St. Lucia, our port of call for today, is a 27 mile long and 14 mile wide lush rain forest, also known for the best place for honeymooners. About 170,000 people live here, with 65,000 of those residing in the capital of Castries. St. Lucia is an independent state within the British Commonwealth of Nations. Although there is a lot of French influence here as well.
Days of old saw explorers, pirates, soldiers, sugar cane plantations, and even coal mines. Today, mostly bananas are grown, and tourism is the number one employer. Snorkeling, swimming, sailing, fishing, and sunbathing are the normal. Some of the ship's tours covered most of these activities. Prices ranged from $40 to $150 and included a trolley ride, highlight drive, a trip to the sulfur springs and a cocoa factory, a food & wine excursion, two types of tram rides, and a catamaran/swim tour.
While dining in the Club Orange, we heard that the ship was cleared, but there were restrictions. The first announcement said that only certified taxis could be used, as well as ship's tours. At the same time the second announcement came, it seemed like the diners all got up, dragging their chairs on the wood floors. They sure make a lot of noise, so we did not catch the entire message. By the time we left the ship, the local authorities had changed their minds about the taxis. But we did have to pass through a medical checkpoint, where we were supposed to have our temperatures taken. That did not happen, but we were required to "Purell", then get a non-removable wrist band put on. This was similar to what we did in Jamaica.
Entering the terminal complex, Pointe Seraphine, we found that many of the 20 shops, bars, and cafes were closed. Then we remembered today was Sunday and maybe that was the reason for the closures. Either that, or it was the dreaded virus. There were several other ships in port such as Ponant's Le Dumont D'Urville, The Viking Sea, and the smaller Sea Dream Yacht Club. We assumed that many of these passengers were on shore tours, because they sure were not in the port area, or even downtown.
Once outside the gate, we had to pass by a long line of taxi drivers offering rides to the beach….any beach. They seemed to accept "no thanks" for our answer. Except one fellow, who remarked that why do we want to ruin our expense shoes by walking to town? He suggested it was much easier to ride and save the shoes. Well, that was a new one we never heard before.
One of the largest markets was located fairly close to the dock. It is the Castries Market, where they sell produce and a vast array of spices. You can buy cocoa, turmeric, ginger, pepper, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, and vanilla. We have purchased the cinnamon sticks before and put some in a bottle of rum. Really spiced it up. Next to this market is the Craft Market. It is full of baskets, straw products, wood carvings, and island clothing. And of course, a slew of souvenirs. Today all of this was closed.
Continuing up the street, we found the Vendor's Arcade also shut up tight. Arriving at the entrance to La Place Carenage, a three story complex of duty free shops, we asked the local door lady outside of this mall what the story was with the new Covid spread. She claimed it was no worse than any other island, and the reason everything was closed was because it was Sunday. Now we could have entered this building, but under the circumstances, we did not even consider it. By the way, we had been told that masks had to be worn everywhere we went today…inside and out, or else we could face being fined. Many folks did not wear the masks, and we saw no one challenged.
So we decided to take our time, and walk back to the ship. Some taxi drivers stopped their cars and offered rides to anywhere we wished. But there would be no way we get into a stranger's car. Even yesterday, a lady from the ship, who appeared to have a cold, asked us if we would take her photo with her cellphone. She was unmasked, coughing, and wiping her nose. Seriously, did she think we would say yes? Prior to this pandemic, we may have said yes without thinking. Not now.
For the first time this whole trip, we noticed that a collection table was set up on deck A for shore-purchased alcohol. These bottles will be kept until the end of the 10 day trip, and returned the day before disembarkation.
Even though it had been raining when we arrived, the skies cleared up, and it stayed dry. But the reason for that was we were packing umbrellas. It was still quite warm, but there was a nice breeze blowing. We got back to the ship by 1:30pm, and worked on photos until lunchtime. Today that was two salads in the Lido, and a shared turkey breast sandwich toasted in the grill. We got a couple of cookies to go, then relaxed on the veranda until it was time for the ship to leave.
We were in for a treat since the Captain had time to do some scenic cruising of the coastline. Two very famous volcanic peaks exist here, just south of Castries. They are called Petit Piton (2619 Feet) and Gros Piton (2461 feet). They were formed by a volcanic eruption over 30 to 40 million years ago. And ever since 2004, they have been named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. These peaks have been famous icons for St. Lucia and can be found on many t-shirts and even their locally brewed beer (Piton). This is the first time that we have sailed early enough to see these peaks. It was either too dark, or they were covered in clouds. Today, the Captain got the ship so close to shore, we could hear the local dogs barking. And like the captains do in Alaska, he turned the ship on a dime, so everyone had a chance to see the peaks. Then we were on our way to the next port of Barbados., about 100 miles south of here.
At dinnertime with Barb, we were able to share a secret with her. Although we discovered she found this out a different way. Friends Susie and Woody are coming back on January 23rd. Susie had asked us to keep it a secret, because she wanted to surprise her. She did not find out from us, but from Susie's daughter. Whatever the reason, she was just as happy as we were that Woody has improved enough to come back until March 6th. They will be a welcomed addition to our dinner table.
Until tomorrow……..
Bill & Mary Ann
Monday, January 17, 2022
Report #30 Castries, Saint Lucia Sunday - January 16, 2022 Morning rain, cloudy & 76 degrees
