Impressions of St. Lucia

Since my last post, Steve and I managed to jump through all of the necessary hoops to enter St. Lucia: show COVID vax and  negative test results at the port health office, cleared customs, cleared immigration, paid entry fees to St. Lucia and checked-in at the Rodney Bay Marina.  All told, it took almost a full day.  It was worth it though!  St. Lucia is gorgeous.  We spent a couple of days enjoying the physical beauty, as well as some of the historical sites, and also spent time out and about in the day-to-day world of St. Lucia where we enjoyed some of the local cuisine. One interesting find was green banana salad, which was offered as a side to fresh caught tuna at one of the street-side food vendors. As it so happens, green banana salad tastes very much like potato salad! The other tasty treat we tried was fresh-baked cassava bread. Gluten free and delicious!

Here are some of the highlights:



Scenic Overlook of the Soufriere and the Pitons



Fishing Village of Canaries




Governor's Mansion (St. Lucia, although an independent state, is a constitutional monarchy with the British monarch as head of state and is part of the Commonwealth of Britain)





Tet Paul Nature Trail -  Steve ready to ascend

The Tet Paul Nature Trail was built and is operated by residents of one of the local farming communities in St. Lucia. (population ~200). The guide gave a nice overview of the local plants, including their medicinal uses, and the proceeds from the tours go back to supporting the local community.


View from Heaven 

One of the interesting historical sites is located on Pigeon Island, which in turn has been occupied by Arawak and Carib Amerindians, the pirate Francois Leclerc, and French and British military installments.

Pigeon Island National Landmark: British Military Installation
Officers Kitchen (circa 1780) 



    Officer's Mess in foreground, Signal Peak in background

Steve and I enjoyed a bit of hiking up to Signal Peak (shown in photo above) but didn't get any usable photos due to camera setting issues.

Beyond the time spent enjoying St. Lucia, we've also gotten Starry Night ready for the next leg of our journey and we plan to leave tomorrow morning, pending receipt of our COVID test.  We're going to be flexible about how long to sail and when to stop depending on the weather.  

We'll keep you posted!





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