St. Lucia in the Caribbean

Hi Guys,

St Lucia – 5 April 2011

(Latitude: 12 31’North   Longitude: 069 58’ West)

(Time -4 GMT)

Average temperature 82F/28C

We have come to Castries in St Lucia for the second time in the past few years. Friends, on board ship, have suggested that we visit “The Landings” to the north near to Rodney Bay. We catch a taxi and arrive at this rather lovely community rather like our home in Greenways in South Africa. Reception greets us and shows us down to the beach and their best area for loungers and umbrellas, just delightful. We swim in the warm waters, get a basket of fruit from a vendor who comes by in a boat, we have our rum punch and later on lunch in this glorious setting. The condominiums in this complex are new and  new phases are being built, what we can see, they are all very modern and very lovely but not for us as we would find it difficult to drag ourselves away from our little bit of heaven in Cape Town.

We return to the berth to retrieve a repair that Susan had dropped off at a jewellery store earlier in the morning and in the time that I was there, someone lifted by backpack with my towel, swimming trunks and more seriously, my prescription sunglasses, a spare battery for my camera and a mouse but fortunately I had not brought my computer and I had my camera in my hand. I discovered my loss at the security check in and I retraced my   to see if I had left it somewhere but no, it had gone. 

Roy at the Landings

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Roy and Susan in St Lucia

Castries, St Lucia

Roy with Fruit basket "The Landings"

St Lucia is a volcanic island about 20 x 8 miles with a population of 160,000 with about 30,000 living in the capital of Castries. There is a mountainous spine that runs down the center and the highest point is Mount Gimie at 3,117 feet although the Pitons are more spectacular near to Soufrière. Tourism has surged ahead of agriculture as the main money earner, there are many new hotels going up in the south and southwest coasts.

The island was said to have been “discovered” by Christopher Columbus during his fourth voyage on St Lucy’s Day, December 13^th 1502. He did not set foot ashore, and it is now though that the first Europeans to land were unknown Spaniards.

Possession of the island was a subject of constant dispute, war and bloodshed for nearly 150 years. In 1650, two Frenchmen, Houel and du Parquet, bought St Lucia, Grenada and Martinique for £1,600 and sent 40 settlers to the island to live.

Up until 1814, the island changed hands 14 times between Britain and France with much bloodshed (are we surprised). Battles sites and treaties litter the history of St Lucia.

In 1967 St Lucia became a self-governing state and on 22 February 1979 St Lucia became fully independent, but remains a member of the British Commonwealth.

Now we are on the home leg from the Caribbean sea through the Atlantic to the San Miguel in the Azores owned by Portugal. We should be back in Southampton in the UI on the 14^th April.