St. Lucia is the sort of island that travellers to the Caribbean dream about--a small, lush tropical gem that is still relatively unknown. One of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located midway down the Eastern Caribbean chain, between Martinique and St. Vincent, and north of Barbados. St. Lucia is only 27 miles long and 14 miles wide, with a shape that is said to resemble either a mango or an avocado (depending on your taste). The Atlantic Ocean kisses its eastern shore, while the beaches of the west coast owe their beauty to the calm Caribbean Sea.
In natural beauty, St. Lucia seems like an island plucked from the South Pacific and set down in the Caribbean. Its dramatic twin coastal peaks, the Pitons, soar 2,000 feet up from the sea, sheltering magnificent rain forests where wild orchids, giant ferns, and birds of paradise flourish. Brilliantly-plumed tropical birds abound, including endangered species like the indigenous St. Lucia parrot. The rainforest is broken only by verdant fields and orchards of banana, coconut, mango, and papaya trees.
Although this excursion was billed as "Land & Sea to Fond Doux Estate" we went to sea first. When there are lots of subscribers, the tour company sends half the crowd to sea first and half to land first.
We rode a "tender" ashore, since another cruise ship had claimed the only pier.
The tender hangs from davits with the lifeboats when not in use. To board it we descended to deck 3, where a door, hinged to the ship's hull at the bottom, flipped out to become a boarding platform. I've loaded Jan's rollator (walker).
Quite a few people fit in the tender. Ship's staff tended to use "tender" as a verb, as "We're going to tender today."
Jan found comfortable seating aboard the tender.
Plastic windows on the tender affected photography. Note the oil refinery at the right.
St. Lucia, unlike some of the other islands, has some real industry. In addition to the refinery, note the work boats.
Not clear what they are doing, but these are obviously not pleasure boats.
The ship photographers took pictures on the piers each day. On this day, one posed as a turtle with passengers. Jan is trying to step around him.
Most of these pictures have been lightened, since we debarked at 7:45AM, which is barely past dawn near the equator. This sailing yacht was tied up nearby.
Another ship was using the pier, which is why we tendered. In the background is our ship, Norwegian Spirit, seen through the rigging of the sailing vessel.
A sailboat cruise was not on our agenda.
But the sailors looked like they were having a great time.
We get aboard the catamaran for a tour around the island, ducking in and out of bays and coves. Jan checks that she has brought everything she needs. In the foreground is Stacy Hardman, who's taking an outing. Her regular shipboard job is booking these excursions. She was to prove an invaluable help to Jan later in the day.
Stacy is a Canadian as are most of the excursion staff, and has worked aboard cruise liners for almost ten years.
Julie Casion, he nice lady who booked the tour for us, sent the satchel Jan is holding via express, so we would get it before we left. It holds towels, bottled water, and spare camera batteries.
The Norwegian Spirit, our cruise ship, from the catamaran.
A nice wake appears behind the catamaran as it moves briskly along.
This part of the island is not densely populated.
Jan sits in a sunny spot on the catamaran. I mostly preferred shady spots since I had gotten sunburned, until I applied a really heavy coating of sunblock.
Jan must have applied sunblock to her scalp, although I don't remember it.
As we cruise around the island, Stacy catches some sun on the sunny front deck of the catamaran. Jan and I spent more time in the seating area, under a canopy. The bar there served free soft drinks and rum drinks. I tried a rum-and-fruit drink, but the rum was so smooth that I switched to rum-on-the-rocks. At this point we are passing the oil refinery.
The forward part of the catamaran includes two floats netting over the area between them.
The oil refinery up close. A Greek tanker seems to be transferring petroleum.
Clouds over the island but not over the ocean, just as at the other islands.
We pass another point on our trip around the island.
A sailboat goes by. The sky is so blue and such a constant color that the camera struggles to find any differences.
Some folks dozed on the netting. I was surprised to learn how persistent boats' wakes were. The wake here was caused by a boat that had passed several minutes earlier.
We enter a bay on glass-smooth seas. Jan and Stacy are in the foreground.
The lush tropical vegetation goes right down to the shore.
We pulled into this bay to go swimming. The catamaran wasn't beached. Rather, they anchored in eight-foot deep water, removed the net, and lowered a stairway. We swam right off the deck.
This particular bay had lots of commercial establishments. Beach vendors also approached us, both on the sand and from rowboats and canoes as we were swimming.
Jan prepares to swim from the deck. Even in her weakened condition, she was a stronger swimmer than I.
Lots of sailboats at this harbor. Vendors are visible at the center. Obviously, pizza was available, but we didn't see many takers at 10:30 AM.
This is about as close as the catamaran approached the shore.
Tourism plays a big part in the St. Lucia economy, as evidenced by the commercial establishments.
Doolittle's Big Bamboo Restaurant and Bar.
This outfit calls itself Marigot Bay Aquarius Water Sports, but it's not at Marigot Bay.
Marigot Bay is one of the most picturesque spots in the world. Like the other coves and bays, Marigot Bay has a pristine white sand beach, crystal-clear water, and lush exotic tropical vegetation growing practically to the water's edge. What makes it unique is the absence of modern commercial enterprise. Films can be produced there without having to worry about camera angles to avoid roads, cars, beer signs, and modern buildings. There's only a rustic lodge. Thus, Marigot Bay has been used as the location for films including Dr. Doolittle, Firepower, Water, Superman II, White Squall, and Creature. It's been said that as soon as you see Marigot Bay, you will recognize it from the films you've seen it in.
The calm water and warm, gentle breezes made this a delight for Jan.
Another restaurant, empty at 10:30 AM.
Chateau Mygo is its name. On St Lucia, the natives speak English so fast that even New Yorkers cannot understand it, and also speak Creole, a dialect with French words and African grammar.
We depart the swimming area. Although the clouds look menacing, we never saw any rain or wind.
More pictures from March 9
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