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Excursion: Tour of St. Lucia and to the ship
We had to have our bags ready by 7:30 am to have someone take them down to the buses, which necessitated having to pack toothbrush and sunscreen in the backpack. Plus a few other items (laptop, etc.) that I would rather have not have had to carry with me all day. But Marion, once again, got everything stuffed into our suitcases. She really is a master at that. We brought way too much stuff, and yet, still didn’t have stuff we wanted. Ah well.
Last day for a meal (breakfast) at the Hi-Tide restaurant (thank goodness). I must have done something to the omelet-making lady at some point since she never warmed to me. Very brusque. Granted it’s a hard (and hot) job but she was nice to *other* people. We just never had a good experience at the restaurant and the food was not that exciting.
We got on the bus with our same guide (‘MG’) as yesterday since we liked him. But we didn’t realize he was going to give us the same spiel. Pretty much word for word. We drove all around the island today. Basically, it’s time to check out, we can’t board the ship until 4, so haul the tourists around. But we saw some cool stuff. First, a slow drive (due to traffic again) through the capital, Castries. It’s a major port and can hold 5 or 7 (I forget) major cruise ships. There were 3 there at the moment and one was really massive. One (the Explora II I think) was black and gold which made Marion like it.
We headed down the western coast to Marigot Bay, where we stopped for pictures. Of course, it was also an opportunity for the locals to sell us stuff. There was a guy with fish made from palm fronds who handed me one. I was going to hand it back but then he started up a conversation. You have a wife? Yes. So here’s another one. A son? Yes. I could see where this was headed. I told him, I’m sorry, I have no money on me. Suddenly he was not so friendly. He grabbed them all back and stomped off. But he wasn’t done. As we were getting on the bus he saw me with Marion. This is your wife? Yes. He tried to give her one. But she had been talking to a guy about his baskets and bird feeders (which she wanted to buy but were too big to fit in our already overstuffed suitcases). He had given her a palm fish so she could say “I already have one” and off he stomped again.
Farther down the coast we passed through Anse La Raye, a small fishing village. A very interesting little fishing town. Some cool (in a run down sort of way) houses and such. But we were just passing through.
We stopped again in Canaries where there was more opportunity to buy things but more importantly, a bathroom. There was a store/bar with a balcony overlooking the valley and the ocean. It was quite windy out there as I went out to check the view. Just as I had the thought “I really should put the strap of my hat around my neck”, it blew off. First back towards the store, but then, just before I could grab it a gust of wind got it, and next thing I knew it had blown through the railing and out onto the overhanging roof below. Just a few feet from a very major drop where it would have been lost forever. Just as I was speculating whether I could get over the railing and reach it, our guide MG ran off and found a grabber thing and was able to get it. I can’t believe it didn’t blow off the roof in the meantime. Good trip karma.
In every town we passed through, the guide would say “the people here do farming, some fishing, and of course the hospitality industry. That’s how they make their living”. After the first 3 or 4 times, Marion decided he was doing it as a joke, and we weren’t getting it. I’m not so sure. But it got to be pretty funny I must admit. He’d say it and we’d make eye contact with other people on the bus and raise an eyebrow at each other.
He also had the habit (and this turned out to be true across the islands with other guides) of describing everything as ‘beautiful’. Not that many things weren’t beautiful, but get a thesaurus and come up with some other adjectives. Beyond that he’d always ask us if we thought the last thing we did, whatever it was, was ‘beautiful’. Or ‘how did you like the visit’? How can you not say it was great, whether it was or not?
We stopped at a viewpoint to see the two Pitons — the famous mountains and a world heritage site, because no other place has two volcanic mounds next to each other like this. Although they are not *right* next to each other. They are 1.2 miles apart as the guide told us repeatedly for some reason. He seemed amazed that they looked like they were close together but actually weren’t. He needs to take Marion’s art class and learn about perspective.
The next stop was the Diamond Botanical Gardens, Mineral Bath and Waterfall. We got a very nice tour from MG who pointed out all sorts of various plants and flowers. Some really pretty ones. The waterfall was not overly impressive but still nice. It’s a very nice garden that was originally part of a land grant by King Louis XIV to the Devaux brothers in 1713. It’s claimed that Josephine (wife of Napoleon) used the baths while spending holidays nearby. Descendants of the Devaux boys have been restoring and replanting the gardens for public consumption since the early 1980’s. They’re doing a nice job.
From there we went to a nearby cocoa estate where first we had a Creole buffet lunch (yum) and then a tour where they showed us how chocolate is made from the original cocoa pod on down. It’s a real process. First you cut open the pod and pull out the seeds (which you can suck on and are tangy), then dry them, roast them, swirl them around with your feet for some reason, and you end up with cocoa beans you can ground into powder. 100% cocoa is fairly bitter so typically you also add some sugar, ginger, nutmeg and stuff like that.
It was a former sugar plantation as well and they showed us how they got the juice out of the cane. Some big stone rollers that were turned (in this case) by Noel the donkey, who walked around in a circle as the cane was fed between the stones. The juice comes out and is captured below. Noel got ‘paid’ for his work in cane rinds. We got a chance to feed some to him. He was very sweet.
They also did a bunch of stuff with coconuts and showed us how you shuck them, cut them open and you can drink the coconut water, which we tried, and eat the coconut meat which we also tried. I don’t like coconut generally but neither the water nor the meat really tasted like it. The coconut water was good. The coconut meat was very bland.
From there we went farther south to Soufriere (which is French for ‘sulphur in the air’ or something like that) to see the volcano. Or what’s left of it. There are sulfur springs and the ‘potentially active’ (the word ‘dormant’ is passe apparently) volcano that collapsed on itself. So it’s a caldera. Everybody got that? Let me tell you 5 or 6 times just in case.
But because it’s a very large caldera you can drive into it. It’s the world’s only ‘drive-thru’ volcano. Or so they claim. I think Lassen National Park in California could make a similar claim if I remember it’s geology correctly.
Anyway, it’s fairly large. And there’s a popular spot for mud baths that are supposed to be healing or make you look younger or both. We saw a few people taking part covered in mud.
We got a ‘tour’ of the volcano. Our guide is Simon. He’s very knowledgeable about volcanoes and gave us a very interesting talk. For example, the difference between pyroclastic eruptions, where it’s more explosive vs. what happens in Hawaii which is ‘milder’. The difference depends on the amount of water in the magma. But I don’t remember which one makes it less pyroclastic – more or less water.
We noticed pine trees on the hillsides which seemed weird. We asked Simon about it. They were brought in to help stabilize the hills. And pine trees specifically because there’s no topsoil and the ground is very acidic and apparently pine trees can grow in that environment. But it was disconcerting to see them there. They seemed out of place (which of course, they were).
The area smelled like sulfur (not surprisingly). We walked up a bit of a hill and got a view into the area where there is still obvious activity with smoke venting out of various spots and a mud pool bubbling. But apparently there’s no current risk of an eruption.
From there we continued south to Vieux Fort and to our ship, the Le Champlain. The island is not nearly as built up on this part. A few more small villages. We passed by the international airport where we had come in and then to the ship.
It’s bigger than I was thinking but not big. And full of ‘french-types’ (as Monty Python would say). They were all very nice and pleasant and the captain was there to welcome us on board. We handed over our passports and got our room. It’s small (as expected) but nice. We’re on the 6th (top) floor and we have a balcony. And the pillows aren’t rock hard like at Bay Gardens!
We didn’t have much time before the welcome presentation. They’re all VERY excited to have us on board. There’s lots of entertainment to be had. Dancers, singers, music, and movies. Plus, the Smithsonian folks who will give lectures. The ‘history’ guy didn’t wow us. And he’s mostly there to talk about slavery. Which as Marion pointed out, will be interesting as he and his wife appear to be the only black people on board. The other guy is the ‘undersea’ guy – so he’ll talk about fish and coral I guess. But hopefully they’ll be good
First things first, we did the safety drill – everyone go up and get your life vests from your rooms, then come down and meet up. 140 or so old people trying to navigate the 3 levels of stairs and getting their vests on. If things go south, we’re all going to die.
There are two restaurants on board. Well, one and more of a café/buffet area. We did dinner at the buffet instead of the restaurant which is pretty fancy-schmanz. We didn’t get our reservation, which is required for the café (since it’s small), but they had room. The food was good (better than the hotel).
I did a reconnoiter of the boat (the observation lounge looks most appealing) while Marion got everything put away. I was disappointed to find that there’s no observation deck up top with a 360’ view like our last two boat trips.
One oddity about the ship. When I turned on the water in the sink, it came out hot. So ok, I switched the handle the other way. But it’s still hot. Hmm. Maybe I didn’t wait long enough. Back the other way. Still hot. Finally I asked the housekeeping guy in the hallway if something was wrong. He came in and ran it for quite a while and finally it was cold. “No problem”, he says. And it was true, if you ran it long enough (in the right direction), it got cold. But it was really odd. The opposite of how faucets have always worked in my experience.
We’re off on our first excursion of the ‘actual’ tour tomorrow at 8am. And another 1.5 hours on a bus. Bummer. And on top of that, I foolishly attempted to lift the 50 lb suitcase onto the bed (and not even lift, just kind of slide it up there), and spasmed my back. Hopefully it will settle down quickly. Stupid thing.
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