Soufriere, St. Lucia
Our morning was like the old salutation come to fruition: fair winds and following seas.
Taking advantage of the splendid morning, we watched as a dozen sails were lofted, as we followed with our seamanship manual to try to learn the names of all the sails.
Under sail we cruised along the lee of the more mountainous of the Lesser Antilles, Saint Lucia. Several vessels pulled alongside to catch a glimpse of this special sight: a four- mast barque under sail.
At the southern end of St Lucia, we entered the picturesque Soufriere Harbor beneath the twin towering “Pitons.” Considered by Native Carib populations to be sacred, the twin volcanic pinnacles can be seen far out to sea. And while these volcanic plugs give testimony to a violent birth, steaming fumaroles and boiling mud pools attest that violent forces still lurk in the bowels of the island. Sulfurous gases wafted in the tropical trades as we peered into this collapsed caldera which formed after a 1925 pyroclastic eruption. These stunning sulfur springs were recently declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The combination of rich volcanic soils and balmy trade winds makes the island stunningly luxuriant. After assessing the steaming fumaroles and bubbling mud pots, we descended to the nearby Diamond Falls Botanical Gardens. This one-time working cocoa plantation was converted into a lovely spa which allows visitors to enjoy milder and less sulfurous hot springs.
The grounds are also a delight to the senses. Tropical flowers were profuse and exotic fruits were abundant. Scarlet ginger blossoms attracted all three of the native hummingbird species, while endemic bullfinches, mockingbirds, and banaquits delved noisily into bananas, mangoes, nutmegs, sour apples, and breadfruits.
We too enjoyed the tropical splendors by frolicking in another nearby waterfalls at Toraille Park. Local Creole legends state that a plunge beneath the torrents will wash away a decade of age. Lasting effects remain to be seen, but all luxuriate in sudden rejuvenation.
High above the sleepy village we enjoyed local fruit drinks of lime and mammy apple while we contemplated the somewhat turbulent past of this lovely island. The epithet of “Helen of the West Indies” is often applied to St Lucia both because of her beauty and because she was fought over; trading hands over fourteen times between the French and British until finally realizing independence in 1978.
Our morning was like the old salutation come to fruition: fair winds and following seas.
Taking advantage of the splendid morning, we watched as a dozen sails were lofted, as we followed with our seamanship manual to try to learn the names of all the sails.
Under sail we cruised along the lee of the more mountainous of the Lesser Antilles, Saint Lucia. Several vessels pulled alongside to catch a glimpse of this special sight: a four- mast barque under sail.
At the southern end of St Lucia, we entered the picturesque Soufriere Harbor beneath the twin towering “Pitons.” Considered by Native Carib populations to be sacred, the twin volcanic pinnacles can be seen far out to sea. And while these volcanic plugs give testimony to a violent birth, steaming fumaroles and boiling mud pools attest that violent forces still lurk in the bowels of the island. Sulfurous gases wafted in the tropical trades as we peered into this collapsed caldera which formed after a 1925 pyroclastic eruption. These stunning sulfur springs were recently declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The combination of rich volcanic soils and balmy trade winds makes the island stunningly luxuriant. After assessing the steaming fumaroles and bubbling mud pots, we descended to the nearby Diamond Falls Botanical Gardens. This one-time working cocoa plantation was converted into a lovely spa which allows visitors to enjoy milder and less sulfurous hot springs.
The grounds are also a delight to the senses. Tropical flowers were profuse and exotic fruits were abundant. Scarlet ginger blossoms attracted all three of the native hummingbird species, while endemic bullfinches, mockingbirds, and banaquits delved noisily into bananas, mangoes, nutmegs, sour apples, and breadfruits.
We too enjoyed the tropical splendors by frolicking in another nearby waterfalls at Toraille Park. Local Creole legends state that a plunge beneath the torrents will wash away a decade of age. Lasting effects remain to be seen, but all luxuriate in sudden rejuvenation.
High above the sleepy village we enjoyed local fruit drinks of lime and mammy apple while we contemplated the somewhat turbulent past of this lovely island. The epithet of “Helen of the West Indies” is often applied to St Lucia both because of her beauty and because she was fought over; trading hands over fourteen times between the French and British until finally realizing independence in 1978.
