Day 5 (Nov 20th): Castries, St. Lucia in West Indies Travel Log

We didn’t spend any time in Castries itself because we went on an all-day excursion to Soufriere bay. We were in a group of about 60 (including the onboard cellist, who now acted as the escort). We boarded a catamaran in the morning, and sailed to Soufriere bay, which took 1 ½ hours. The cruise was narrated, and because the catamaran is so big - it could easily fill 90 people - we were very comfortable during the 1 ½ hours.

At Soufriere Bay we were loaded up on buses to visit the Morne Coubaril plantation for lunch and an estate tour. I was disappointed there wasn’t a view of the Pitons from there. Still it was interesting to learn about coco bean processing and the equipment that are used by workers to extract coco vinegar, cocoa butter, and such. It was like an open air museum and reminds me a lot of Old Bethpage Village restoration project. Still, I wished we had spent more time viewing the PItons from a height.

After lunch at the plantation, we headed back to the catamaran at Soufriere bay. The catamaran took us partly back to Anse Cochon Beach, and dumped us off for a swimming session. It was only 45 minutes, but it didn’t feel as long since we were having fun. It was a bit crowded though; the beach was used by a resort, and there were two other catamarans doing the same thing we were at the same time, so it got a bit crowded sometimes. It also didn’t help that I saw a sea urchin on a rock where we were swimming and got conscious about stepping on it. On the plus side, the underwater camera worked well.

The catamaran took us back to Castries, stopping at Marigo Bay for a photo op en route. Overall it was a relaxing experience, with the scenic cruising the most enjoyable part. By the time we got back, it was almost 4. We showered and fetched La Professeure’s father and got afternoon tea, even though I was very sleepy. By 5 I was ready to doze off, but was woken up at 6 to go to the Italian specialty restaurant Manfredi’s because we had a reservation there.

We turned up early tonight.