That’s the end of our historical tour, now we are off on a scenic drive to the west side of the island, also called the “countryside", for great views over Marigot. The roads are definitely small, twisty and steep, which makes me ever so glad we weren’t able to find a car here. Much more relaxing letting someone else do the driving, particularly someone who is local and knows what they are doing!
The little lane (that is the main road, btw) runs up and down over steep hills and little valleys, before we turn uphill again toward the coast for Marigot. We stop at a crowded lookout platform where EVERY tour (local and otherwise) stops for photos. it is an excellent view, down to the protected harbor with the high dollar villas and cottages dotting the hills around the sailboat and yacht choked bay. Nice pix! There is also, of course, a little shop here selling everything from batik beachwear to rather expensive Banana Ketchup and local snacks. We did try the Banana Ketchup, and it was quite good, but not at $6 US a little bottle. Hopefully we can find more in a grocery store in Castries.
Back on the van, we have to sit for about 5 minutes waiting for the other vans to leave and unblock us, then we are retracing our route, back down the mountain and into the flatlands of Roseau, where the banana fields are located. Bananas being the main export here, the fields stretch forever, with little fruit and souvenir stores dotting the side of the road where the banana field owners are selling their wares. We stop for Genil to give us a banana growing lesson, and manage to snap a photo (through the van window) of a blooming banana plant. We’ve been to banana plantations before, but it was nice to get a refresher – I’d forgotten that banana trees only produce fruit once, then they are cut down and the “suckers” that grow out of them begin to create a new tree.
Onward through the country we ride, reaching our last destination, Anse La Raye, a typical little St. Lucia village where we have 20 minutes to wander through the souvenir stands, the beach (a pretty little cove) or through the little town where there is a nice looking church and the typical houses of the island, stacked side by side, touching each other, or built together.
We wander the streets, grab a beer from a vendor, then hop back on the van for our return to the city. It was a nice little 3 hour tour, and we still have tons of time before all aboard at 4:30. So, once we are back to the Castries harbor, we head over to the ferry to go to Point Seraphine, the other cruise ship terminal where the larger ships dock (in this case, today the NCL Gem is here – which has some symmetry for us since that is our next ride in January!). The Gem however, is not the reason we are here, nor is the “duty free shopping.” We are here to check out the local Brewery, Antillia Brewing. The $5 return ferry drops us off virtually right in front of the little open air wooden palapa that houses Antillia Brewing – wow! Its such a great setting, right on the water looking out over the bay. And the beer is equally great – Ed has a wheat beer and I have chocolate porter. I don’t care how hot it is, I’m a chocolate porter girl – and this one doesn’t disappoint! We sit in the shade, with a nice breeze and good wifi enjoying our beers and whiling away the time until we decide to head back across the harbor.
We manage to miss one ferry, but then wander through the shopping area, find the restroom and then catch the next ferry back to Castries central. There we wander through the central town, finally finding the grocery store that is packed – and I mean absolutely packed – with people. The check out lines are 20 people deep. School has let out and the place is filled with kids, parents, just an overload of people. So much so that we abandon all thoughts of shopping and leave within minutes.
With still over an hour to kill, we head back to the terminal and find our way upstairs to one of the restaurants (the one with A/C, not the open air one!) for a last beer before heading back to the ship. A nice cool ending to a pretty nice day in St. Lucia.
Back on board, it’s our normal routine, gym, dinner, show. Now we are ready for our non-traditional tour day in Trinidad.
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