sheer out of the sea on the west coast near Soufriere.
Possession of the island was a subject of constant dispute, war and bloodshed for nearly 150 years, with the island changing hands 14 times between Britain and France. On 22nd February 1979, St, Lucia became fully independent, but remains a member of the Commonwealth. Tourism is its main money earner.
Today we went on a 7.1/2 hour tour, which I think was entitled See and Sea. This meant that half of the tour was by coach and the other half was by catamaran along the coast back to Castries. We started our tour by boarding a coach for the “ See” part of the excursion. We drove briefly around the town through the morning rush hour (which was fun), then we climbed inland to view the harbour from up high. We had a charming tour guide who related the history of the island as we drove further up into the hills. We again stopped at a vantage point overlooking the famous Marigot Bay, where we also sampled the local ketchup (yellow in colour) made from Bananas. The coach then drove down the hillside to a small fishing village, where we stopped and Doreen walked around the many market stalls. After a short stop we again drove inland up into the hills again to get spectacular views of the Pitons.
Again after a short stop we drove round the valley and up to the source of the volcano, where they still have active hot springs. After a brief tour taking in the pungent smell of the sulphur at the same time negotiating with the many vendors selling their wares (needless to say Doreen succumbed to their sales patter).
We were on the move again, this time into the tropical rain forest, where ferns and palms are huge. This was where we stopped at a Botanical Garden which, although small, was well stocked with interesting and unusual plants, many of which Doreen recognised as our house plants at home. At the top of the garden was a “diamond waterfall”, which was unusual because of its many colours. Whilst wandering around this garden Doreen saw several hummingbirds, feasting on the plants, but unfortunately Geoffrey was never there with his camera.
Next we then drove around the corner and stopped at an old mill, where we were served with a superb buffet luncheon. Believe it or not we were only half way around the tour. We then drove out of the forest down to the town of Soufriere, where our Catamaran was waiting for us. This is where the Gros Piton and Petit Piton just seem to rise out of the sea.
In front of us was a trip of 2.1/2 hours back up the west coast of St. Lucia to Castries where our ship was berthed. With fantastic coastal views as we went along, halfway up we pulled in to a secluded bay and anchored for about an hour, to allow the passengers a dip in the sea. Even here anchored off the shore the local peddlers reached us in small canoes, trying to sell their wares. Geoffrey was very tempted to go for a swim but decided just to tip his toe into the water from the ladder. All too soon we were off again. However, this was when the crew broke out the rum and we drank rum punches as we partied back to port.
We arrived next to our ship at 5.00pm, after a fantastic eight hour trip. On the way back to the ship we saw a couple of friends in a karaoke bar, so we joined them for a “quick” drink or two, or three, listening to the karaoke, which was really excellent with the compare give wonderful singing performances. He was also joined by Ricky Zalez, the cabaret singer off the ship, together with several other members of the ships company.
So ended our day in St. Lucia, a very enjoyable experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment