Ruggedly beautiful and lushly tropical, St. Lucia is the second largest of the Lesser Antilles' Windward Islands and it is blessed with a magnificent shoreline. The island is a rich tapestry of forested mountains, gentle valleys, banana plantations, wide beaches, rocky volcanic mountains, giant tree ferns, and wild orchids. Its position between French Martinique (25 miles north) and British St. Vincent (20 miles south) partially accounts for the islands traumatic and tempestuous past. Mr. Soufriere (French for smoking volcano): The world's only "walk-up volcano." It encompasses a rocky moonscape of pits and open craters; yet, in spite of sulphur springs and constantly fuming steam jets, the volcano has not erupted in recorded history. The volcano has two sisters - the majestic landmark twin peaks - called Petit Piton (1900 feet) and the half-mile-high Gros Piton. Camouflaged clothing is also forbidden in St. Lucia.
Jason had planned a Land and Sea to the Pitons as our excursion for the day. Since we were leaving at 8:30 am for a 7 hour excursion, we ordered room service. The greatest part of this was selecting whatever we wanted and seeing a $0.00 next to the total! The second greatest part was enjoying our view from our balcony as we ate. I'm really starting to get the hang of cruising! :)
Our excursion was described as:
A scenic drive takes you along the winding west coast road (yes, it was winding and I'm very thankful that the only seats available on the tour bus when we got on were the very front...Jason and I were both feeling queasy by the time we got to lunch) near the rainforest to Soufriere, home of the majestic Pitons, a World-heritage site. Here you will visit the Diamond Botanical Gardens with its mineral baths and waterfall. Next, you will be treated to a buffet where a variety of local cuisine awaits you at an Estate house. Afterwards, drive to Soufriere jetty where a powered or sailing catamaran awaits you for a leisurely cruise to a tranquil cove for swimming and a tour of the world-famous Marigot Bay.
This excursion was so great. We had a little bit of land and a little bit of sea. On the bus ride we made some stops at different locations and our tour guide was great at telling us whether or not it was a good deal and/or what to say to the locals. She also treated us to a coconut ball (that was really good) and a tamarin ball (that was horrible and Jason was nice enough to give me his). The lunch was delicious...I just wish I had taken a picture of it and the estate. The whole tour left me amazed at how poor this island is despite it being an island filled with tourism. It really made me sad, but thankful at all we are blessed with! The swimming and catamaran ride back to the ship was wonderful and very relaxing. I love this island! It is very beautiful and scenic! This excursion is just another example of why I love Jason...he's a great researcher and planner for trips! I'm just thankful that we were safe during this excursion. After arriving back home we learned that a Celebrity Cruise that was in port on Friday (after we left on Tuesday) and took the same tour was robbed...crazy!
For the evening, we were treated to a show called Sirens. It was a strange show, but it was good. The description for it was...Join an unsuspecting pirate crew as three mystical mermaids invite you under the sea to a night of burlesque and fantasy you will never forget. Swashbuckling action and spectacular sets and costumes make this show an adventure. The performers on board are really talented and did a great job.
Being that we're such party animals, we headed to the room and went to sleep early after a long day! Next stop...St. John's Antigua!
Pulling into port (one of the many reasons I loved having a balcony)
Getting ready for breakfast!
It was neat to watch the pilots as we arrived and departed ports
View from our bus as we begin going up the winding roads. :)
One of the many banana plants we saw (yes, we learned that bananas grow on a plant not a tree)
Marigot Bay
I was amazed at the number of cats and dogs we saw just roaming the streets
This lady and her two kids were just playing in the water. We also saw kids that were very young playing outside their house or getting bathed outside. They were so cute!
The street at one of our stops
The Pitons
Ummm...this was the road we were on to go to the gardens...it was a two way road!
The Diamond Falls River
Flamingo plant
Not sure what church/building this was, but I thought it was neat
Jason ready to relax on our catamaran
This guy had obviously caught himself a fish. Fishing is a major source of income in St. Lucia.
This amazed me...see the boy hanging onto the catamaran next to us? Well, that catamaran was docked along the dock and ours was docked next to it. This boy and a few others were coming under the net asking for money and hanging onto the boats. The boat owners did not like it and told us to ignore them. Before we left some local authorities were trying to get them and they were hiding between the two catamarans. It wasn't just that they were hiding, but that the two catamarans were being knocked around and into each other by the waves. Crazy!
Jason was adventurous at our swimming stop and jumped right in. I however took the stairs down. :) Downside to St. Lucia...there were men in their canoes trying to sell us conch shells as we were getting off the catamaran.
Resort next to where we docked for a swim
Sad...these were little shacks (as far as I could tell) along the coast. It looked like there was a boy running around on the shore. It really broke my heart!
Marigot Bay from the sea
Pulling back in towards our cruise ship
When we got back to our room I was able to get this picture of our catamaran. Yep, it was named Carnival II. Several of us said when we got on that we hoped it wasn't a bad sign that it had Carnival in the name. :)
Leaving port...this runway was right at the port and on the water!
