For Piton's sake!
Lowena
Michael & Amanda Dyer
Wed 19 Mar 2008 19:42
approaching the island, the sky turned grey, the visibily reduced
considerably and we thought, o oh, squall coming. But no wind came only
torrential rain that lasted for about 3/4 hour. We lost sight of
'Wings' completely, the vis went down to about 100 metres. After an
hour the wind picked up, the sky cleared and we made our way into Rodney
Bay. The Bay was very crowded as the Marina is being modernised and
there is no mooring in the lagoon. We anchored off Sandals Hotel.
The next few days we spent indulging in shopping Malls, supermarkets,
chandleries etc, all luxuries we had been deprived of for a few weeks.
We then sailed south to Soufriere and the Pitons, a National Park where
you are not allowed to anchor. You are placed on a mooring buoy by a
boat buoy. The scenery is spectacular, the Pitons resemble God's own
pyramids.
Next day Prince Charles came to visit Soufriere aboard 'Leander'. It
poured with rain, (home from home).
On our last day in St Lucia we decided to climb 'Gross Piton' with our
friends Wilbur and Morgan. Philip on 'Never say never', took us by boat
to the foot of the Piton. Oh my goodness did it look a long climb!
It took us two and half hours to reach the top. The view was
breathtaking. We climbed 2620 feet,(half a mile). The descent was harder
in a way.
On the way down we visited Soufriere's (sulphur) crater which is still
boiling and letting off steam. The smell of sulphur was extremely
powerful.
It was a certainly a good work out. Wilbur kindly offered to cook
dinner that night, was I grateful!
The snorkelling from our boat beneath the Bat Cave was excellent. The
bubbles rise from the sea bed and at the edge of the coral the depths
plunge to 100m over a short distance.