Saint Lucia is volcanic island that gives it a rugged mountainous characteristic. Saint Lucia is part of the Windward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, and it covers 616 square kilometers. If you approach the island from the southwest, the main feature is a pair of volcanic spires, known as the Pitons.
It is approximately 316 nautical miles from our previous
port of call St. Maarten. In total we’ve travelled 1,350 nautical miles.
St. Lucia was inhabited by the Caribs, who called the island “Iouanalao”, meaning "Land of the Iguanas". European contact began in the early 16th century, and both the French and British fought over control of the island. It changed hands multiple times between the two colonial powers until 1814, when it was permanently ceded to the British. It stayed a British colony until 1979, when it gained full independence. Since gaining its independence, the island has maintained a stable democracy and is a member of the English Commonwealth of Nations. Although English is the main language there is a significant part of the population that speaks Creole.
Saint Lucia has two main seasons. The dry season, which starts
at the end of November and continues to mid April. The rainy season covers the
rest of the year. With a climate similar to St. Maarten, its economy is
primarily driven by tourism, which accounts for about 65% of its GDP. It is known
for its beaches and luxury resorts. During the peak tourist season, cruise
liners dock in the capital city of Castries on an average of 2 / day. During
the rainy season it is reduce to 1 or 2 ships each week.
Saint Lucia has also developed a strong financial services
industry, attracting foreign investment to its offshore banking system. Agriculture
which once was a major economic driver, now contributes less than 3% of GDP,
with bananas, mangoes, and avocados being key exports
More recently, Saint Lucia has faced the challenges of
climate change, which affected its infrastructure and economy. The government is
proud of its work on sustainable development, including renewable energy
projects and conservation efforts.
We took a tour of the island, and it was very interesting.
The guide was very personable and had a wonderful sense of humour. Marg asked
him about monkeys on the island. With out missing a beat he said there were no
monkeys in the wild, because all the monkeys were in parliament.
Our first stop was at a wood carving workshop. The carvings were amazing works of art. Marg’s
brother Bill, and our friend Gil would love it here. The artisan working in
shop today did not use any power tools, only a chisel and sandpaper. The design
was extremely intricate and I’m sure could not be mass produced.
We then went to a Creole Heritage village. Here we saw the different trees and plants that make up the spices that are used in Creole cooking.
We got to see how they make one of their dietary stables, a flat bread called Cassava. Cassava is a starchy root vegetable. It's widely grown here and serves as a major source of carbohydrates.
Green bananas serve as a major vegetable in the St. Lucia diet. Our guide told us that when a banana is green, it is considered a vegetable and when it ripens it is a berry. Fried bananas and cod is a popular dinner among the residents. Unfortunately, non of the restaurants around the ship had this on their menu.
One of the more interesting food items was Banana Ketchup. It
has a familiar taste, but I can’t say what the taste reminds me of.
Marg participated in a Creole dance with several people from our tour group. It seems that dances play a major role in Creole culture.
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