St Lucia

Arrived at Castries on St Lucia around 10am. This is the capital of the Eastern Caribbean nation which alternated between French and British rule throughout the 1700s before finally settling as British. It achieved independence in Feb 1979. It is a tropical volcanic island with lush greenery and mountains. The weather was mostly sunny with temperatures up to 32C. The tour today started off around 11am and consisted of 60 split into small groups to travel by jeep. 10 of us boarded our large orange jeep which had seating down both sides of an open rear. Our guide for this part of the tour was Anthony with Danny our driver. We set off though the town which was very quiet as it was Sunday morning. Then headed up the first mountain on a steep, narrow switchback road overlooking the harbour. We then crossed down to the central island where we found agriculture, especially banana plantations. Several stops to take advantage of photo opportunities and to learn about the island. Stopped on the side of road to sample local fruits from a vendour. Eventually dropped down the hillside into the old fishing village of Anse La Raye. A 30 minute stay allowed us to walk around and observe the village, boats and the local children playing in the ocean. Another 15 minutes and we were able to overlook Marigot Bay before descending to finish our jeep part of the tour by the bay. Transferred to a large cataraman along with the rest of tour groups. The Carnival2 captained by John and his 5 crew was a 60ft long by 27ft wide party boat capable of carrying 85. We motored out of the bay and then up the coast to anchor off a shallow sandy beach about 20 minutes away. Here was the opportunity to go swimming which many took advantage of for about 30 minutes. Heading further along the coast we were able to get a great view of the Pitons for photos. The Pitons are volcanic plugs (dormant), and both are located on the southwestern coast of Saint Lucia. Gros Piton measures 2,619ft, while Petit Piton rises to 2,461ft. Leaving here we headed back down the coast for an hour. This was party time with food, drinks, music and dancing. Arrived back at the dockside in Castries by 3pm.