During the night and early morning courses of south and south-easterly direction to St Lucia picking up the Pilot 1.5 nautical miles from Castries Harbour where the ship docks at Pointe Seraphine across the harbour from Castries the Capitol of St Lucia.

Woke just before 6am to a misty view of the island of St Lucia took progressive photos from the Pitons along the coastline to docking in the harbour. The island 27 mile long by 14 miles wide is very much like Dominica mountainous, lust rainforests (134” of rain a year), waterfalls, volcanic rock coastline with black/white sandy beaches.

The island over a 150-year period changed hands 14 times between the British and French (hence the names of the towns) but a pirate named Francois le Clerc officially put St Lucia on the map in the mid 16 century using the island as a base against his attacks on the Spanish galleons sailing through the Caribbean.

Again after a late breakfast we waited for the bulk of passengers to go ashore before we found a tour company to take us on an island tour. Richard bartered him down to $70 for a 4 and a half hour tour for us both. Small mini taxi with 3 other couples from Royal Princess. Mervin our Driver/Guide drove through the capitol Castries which is a lot more of a modern town than the other islands we have visited. The outskirts and market/tourist stalls look very rundown and a poor section of the island.

For the next 4 and a half hours Mervin will be slowly edging his way up and down many hair-pin turns through the rainforest covered mountains with steep drop offs and magnificent views to our different sightseeing stops. The first is Morne Fortune enjoying sweeping views of Castries Harbour from this 17^th century outpost, then passing by colourful small and larger homes built on the mountainside till we reached a banana plantation (main export to mainly UK) in the valley of Marigot. Little stalls here and at every stop selling their wares and it is amazing how many different things they can make from bananas. Rum is the other big seller (on all the islands) and I think he said it was 150% proof, one sip and you are gone.

Next stop was the fishing village of Anse la Raye, the little shops are very rundown but their homes are beautiful and of good size. Lovely view of the village from coming down the mountain (only one road to all these spots) passing through up the other side of the mountain where we stopped to take a photo of the black-sand beach and village.

Also stopped at a viewing site overlooking the next fishing village of Canaries and the National Rainforest of 19,000 acres of verdant valleys carpeted with giant ferns. Couldn’t stop on the dangerous winding road to see the brilliant coloured orchids or the magnificent St Lucia parrot which nests in the forest’s canopies. This tropical bird of paradise is only found on this island and its plumage of emerald, yellow, red and blue appears to shine in the sunlight. Didn’t stop at the Diamond Botanical Gardens as we had all seen enough plants and waterfalls. Stopped at another advantage site on the mountainous road overlooking the picturesque bay home to the island’s oldest town of Soufriere boasts of historic pastel-coloured colonial buildings adorned with balconies draped in bougainvillea. From here is a perfect vantage point to view the majestic Pitons. These sky-reaching landmarks were used as beacons by sailors, etc. for hundreds of years. You can also see the world’s only “drive-in” volcano called the Sulphur Springs in the distance and that is where we are going to next.

The volcano is a very popular site plus you can bath in the sulphur water, but we did this on Dominica. Mervin stops here with all the other drivers doesn’t drive through you take a 20 minute walk on the boardwalk through the volcano’s crater to view the bubbling mud pots border steam vents that erupt as high as 50 feet in the air and the smell of the sulphur is like rotten eggs. We like a few others in our tour decided not to go (US $9 to enter), as people coming back said it was a waste of money plus Richard and I viewed a volcano on Hawaii Big Island. Took a photo of what I could see of the volcano.

No one was interested in seeing waterfalls so Mervin drove back on the winding road we came on then turned left at Marigot to stop at the viewing platform to see “the most beautiful bay in the Caribbean”. This lush yachtsman’s haven has been seen in films including “Dr Dolittle and Fire Power”.

Glad to get back to the cruise ship for a very late lunch, afternoon rest, then an evening at the Atrium Piazza to listen to the classical indulgence with the Inspiration String Trio followed by the Rick Kilburn Quartet. Across from us is the lady who has sailed with Princess Cruise Line for a total of 1404 days this would have taken over 50 years to do. Will have to bring my video camera down next time as some of the sights you see on the dance floor is something to watch. Had enough of the crooning went to the Horizon Court for a late dinner before retiring to our suite.