My sister Tanicka, niece Kiki and her dad Robo (TKR) arrived at the end of March to join us for 2 weeks in St Lucia. We were so excited to see them! We sailed to Marigot Bay from Bequia in a long passage, passing the majestic Pitons on the coast of St Lucia.
Once in the marina which is lined with mangroves and very protected from the wind, there was a lot of scrubbing and cleaning to be done inside and outside the boat before their arrival of course! We were berthed next to some huge superyachts and watching them washing and polishing the boats they work on all the time and I mean ALL THE TIME!! maybe me feel that extra clean and polish is needed for our boat too!!! Well, it all looks lovely till the next sail in Force 6 with waves crashing over the hull.
Last time TKR came to see us was in France – Brittany and we sailed with them nearly every day. This time we decided to stay in Marigot bay marina, which has excellent pools and the beach as well. Cocktail by the pool? Yes, please!
We like to explore the islands we visit by public transport, which normally means minibuses. It is cheap and also we get to meet local people. However, it proved to be more difficult this time as there were 7 of us! The first time we ventured out of the Marina, up the steep hill passing goats and mango trees we were lucky to grab an empty minibus which took us to the capital of St Lucia - Castries. The produce market in the middle of the town was super – lots of fruit and veggies on offer and a good few traditional eateries right next to it - we decided to have an early lunch there (10amJ)) as the smell of food was just too tempting. Yum Yum!
We wondered around the town after that – passing the usual cruise ships and shopping malls for the tourists. Then we discovered a square with a huge cathedral and a park. Did you know St Lucia has the highest number of Nobel Prize winners per capita? Here we also discovered a pretty place for a drink and more food, with a balcony overlooking a square. We decided to sample ROTI – which is normally meat(chicken/beef/goat) mixed with potatoes, onions and curry all wrapped in a huge flat bread. It was delicious! Unfortunately, the staff forgot to bring kids food, so we left not happy, promising children sweets!!
A few days later, we planned to visit the town of Soufriere – walk in the rainforest around Piton peaks, swim in the waterfalls and explore the volcano. Our first attempt to catch a bus did not go down well – there were all full. SO instead on that day we visited a banana plantation, tasted some plantain chips, and went for a swim in the pool!
In order to visit all the places we had to arrange for a taxi tour. It took us nearly all day to visit the beautiful places on the south west coast of St Lucia. Even just the drive through the rainforest is beautiful.
A few Photos here:
Tired girls after Simon's party!
Happy Birthday Simon!
It was truly wonderful.
Simon and Robo also managed to visit a rum distillery and came back with a few nice rums. The one we really like is the Coconut Rum Liquer, yum yum yum!
And it was Simon’s birthday too – we all dressed up, make up on, beards shaved – and went to a great Indian place in the marina. It was a rare treat for us all and our first Indian food since we left Greenock! Loved it.
We even sailed - a quick trip on Antares – to Rodney Bay Marina.
Rodney bay has a huge beach and when we visited the swell on it was huge to the delight of the boys jumping in and out of the waves.
The history lesson was covered by the visit to The Pigeon Island - it was once home to the British garrison and Admiral Rodney enjoyed attacking French navy on a regular basis from here!
We all had a great holiday. Thank you TKR, we do miss you.
Maria