MSC CRUISES – LESSER ANTILLES
St Lucia. March 17, 2022
Saint Lucia is called the “Helen of the West Indies”, a popular destination due to its tropical weather, scenery, and its numerous beaches and resorts.
The twin Pitons (Gros Piton and Petit Piton) are striking cone-shaped peaks south of Soufriere that are one of the scenic natural highlights of the Caribbean.
Tourism is vital to Saint Lucia’s economy, more substantial during the dry season (January to April).
Capital: Castries
Currency: Eastern Caribbean dollars “$” or “EC$” (XCD). US$1 ≈ EC$2.7 (pegged).
Population: 178,800
Languages. English (official), French patois.
Country Code: +1758
Driving Side: left
Visa. Most nationalities pay $50 for a single-entry tourist visa.
Covid. Mandatory to wear masks outside. No tests necessary.
At the cruise ship terminal, we were unable to rent a car despite phoning 6 companies, so went out of the terminal and rented a taxi with 5 of us ($40 each). We drove south first, returned through Castries to the north and then saw the town at the end of the day.
CASTRIES
The main city of St Lucia with the cruise port terminal.
Government House. Above Castries with good views down to the town, it is the home of the Governor-General.
Le Pavillion Royal Museum is a historical museum located at the Government House. The museum contains a collection of historical documents and artifacts that chronicle the history of the Government House, and the successive Governors and Governors General who have administered the affairs of the state from the early 17th century.
Castries Market. Two large buildings, one with knick-knacks and one with produce. Eateries outside.
Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. A wonderful church with 3-naves, iron girder frame, painted wood ceilings and lovely stained glass.
Castries Waterworks Forest Reserve
Marigot Bay. Lovely bay with a marina and a beach on the point.
Grand Bois Forest. A forest on the way to Soufriere.
We stopped at viewpoints above Canaries and Soufriere, the latter with great views of the Pitons.
SOUFRIERE (‘sulfur mine’)
Church of the Assumption. 3-nave Catholic church with blue/white columns and a yellow-painted altar.
Diamond Botanical Gardens, Waterfall & mineral Baths, Soufrière Estate. Not many flowers at this time of the year. $7
Morne Coubaril Estate. House Museums/Plantations. On the site of an 18th-century estate, a 250-acre land grant in 1713 by Louis XIV of France, the original plantation house has been rebuilt and a farm workers’ village has been re-created. It does a good job of showing what life was like for both the owners (a single family owned the land until 1960) and those who did all the hard labor over the centuries producing cotton, coffee, sugarcane, and cocoa. Cocoa, coconuts, and manioc are still grown on the estate using traditional agricultural methods. On the 30-minute estate tour, guides show how coconuts are opened and roasted for use as oil and animal feed and how cocoa is fermented, dried, crushed by dancing on the beans, and finally formed into chocolate sticks. Manioc roots (also called cassava) are grated, squeezed of excess water, dried, and turned into flour used for baking. The grounds are lovely for walking or hiking, and the views of mountains and Soufrière Bay are spellbinding. More adventurous visitors will enjoy Soufrière Hotwire Rides, an hourlong zip-line excursion with eight stations, taking you by Petit Piton and through the adjacent rain forest. A large, open-air restaurant serves a creole buffet luncheon by reservation only.
Historical tour $11.
Sulphur Springs Park, Mount Soufriere. Geothermal field that is the most popular tourist destination in Saint Lucia, with approximately 200,000 annual patrons to the park, and is known as ‘the world’s only drive-in volcano’.A sulphur mine was operated from 1836-1840. In 1836, 540 tons of sulfur were exported. The Sulphur Springs emerged from a weak spot in the crust of the enormous collapsed crater creating an upheaval of lava approximately 300,000 years ago. The most recent volcanic eruption from the Sulphur Springs, recorded as a minor explosion, occurred in 1776.
Springs. The water in the center of the springs boils at roughly 340 Fahrenheit (170 Celsius) creating large plumes of steam. The water coming out of the spring is blackened by a chemical reaction between the high content of sulfur and iron. The spring water also contains large deposits of copper, iron oxide, alkaline lead, calcium oxide, and carbon. Sulphur still billows from the cracks in the caldera. There are also active boiling mud pits around the area.
The Sulphur Springs are a popular tourist destination due to their ability for tourists to literally drive up to the edge of the springs. Up until the mid-1990s, tourists were able to walk right up to the end of the tar-colored pits. Following an accident where a local tour guide named Gabriel fell through the crust into a pit and received second-degree burns from just above his waist, the formation of what is now known as Gabriel’s Hole has restricted viewing to a platform a few hundred feet away.
A couple of hundred yards downstream from the springs, the water temperature is still hot (around 110 Fahrenheit or 45 Celsius), but cool enough for tourists to enter and give themselves a mud bath. These mud baths are believed by some to have medicinal properties and are used by some tourists and locals for said reasons. There is a pool that the hot water runs through, so make sure to take your swimming trunks and go for a dip.
Pitons Management Area. World Heritage Sites: 1,134 hectares of land and 875 hectares of sea near the town of Soufriere and includes the Pitons, two volcanic spires rising side by side from the sea (770 m and 743 m high respectively), linked by the Piton Mitan ridge. The volcanic complex includes a geothermal field with sulphurous fumeroles and hot springs. Coral reefs cover almost 60% of the site’s marine area with 168 finfish, 60 cnidaria, including corals.They are bridged by an inland ridge and tower above an accessible caldera-like formation known as the Qualibou Depression. Diverse geological features, including fumaroles and hot springs known as the Sulphur Springs. Carib Petroglyphs. High diversity of terrestrial habitats, flora and fauna. Various forest types include rare elfin woodland on the summits. Small, little disturbed patches of natural forests remain, preserved by the steepness of the land.
Gros Piton and Petit Piton. Climbing the Gros Piton is an achievable goal for most people. The trailhead begins at an elevation of about 600 feet (approx. 180 m) above sea level and requires about two hours of moderate to strenuous hiking to reach the summit of about 2600 feet (approx. 800 m) above sea level. A further 1-and-a-half hours are needed to descend. Guides are required and entrance costs $30 US.
The Marine Management Area is 11km long by 1km wide. Hawksbill turtles are seen inshore, and whale sharks and pilot whales offshore.
We drove to the south to the Gros Piton area and then turned around and drove back through Castries to go north.
Reduit Beach. North of Castries on the way to Pigeon island in the village of Rodney Bay, this is a long crescent of sand between a breakwater and a headland. Water sports and restaurants.
PIGEON ISLAND 44-acre islet located in Gros Islet with some of the oldest buildings on St. Lucia. Once isolated from the country, the island was artificially joined to the in 1972 by a man-made causeway built from dirt excavated to form the Rodney Bay Marina. Composed of two peaks the island is a historic site with numerous forts such as an 18th-century British fort and Fort Rodney both used by the British to spy on French Ships from neighbouring Martinique. In 1979 it was named a national park.
It is a 13.8km drive from Castries taking about 30 minutes. Today, Pigeon Island is the home and major venue of the Saint Lucia Jazz Festival. Diving.
Pigeon Island National Landmark and Museum.
Pigeon Island NP. On the end of the peninsula. $10
Pigeon Island Beach. A small beach on the Caribbean side so little surf and good swimming.
Climate. Tropical, moderated by northeast trade winds; dry season from January to April, rainy season from May to August; Experiences hurricanes.
Terrain. Volcanic and mountainous with some broad, fertile valleys.
Highest point: Mount Gimie 950 m
Get Around
By car. Driving is on the left-hand side and drivers require a permit ($12 US for one day)
By taxi. The main way for tourists to get around using a local taxi operator around $145 per van load. Each van will hold between 6 and 12 people.
By bus cheap and fun using small vans for 10-14 people
Things I didn’t see.
Anse Chastanet Marine National Park and Anse Chastenet Beach. Good snorkelling. Road doesn’t go all the way to the beach.
Sugar Beach. Owned by a resort, our driver said it cost $60 to use the beach.
Tet Paul Nature Trail. Trails 2 – Hikes. A one km trail that takes 45 minutes. Requires guide available at beginning for$10.
Maria Islands. XL
Edmund Forest Reserve
Quilesse Forest Reserve
Old Sugar Mill
Mamiku Gardens
Sault Falls (Dennery Falls and Errard Falls) is a 15-20-metre high waterfall near Dennery in Saint Lucia.
Festivals
Heineken Kalalu World Music Festival
St. Lucia Carnival
St. Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival
Experiences
Jounen Kweyol. (Creole Day) is celebrated in Dominica and Saint Lucia on the last Friday of October and the last Sunday of October, respectively and has been held annually since 1984. Throughout the preceding week, the various villages host cultural events and festivals which showcase different elements of their heritage and culture. Moreover, there are displays of local dishes and foods such as roasted breadfruit, Coupe (a sweetbread made by mixing spices and sugar into flour and kneading it then baking it, usually served at breakfast), Callaloo soup, Green Fig and Salt Fish (The National Dish of Saint Lucia), farine balls (a dish made with avocado and farine), split pea dhal fried or baked pastry, plantain, king fish, Manicou (opossum), turtle, lobster, crayfish, callaloo made from fresh water crabs, crab-back (which is stuffed crab). Also local drinks: Cocoa Tea, Sorrel juice, different types of alcoholic punch (breadfruit, seamoss and peanut), Spice (an alcoholic drink made by mixing local spices and various barks from medicinal plants with rum), Golden Apple Juice, Guava juice. Traditional folk music or ‘kweyol’ music, “Shak-Shak” (similar to the maracas), the Boom-Boom (a large, wooden, windpipe instrument), Accordion, Tambourine, and Tambos (a goat-skin drum which is commonly beaten throughout traditional dances or when cultural groups recite songs or limericks in the creole language). Most people usually observe Jounen Kwéyòl by wearing the island’s National Wear which is composed of the Wob Dwiete and jip ensemble for the women and a Madras (a special type of plaid material) jacket, white shirt, black slacks and red sash for the men.
Taste Pouille Dudon. St Lucian speciality which is too good to miss out on. This hearty stew is made of chicken and flavoured with treacle and coconut. Although it might sound unusual, this is another popular Caribbean dish that just works – think of it as the West Indian version of sweet and sour chicken.