Spotlight: Saint Lucia is a
sovereign island in the eastern Caribbean. It covers a land area of 617
km2 with a population of 174,000. Its capital is
Castries. The island was inhabited by the native
Caribs when the first Europeans arrived in the 1500's. Initial attempts to settle the island by the Dutch, French and English all resulted in failure due to disease or hostilities with the locals. The
French established the first permanent European settlement in
1643, and later signed a treaty with the Caribs in 1660. The
English took possession of the island in
1663, beginning a long war with the French over control over the island - with
ownership changing hands 14 times until 1814 when the British finally managed to expel the French indefinitely. In 1979, the island became an
independent state in the
Commonwealth of Nations associated with the United Kingdom. Although
tourism and
offshore banking drive the economy,
bananas remain an important cash crop for the island.
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| beautiful fishing village |
Location: Saint Lucia is located amidst a string of islands known as the Lesser Antilles that run in an arc from Puerto Rico to Trinidad and Tobago.
Cost: The Soufriere Island Delight tour costs $72.99/person.
Time: The Soufriere Island Delight tour was a little over 5 hours.
Description: For our day in Saint Lucia, we went on the
Soufriere Island Delight tour. We chose it because the description said we'd be taken to
"the world's only drive-in volcano." That one line soured the whole experience for us because it was a
blatant lie. The world's only "drive-in volcano" turned out to be a collapsed caldera that was a poor version of Yellowstone's mud pots. Not only does Yellowstone fit their definition of a "drive-in volcano," many islands throughout the world (including the Hawaiian Islands) would meet the criteria also. It had some charm, but my wife and I have visited at least two other drive-in volcanoes which were more impressive, so we were a bit put out since by choosing this tour, we missed out on swimming with sting rays.
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| Fumeroles |
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| Small waterfall in world's only "drive-in volcano" |
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| mudpot |
In all fairness, the five hour tour of the island allowed us to get a
good feel for island life that we would not have otherwise seen. We visited a
fishing village, saw the primitive living conditions across the island, got several great views of the
Piton Volcanoes rising out of the ocean, drove past miles of
banana orchards, tried banana ketchup (and other banana products), did some
shopping, played a kettle drum, visited some
beautiful botanical gardens, and got to see
Diamond Falls (which were used in the filming of
Romancing the Stone). We also had a pleasant
Caribbean style lunch of chicken, rice, beans, fried bananas and fried fish. It would have been enjoyable if our expectations hadn't been dashed.
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| The Pitons |
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| botanical gardens |
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| Diamond Falls |
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| Kettle drum |
Rating: 2 1/2 stars (out of 5) - although it probably would have earned another full star if not for false advertising.
Things You Should Know: - If you visit Saint Lucia as part of a cruise, you do not need a
passport or visa even though you are in a foreign nation - unless something goes wrong and you get separated from your group. Because of this possibility we had them with us just in case.
- Be prepared for locals to be hawking any number of homemade items ranging from homemade dolls to T-shirts to homemade crafts and ornaments. Although unlicensed
vendors aren't supposed to have official access to tour groups, exceptions are sometimes made for close friends or family members of the tour guides.
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| homemade dolls |
Nearby: Martinique, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados
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