St Lucia, Windward Islands (Helen of the West Indies)

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• published: 13 May 2016
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St Lucia was the 5th port of call on the Southern Caribbean cruise aboard Carnival Glory.. The island's beauty has earned it the nickname "Helen of the West Indies" and I would consider this to be one of my favourite islands that we visited on our cruise. The island is quite mountainous, owing to its volcanic features in particular the two peaks that rise from the sea- Gros Piton and Petit Piton (2,619ft and 2,461ft respectively). St Lucia is still geologically active and boasts the world's only 'Drive-in' Volcano at La Soufriere, also known as the Sulphur Springs due to the multitude of thermal springs in the area- some are far to hot to bathe in, however nearby there is a bath house whereby the natural springs are at a more tolerable level, in addition you can also take a hot mud bath. The beaches are not the usual crisp white sand you see in other Caribbean islands, but has more of a darker shade (black in places) due to the sand being based on volcanic rock. To get around the can take quite some time despite its size as alot of the main roads circumnavigate the island, and to travel in land the roads are often quite steep and twisty due to the terrain. This can lead to some unexpected, spectacular views at times. The island is mostly covered by a rich rain forrest, and due to the rainfall and fertile soil there is a large variety of plants and fruits that are grown on the island. We did not book one of the Carnival excursions as the trips were too short and could not be combined to see what we wanted to see due to timings. Instead we booked a "Scenic Tour of Sourfrier" privately. On the day we had the advantage of having the entire minivan to ourselves as no-one else was booked on the tour, so in effect we had a 'private tour' as opposed to be herded round in large groups (of people I often find loud/annoying) as is normally the case on the cruise ship organised tours. Our driver 'Shan' was amazing and given the fact that we were the only people on the tour, also meant that we had individual tours at each of the destinations along with being able to spend more time in places to look around etc. He carried a cool box in the minivan which had complimentary refreshments for the day. While driving round Shan was fully of interesting insights relating to St Lucia and was happy to answer any questions. It all made for a very enjoyable day and to be honest I was sad to leave as I genuinely liked St Lucia as the people are warm and friendly and when walking around, you do not get harrassed by vendors as is normally the case with other Caribbean islands. It was a very relaxing place and definetly one I would return to for a longer stay. During our time on St Lucia we were able to see: - The Pitons (from a distance, as climbing them takes some experience) - Toraille Waterfall (You can swim in the plunge pool - but the water is very cold!) - Diamond Waterfall and Botanical Garden - Originally a sugar plantation, it has been transformed into a diverse botanical garden with fruits, nuts, flowers and trees from around the world growing here. There are independent tour guides who will take you on a tour of the garders our's (Alexander) was very knowledgeable and an interesting character! We had a lot of fun! There is also a natural spring bath here which is available for a small charge. St Lucia has a mixture of French and British influences as it was fought for on many occasions in the past before finally becoming a British colony; though now independent since 22nd February 1979, it is still a member of the Commonwealth of Nations associated with the UK. Napoleon Bonaparte's first wife, Josephine de Beauharnais was from St Lucia.