Awestruck by the landscape
Tillymint.fortescue
Thu 17 Dec 2009 11:29
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It's just over 24 hours since we left Rodney Bay
Marina, a taxi ride to Marigot Bay took us landside past the sights we'd
seen sailing down here at the weekend. The harbour at Castries with the cruise
liners looming over the low buildings of the Island's capital, the huge oil
terminal just beyond serving as stark reminder that a 21st century paradise
doesn't run on mango juice and the roads winding up and down the volcanic hills
that define the landscape. The coastal settlements peep from the palm
fringed shores and rise steeply up the densely forested hillsides, each house
struggling to push the palm fronds out of its eyes. The coverage is so complete
and dense, trunks march to cliff tops and abseil over, mangroves paddle in the
breaking waves. The tree is king!
We are perched in an eyerie amongst these trees,
moored to the steep hillside in a very large, robustly rectangular collection of
rooms which the children still call "the boat". We have cabins, heads and a
galley and a fine foredeck- all the trapping of modern holiday comfort from
which to admire the natural harbour that once gave cover to the King's Own
Navy in colonial scurmishes with the French. Nowadays a large fleet
of charter yachts and a modest(?!) collection of superyachts monopolise the
moorings and enjoy the natural protection afforded by the harbour against
hurricanes (and the French.....). By the by the harbour was also
the setting for the Dr Doolittle movie which we have borrowed from the
hotel dvd library to watch "on location"
Today we betrayed the heritage of sail and took a
speedboat on a 45 minute trip further along the west coast past the island's
most famous landmark - The Pitons. Partly due to the distractions of everyday
life and preparations for the voyage, and partly because I couldn't count my
chickens in terms of being in The Caribbean, I hadn't looked at guidebooks for
the island so have spent the day awestruck by the landscape. Not for me the
comparison to previously viewed photographs. The real thing for the first time
in real life - the Pitons are a conspicuous pair of volcanic peaks amongst the
many, rising like triangles from the shoreline. They are in the Superman movie
so if you don't visit St Lucia you could get a taste for the island via an
excursion to Blockbusters! (I'm also reasonably sure the island inspired the
design of Tracey Island and a keen watch is being posted for Thunderbirds
2)
At the end of our boat trip we reached the cove of
Jalousie and a indulged in a spot of snorkelling. Just us 5 and a beach and a
reef, then another boat arrived and another and another. Soon the sea was a
packed with plastic pipes, hordes of people face down in the water watching the
fish. There is a shoal of thought that the fish are actually the tourists, drawn
to the reef to laugh at us all with our big flappy feet and strangely squashed
faces with big goggly eyes........
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