We set the alarm earlier for 7am, given we had to be ready earlier, but I think we were awake before it went off again. Another lovely breakfast, with our now familiar scavenging friends, the Antillean bullfinches.
Back in the room, we collected our things and went to reception to wait. Our pick up was due at 9, though it was late arriving. We were finally collected by Stan, who had gone via the port to collect other guests who were off the same cruise ship.
We drove through Castries, with Stan pointing out notable civic buildings and sights.
Our route took us back up the same windy road behind the town, before stopping at a lookout for photos. Stan warned us about the dodgy hawkers, and he wasn't wrong. After going back down the far side of the hill, we went past the mass oil storage facility - supertankers from other countries (Venezuela, Cuba, Trinidad) drop their loads there and the oil is shipped in smaller tankers to other Caribbean islands.
Then we stopped alongside a huge banana plantation, to talk about how they grow (suckers beside older plants) and about how the industry has grown from a sugar-cane focus.
After another bit of a drive, we stopped on the hill behind Marigot Bay to talk about how the other half live and the films that were made there (most notably, Rex Harrison's Dr Dolittle).
After more of a drive, we then went down to the water's edge in Anse La Raye to look at market stalls and use the facilities. It's a fishing town with a seafood festival every Friday night, and is very down to earth. A toothless man greeted us as we got out of the van. We didn't buy anything, but were grateful for the facilities (where a woman squirted me with soap and poured water over my hands), and had a walk on the beach.
Back on the road, Stan pointed out Ti Kaye on the right, which is a diving and water activites resort, with bungalow-based accommdation, in a marine reserve and sounds amazing. (We later saw it from the water.)
Then just outside Soufriere, we stopped at a lookout to see the Pitons. Amazing. I spotted a cacao tree in the ravine below.
We drove through the town, and then up the other side to the Diamond Botanical Gardens. Stan dropped us off and saw us inside, taking the others to a historical plantation nearby called Morne Coubaril.
We were walking neatly between two large tour groups, so picked a few things up from them, but we were very happy to just potter our way along, looking at all the amazing flowers and plants. There were a lot of spice and nut trees that I'd never seen before, many poisonous. The mace and nutmeg tree was probably the most memorable.
We stopped at a cafe and got muesli bars, and Christian decided to be brave and get some plantain chips. Obsession started! They were delicious. They're made from cooked unripe bananas, and function as potato crisps.
We went on, past the pools, up to the waterfall. It was many interesting colours of minerals, and the stream flowing downhill from it was decidedly grey. We wandered back to the pools, and spotted a 'land' crab minding its own business on a step. Not something you see every day.
And then the heavens opened. We sheltered under a pergoda for a while, but then decided to keep moving. There were more interesting plants on the way out, and there was a pretty blue ceramic fountain that looked rather out of place. They had signs explaining how they compost everything and use natural methods to maintain the gardens. Very nice experience.
At the exit, we found Stan, and jumped back in the van, driving to collect the others. The car park for Morne Coubaril was bus soup.
From there, we went on to the Sulphur Springs park, going past the folks going for their mud baths. We had a tour of the very acrid-smelling active volcanic area, with many steams and boiling mud. Interesting. Our guide told us the story of Gabriel, a local tour guide who fell in the boiling mud and got horribly burnt from the waist down. That feature is now called Gabriel's Hole and no one is allowed anywhere near it.
Turns out that Soufriere sits within the ancient caldera, and the Pitons are plugs on the rim. Hence why they call it a 'drive-in volcano'.
Then back through Soufriere, retracing our steps up the coast to Castries. This road was much more winding than the east road we'd taken from the airport. As we neared Castries, we stuck to the coast road rather than going over the hill, so we could come out at the port to drop the others at their ship. It was interesting to see the port. And then turned back towards our hotel.
I'd been watching the time fearfully, but we were still able to get a buffet lunch, with about 15 mins to spare (they packed up lunch at 3pm). Hooray!
We had a lazy afternoon, playing with photos.
That evening, there was a manager's cocktail party on the roof terrace. We met lots of lovely staff members, spoke to Brandon, Danielle, Dean. Good cocktails, nice canapes, and had our photo taken (which was good technically, but not flattering).
We decided to try the a la carte dinner as we were moderately dressed up. Turns out we needed a booking, but they let us in - we missed orientation because no one told us about it. Dinner was not amazing - we decided to stick to the buffet.
Back to the room, telly, sleep.
Back in the room, we collected our things and went to reception to wait. Our pick up was due at 9, though it was late arriving. We were finally collected by Stan, who had gone via the port to collect other guests who were off the same cruise ship.
We drove through Castries, with Stan pointing out notable civic buildings and sights.Our route took us back up the same windy road behind the town, before stopping at a lookout for photos. Stan warned us about the dodgy hawkers, and he wasn't wrong. After going back down the far side of the hill, we went past the mass oil storage facility - supertankers from other countries (Venezuela, Cuba, Trinidad) drop their loads there and the oil is shipped in smaller tankers to other Caribbean islands.
Then we stopped alongside a huge banana plantation, to talk about how they grow (suckers beside older plants) and about how the industry has grown from a sugar-cane focus.After another bit of a drive, we stopped on the hill behind Marigot Bay to talk about how the other half live and the films that were made there (most notably, Rex Harrison's Dr Dolittle).
After more of a drive, we then went down to the water's edge in Anse La Raye to look at market stalls and use the facilities. It's a fishing town with a seafood festival every Friday night, and is very down to earth. A toothless man greeted us as we got out of the van. We didn't buy anything, but were grateful for the facilities (where a woman squirted me with soap and poured water over my hands), and had a walk on the beach.
Back on the road, Stan pointed out Ti Kaye on the right, which is a diving and water activites resort, with bungalow-based accommdation, in a marine reserve and sounds amazing. (We later saw it from the water.)
Then just outside Soufriere, we stopped at a lookout to see the Pitons. Amazing. I spotted a cacao tree in the ravine below.We drove through the town, and then up the other side to the Diamond Botanical Gardens. Stan dropped us off and saw us inside, taking the others to a historical plantation nearby called Morne Coubaril.
We were walking neatly between two large tour groups, so picked a few things up from them, but we were very happy to just potter our way along, looking at all the amazing flowers and plants. There were a lot of spice and nut trees that I'd never seen before, many poisonous. The mace and nutmeg tree was probably the most memorable.
We stopped at a cafe and got muesli bars, and Christian decided to be brave and get some plantain chips. Obsession started! They were delicious. They're made from cooked unripe bananas, and function as potato crisps.
We went on, past the pools, up to the waterfall. It was many interesting colours of minerals, and the stream flowing downhill from it was decidedly grey. We wandered back to the pools, and spotted a 'land' crab minding its own business on a step. Not something you see every day.And then the heavens opened. We sheltered under a pergoda for a while, but then decided to keep moving. There were more interesting plants on the way out, and there was a pretty blue ceramic fountain that looked rather out of place. They had signs explaining how they compost everything and use natural methods to maintain the gardens. Very nice experience.
At the exit, we found Stan, and jumped back in the van, driving to collect the others. The car park for Morne Coubaril was bus soup.
From there, we went on to the Sulphur Springs park, going past the folks going for their mud baths. We had a tour of the very acrid-smelling active volcanic area, with many steams and boiling mud. Interesting. Our guide told us the story of Gabriel, a local tour guide who fell in the boiling mud and got horribly burnt from the waist down. That feature is now called Gabriel's Hole and no one is allowed anywhere near it.
Turns out that Soufriere sits within the ancient caldera, and the Pitons are plugs on the rim. Hence why they call it a 'drive-in volcano'.Then back through Soufriere, retracing our steps up the coast to Castries. This road was much more winding than the east road we'd taken from the airport. As we neared Castries, we stuck to the coast road rather than going over the hill, so we could come out at the port to drop the others at their ship. It was interesting to see the port. And then turned back towards our hotel.
I'd been watching the time fearfully, but we were still able to get a buffet lunch, with about 15 mins to spare (they packed up lunch at 3pm). Hooray!
We had a lazy afternoon, playing with photos.
That evening, there was a manager's cocktail party on the roof terrace. We met lots of lovely staff members, spoke to Brandon, Danielle, Dean. Good cocktails, nice canapes, and had our photo taken (which was good technically, but not flattering).
We decided to try the a la carte dinner as we were moderately dressed up. Turns out we needed a booking, but they let us in - we missed orientation because no one told us about it. Dinner was not amazing - we decided to stick to the buffet.
Back to the room, telly, sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment