Ripping off the tourists
Stream
Darrell Jackson and Sarah Barnes
Mon 5 May 2014 18:02
Greg picked us up from the boat just after 8.30, so we could get to the local Tourist hotspots as they opened and avoid the cruise ship and hotel tours. His cousin met as at the dock to taxi us up to our fist stop: the volcano Soufriere. It is the Caribbean's "only drive in volcano", unlike Dominica where we walked up to it, one of the seven vents of the cordillera is very close to a road. Very like Desolation Valley on Dominica there are multicoloured mounds of steaming earth, bubbling pools and a pungent sulphurous smell. You used to be able to walk across it, but due to a guide falling through the crust and being badly burned during a tour, the powers that be prefer to keep the tourists safe. So we stayed on the viewing platform. Our guide Samantha was very informative about the volcano and life and politics on the island.
We then went down to the Sulphur Springs. The water comes down from the volcano bringing the volcanic mud for people to bathe in. This was another chance to cover each other with a thick black mud with alleged special properties. Darrell is still waiting for his hair to grow back and the rest of us imagine we look younger with smoother skin! The water is warm and pleasant to sit in, but getting the mud off proved rather tricky as it does find its way into all the nooks and crannies!
We then went down to the Pitons waterfall, which we had virtually to ourselves, although we had to wait a while for a couple to vacate the rocks under the waterfall. It seems that Germans have difficulty sharing! They have built three pools to collect the hot waterfall water in and they are all about four foot deep. You can sit under the warm waterfall being pelted, or massaged by the falling water. Another good photo opportunity. We spent about half an hour in the various pools until a few tour groups turned up and it got rather crowded. So we headed off to our next stop: Diamond Falls and the Botanic Gardens, stopping at some view points and souvenir stalls on the way.
The gardens were built by Louis XVI of France, so that the French troops could take advantage of the therapeutic effects of the mineral baths and hot springs dating from 1784, on the Diamond Estate. They knew how to look after their troops. However, the baths were largely destroyed during the French Revolution. They were a holiday resort for Napoleon's Josephine who was brought up on the island. We wandered along the paths through a well manicured garden, planted with tropical flowers and trees to the small waterfall dropping down a rock face stained by rich mineral deposits from the water into a small pool. It is scenic, cool and a pleasant place to wander around while eating ice creams. We then returned to Soufriere eager to sample the local coffee. So we took our guide to Zaka coffee house and arts cafe, a nice friendly local business. A group of artists carve masks, fishes and other crafts in a room next to the cafe, who grow and roast their own coffee. They were interesting friendly people who made us very welcome and the wifi was good. After talking to the local artist we found he originates from west London. Julie happily purchased several works of art.
We then returned to Stream to move across the bay onto a mooring under the cliffs near the bat cave for the evening. Sarah gave Greg, our guide, who had only been with us for the Botanical Gardens and our walk around Soufriere, the $EC200 that we had agreed on the previous evening and he then informed us that he had said $EC200 per person. We were, to say the least, somewhat taken aback at this as we had all clearly heard him confirm that his quoted price was for the group not per person. We had no proof of course and one never gets written details of these arrangements and so we paid up after a lengthy "discussion" about his ethics and lack of value. ($EC800 is about £200 and represents 2/3 of a monthly salary on St Lucia for a person working behind a bar in one of the large hotels for a 9hr shift, 7 days a week. So he had had a good day and we didn't see him out for the next few days, whereas we felt rather short changed. If you are planning a trip to St Lucia, we cannot recommend Gregory, owner/operator of Beautiful Isle Water Taxis. We decided not to use Greg for our planned hike up Gros Piton a couple of days later. Of all our guides this trip he has been the worst value by a long way and he has done no favours for this area of the island.
We had a pleasant snorkel along the cliffs next to our mooring and of course Darrell had to go and look into the Bat Cave where he found hundreds of bats hanging off the walls and the unmistakeable signs of bats, their poo floating in the water beneath the cave.
After a strange evening meal where we ate egg on toast, cheesey beans on toast, although one person had requested toast and jam but the cook was on autopilot with the beans and forgot,
it was a rather subdued and contemplative crew who retired to bed that night.