St. Lucia

We woke up before the alarm again. We didn’t have to be on the pier as early for our excursion as the last couple of days. We watched from our cabin as another cruise ship came in which ended up being Celebrity Eclipse. There was another Thompson ship at port already.

We got breakfast in the Mermaid Grill, gathered our stuff, and headed off the ship to the post office. We had to wait in a long line to get stamps. Then, we walked around the capital city of Castries. We stopped at a grocery store and looked around. That is one of the things I highly recommend you do when you’re in a new place. I find it interesting to see different fruits and spices that we don’t have back home.

We stopped at a souvenir place and got 2 post cards from St. Lucia. We went to a mall and found a spot to write out our postcards, so we could stick them in the mailbox on our way back to the ship.

Soon it was time to head back to the pier to get in line for the excursion; Top 10 of St. Lucia. This statue was in front of a bank we passed. Loved it!

When we found our line for our excursion it was already long. Then, it started raining. When we divided up we were at the end of the line. We got on the bus to find what looked like no seats left. However, the tour guide was like, “Oh, there’s 2 seats in the back.”

When I got on and looked again, I saw that there was really just room for one person because there was a 400 lb. man and his 250 lb. partner taking up most of the back row. Rob and I reluctantly maneuvered into our spots and sat miserably. Then realizing we would have to endure this for 6 long hours; making many stops where we would have to wait for everyone to get off the bus, then let the 2 guys next to us get off and then we would be able to get off. This made for an extremely long and uncomfortable day. We were spent by the time 3:30 rolled around when the tour was finally over.

Still rain on the windows not making for clear shots for the first part of our tour

Our first stop was at Sir Arthur College where we saw some nice views as well as old buildings.

We were able to get out for a few minutes walk up to Morne Fortuné which is the summit of a ridge, that rises to a height of 852 ft. from the point La Toc, the southern arm of the Castries Harbor. Morne Fortuné means “hill of good luck.” This is area was actually the bloody battleground between the French and the English. In 1794 it was renamed Fort Charlotte Queen Victoria of Great Britain’s father after a victorious battle.

Walking back down to our bus

View of college walking back down from the monument.

Many students were outside chatting, studying, or enjoying some quite time to themselves

Be forewarned if you are ever in the Caribbean and someone offers you something and says something like, “here’s a gift to welcome you here and make your day a little brighter,” they aren’t just being nice. They expect money in return! There were some college girls standing near the bus when we got out handing out some little flowers with some braided leaves and they told me that as they handed me one. I started to not take it because I knew I didn’t have any small bills to give them, but then again I didn’t want to be rude and not take it. Turns out my first instinct was right, I should have said, “No, Thank you.” When we passed back by they gave me dagger eyes. Ooops!

The next stop was at a woodworking shop called Eudovic Art. We stopped to watch the men carving these amazing statues and wall hanings out of wood. Then we walked through the shop to have the opportunity to purchase their work.

There was a stop to get pics of Marigot Bay, buy banana ketchup, and as well as a drink.

Rob and I splurged for the Piton beers. Lookin’ a little tipsy! It doesn’t take much.

They don’t have an open container law there, so we could drink it on the bus. After leaving there we stopped long enough to snap a shot of the Roseau Valley Banana Plantation, which is the largest banana plantation in St. Lucia.

Then we stopped at a place to go to the bathroom but they expected you to tip. And yes, I went to the bathroom, didn’t have any small bills, so Rob came behind me and tipped the lady for me. We were inundated with locals hounding us to buy their stuff.

So picturesque!

We drove through the town of Soufrière, where we took in the amazing views of the Pitons.

While in Soufrière, we stopped at the The Beacon.

This is where we were offered “a refreshing drink” which ended up being grapefruit. I wasn’t happy about this, because Grapefruit juice can interact with medications. I asked if they had something else and they said I could purchase a bottled water. Rob bought me a coke and we also got a warm snack that was $5. We were pretty hungry since it was after lunch and the tour did not offer it.

Along the drive we stopped and the tour guide jumped out to get some bananas for us to each have one.

We also stopped at Maranatha Gardens, which a lovely garden with wooden walkways and flowers of all sorts. Our guide showed us many of the different fruits and vegetables that they grow there in St. Lucia.

We stopped at Sulphur Springs Park. There was a couple different tours that Carnival offered where you could spend some time there and even walk through and put the mud on your body. It’s supposed to make you look 10 years younger. Not sure I could ever do it, because it was super stinky!