June 24, 2015 - Day #5 of Cruise - St. Lucia

THE HISTORY OF SAINT LUCIA

The Arawaks were the first people proven to inhabit St. Lucia as evidenced through their pottery found in archeological sites. They named the island Iouanalao, which meant “Land of the Iguanas”, due to the island’s high number of these lizards.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_Antillean_Iguana

As on the other islands of the Lesser Antilles, the aggressive Caribs arrived around 800 AD and killed all the men and assimilated the women into their society. They called the island Hewanarau and later Hewanorra, and is the origin of the name of the airport in Vieux Fort.

It is not known when the island was discovered by Europe, but in the 17th century, around 1600, the first European camp was established by the Dutch, at what is now Vieux Fort. In q605, and English vessel was blown off course on its way to Guyana, and the 67 colonists established a settlement. However, at 5 weeks, only 19 survived and were forced off the island by the fierce Caribs.

In 1635, the French officially claimed the island but did not settle it. Instead, it was the English who attempted to settle it in 1639, but they too were wiped out by the Caribs. In 1643, A French expedition from Martinique, established a permanent settlement.

In 1664, Thomas Warner, son of the governor of St. Kitts, claimed Saint Lucia for England. He brought 1000 men to defend it from the French, but after only 2 years, only 89 survived, dying mostly from disease. In 1666, the French West India Company resumed control of the island, which in 1674 was made an official French crown colony.

In the 18th century, both the English and French recognized the importance of growing sugarcane on St. Lucia and the island changed ownership multiple times well into the 18th century.

During the Seven Years’ War, Britain occupied the island for a couple of years but ceded it back to France at the Treat of Paris in 1763. The French began to cultivate sugarcane, using mostly indentured white servants. 

Near the end of the century, the French Revolution occurred. The slaves learning of this walked off their jobs to work for themselves. They even brought a guillotine to the islands to execute the Royalists. In 1794, the French governor, no doubt to save his head, declared all slaves free.

A short time later, the British invaded the island in response to the wealthy plantation owners who wanted to keep the sugar production going. On February 21, 1795, a group of rebels led by Victor Hugues, defeated a battalion of British troops. For the next four months, a group of recently freed slaves known as the Brigands, forced out not only the British army, but also the white slave-owners. The slave-owners of blacks were left alone. In 1796, Castries, where the ship docks, was burned as part of the conflict.

In 1803, the British regained control of the island and restored slavery. The British abolished the African slave trade in 1807 and they acquired St. Lucia permanently in 1814. However, it was not until 1834 that slavery was abolished. By this time, the people of African descent greatly outnumbered those of European ethnicity.

In 1924, the island developed a representative government and eventually with the cooperation of Grenada, St. Vincent, Dominica, Antigua, St. Kitts, Nevis, and Anguilla, the developed what is known as associated statehood from 1967 to 1979. Full independence was obtained in 1979. Queen Elizabeth II is still recognized as the titular head of state.

GEOGRAPHY OF SAINT LUCIA

St. Lucia is a volcanic island dominated by twin Pitons (Gros Piton and Petit Piton.) The land mass comprises 238 square miles. The highest point is 3,143 feet and is called Mount Gimie.

The island has a tropical, humid climate with an average annual rainfall of 78 inches, falling mostly from June to December, the “wet season.” 

The island has the only drive-in volcano near Soufriere (French

 for Sulfur). This is a tourist attraction area where one can get mud baths.

ECONOMY OF SAINT LUCIA

The island population is quite poor, with about 16 percent living below the poverty line. There is a large banana plantation on the island, but this was damaged severely by Hurricane Dean in 2007. 

Tourism is the island’s main industry but there is a fledgling computer technology business and financial services operation. With a stable political situation, business investment has been increasing. Hess Oil has a large storage facility on the island.

The currency is the Eastern Caribbean Dollar with value EC $2.7 = U.S. $1.

OUR DAY ON SAINT LUCIA

Departing the ship after breakfast, we again ran the gauntlet of aggressive taxi drivers looking for our business. As mentioned above, as tourism is the main way of making a living, I can see their motivation. Still, it was annoying.

Where the cars are parked is the gauntlet of taxi drivers

Walking away from the crowd that wanted $180 US to take the four of us on a tour of the island, I eventually negotiated a price of $100 US with a $20 if a good tour was provided. I even got a price of $70 from one man purporting to be a taxi driver. However, you should only get in a vehicle with a T on the license plate. These drivers must pass a certification by the government to become a taxi driver and later seeing the winding nature of the roads, I think it is good to go with a certified driver.

The man I negotiated with called his wife, Maria, who is also a taxi driver. Here is her contact info should you require a good, safe and honest taxi driver on St. Lucia.

We got into the vehicle and started off towards the center of the island, towards Soufriere where many of the tourist attractions are supposed to be. It takes a fairly long time to get to this area and while the view is nice, I am not certain I would recommend traveling to see a small waterfall or to get a view of the island. You can check it out below to see what you think.

We passed through Anse La Reye, a town at sea level that floods periodically and is rebuilt.

We saw more pretty beaches:

and the twin pitons from afar. It is interesting that we stopped for a view of the pitons and a man tried to add value to the stop by describing what we were seeing. I had no paper US dollars and tried to give him a dollar in coins but he said they cannot use US coins on the island. He was out of luck.

We finally arrived at a small waterfall called the Touraille Falls. It costs $3 US to go see it. The usual falls and botanical gardens are called Diamond Falls and Botanical Gardens. It costs $7 US/pp to enter and another $6 US/pp to get in the warm sulfur baths.

Earline enjoying the falls?

Mango tree

No idea what these are called

Nor this.

After viewing the falls, Maria took off on the return trip and travelled around the curves much fast that on the first leg. This made me car sick and by the time we came to a rum factory where you can taste all you want for $4 US/pp, I was feeling bad. However Ron and Earline were not deterred and loved the different flavored wines and the ability to pour as much as you desires...self service.

I did find an interesting explanation of who the Buccaneers were and the next pictures describe their evolution into pirates.

I sat up front after the rum factory but unfortunately, I did not want to prolong our excursion. My travel partners were nice enough to return to the ship with me. I was happy to see the ship in the distance.

 After returning to the ship and resting, I was ready for our dinner with "wearing white" theme. The show this evening was a comedy headliner, Michael James who was quite entertaining.

Michael James

During the evening, the ship sails towards Barbados.