We set the alarm for 8am because we had nowhere to be. Yay! Breakfast.
We decided to walk into Castries again to see the market in full operation. It was very bustling, with everything from clothing to souvenirs to fruit and veg to street food. I had a quick look for clothes to buy (I hadn't really brought enough), but everything was quite expensive.
In the market, we were approached by a lot of friendly but insistent stall holders. I bought vanilla essence for Catherine, and looked for some sea glass for Heather. The stalls seemed to go on forever.
We walked around a little way to the supermarket for my compulsory research mission, and bought lemon, lime and bitters, plantain chips, and found vanilla essence much more cheaply. Oops. I got some more for Catherine. I forgot to buy presents for the folks at work.
We walked around a bit further, towards the cruise port, but only found more markets, and a dead end. Then we headed back to Bel Jou for lunch.
We'd booked the 1.45 van to Vigie Beach, and it turned up as planned to pick us and a few others up. There was a designated pick up time of 4.15 and we confirmed this with the nice driver.
He dropped us at the far end of the beach, behind the airport, and left us with a man who directed us to sun beds. There wasn't much space on the sand, and the sun was behind us, but we settled in, with Christian finding shade next to my sun. There were a few characters looking after sunbeds, one who called himself Jack Sparrow, who bantered with us.
It was also windy, not particularly warm, and there was a palm tree periodically blocking my sun. We went for a little swim, and while the water was nice enough, had weed in it. It certainly wasn't the best beach we've been to, though it was nice to experience it. I did some reading.
When it cooled down, we moved from the beach up to the bar behind - Christian got a beer and some plantain chips. The van came back to pick up on time at 4.15, and we headed back to the hotel for a shower and to get changed.
We had a wander around the grounds and took some photos, as it was our last night. Awww.
Tonight was the planned Caribbean barbecue dinner around the pool, so the buffet wasn't open as usual. We found a table in the corner of the pool area, and then it started to rain. We moved to a table under an umbrella and the staff scurried around trying to dry everything and move people to dry tables.
I got us some cocktails - the guy behind the bar decided to make me one to match my hair, which I accepted, though Christian was wiser. My cocktail was awful, as it was mostly blue curacao.
The food was an incredibly impressive spread - loads of meat on the barbecue, loads of salads and exciting accompaniments. We had some white wine. There was a steel drum band playing popular classics, which was quite nice. Dean joined in with them for a time. Dessert was especially impressive, and I had way too much - but they had an amazing coconut cream pie. Mmm.
Then the real entertainment started. A dance troup put on a show for us, which involved fire, while Jaffree put in annoying commentary over the top. They were quite good, and they periodically grabbed an unfortunate soul to dance with them. Then one of the men decided to get me up for audience participation. I had to hold a fire stick while the man blew it into the air. It was very hot, and a little scary. It was fine, though.
Once that was over, we headed to the room, and the disco started, which was much louder than had been reaching us from the rooftop bar. Oh well. To add insult to injury, the telly wouldn't work for us, either. Went to bed at 10pm.
We decided to walk into Castries again to see the market in full operation. It was very bustling, with everything from clothing to souvenirs to fruit and veg to street food. I had a quick look for clothes to buy (I hadn't really brought enough), but everything was quite expensive.
In the market, we were approached by a lot of friendly but insistent stall holders. I bought vanilla essence for Catherine, and looked for some sea glass for Heather. The stalls seemed to go on forever.
We walked around a little way to the supermarket for my compulsory research mission, and bought lemon, lime and bitters, plantain chips, and found vanilla essence much more cheaply. Oops. I got some more for Catherine. I forgot to buy presents for the folks at work.
We walked around a bit further, towards the cruise port, but only found more markets, and a dead end. Then we headed back to Bel Jou for lunch.
We'd booked the 1.45 van to Vigie Beach, and it turned up as planned to pick us and a few others up. There was a designated pick up time of 4.15 and we confirmed this with the nice driver.
It was also windy, not particularly warm, and there was a palm tree periodically blocking my sun. We went for a little swim, and while the water was nice enough, had weed in it. It certainly wasn't the best beach we've been to, though it was nice to experience it. I did some reading.
When it cooled down, we moved from the beach up to the bar behind - Christian got a beer and some plantain chips. The van came back to pick up on time at 4.15, and we headed back to the hotel for a shower and to get changed.
Tonight was the planned Caribbean barbecue dinner around the pool, so the buffet wasn't open as usual. We found a table in the corner of the pool area, and then it started to rain. We moved to a table under an umbrella and the staff scurried around trying to dry everything and move people to dry tables.
I got us some cocktails - the guy behind the bar decided to make me one to match my hair, which I accepted, though Christian was wiser. My cocktail was awful, as it was mostly blue curacao.
The food was an incredibly impressive spread - loads of meat on the barbecue, loads of salads and exciting accompaniments. We had some white wine. There was a steel drum band playing popular classics, which was quite nice. Dean joined in with them for a time. Dessert was especially impressive, and I had way too much - but they had an amazing coconut cream pie. Mmm.
Then the real entertainment started. A dance troup put on a show for us, which involved fire, while Jaffree put in annoying commentary over the top. They were quite good, and they periodically grabbed an unfortunate soul to dance with them. Then one of the men decided to get me up for audience participation. I had to hold a fire stick while the man blew it into the air. It was very hot, and a little scary. It was fine, though.
Once that was over, we headed to the room, and the disco started, which was much louder than had been reaching us from the rooftop bar. Oh well. To add insult to injury, the telly wouldn't work for us, either. Went to bed at 10pm.
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