Village Squire, 1979-04, Page 28TRAVEL
St. Lucia,
emerald
of the Caribbean
BY G.P.
Of a dozen tropical islands we have
visited over the years, only Fiji and
Martinique bear comparison to St. Lucia.
The former is too far away to be easily or
economically accessable, while the latter is
French and tends like other French
possessions to be pricey.
So if you dream: of an island rich with
the varied greens of the rainforest; of skies
of intense blue; of clouds innocent of a
trace of tattle -take grey; of golden beaches
where no "PRIVATE" signs bar your
wanderings, then you and St. Lucia are
meant for each other.
It's a six hour flight from Toronto,
uneventful until the pilot's voice comes
over the loudspeaker to announce that
those by the window may look down to
glimpse the Bahamas far below. If the sky
below remains unclouded, watchers may
also see another island or two as the plane
pushes south. The long descent soon
begins. Folks on the starboard side who are
keeping a sharp watch will see Dominica a
moment or two before those by the port
windows spot Martinique. There's St.
Lucia as we bank in for the final descent.
Some one who has done his homework
shouts excitedly, "Look! There are the
Pitons." Bump! The plane has touched
down and we are rolling up the runway to
the attractive little Hewanera Airport.
As part of Canadian's contribution to
Third World countries, we built the airport,
the highway up to the capital at Castries,
and the splendid new composite secondary
school. St. Lucians appreciate this, so
wherever we went, we were welcomed with
a smile.
A small incident before we left the
airport was to alert us to the tempo of the
island people. Our plane had been more
than an hour late out of Toronto, so the
mini -bus that was to take us to our hotel
had been standing by. It was not until we
were ready to step in with our hand
luggage that the driver decided it might be
time to change a flat tire. We stood about
for an hour while he ambled about looking
for a wheel wrench and finally made the
needed change. Strange as it may seem the
26 Village Squire, April 1979
time passed quickly in such a pleasant
setting. There were more wry smiles than
irritated grumblings.
Finally our bus set off toward the north,
as our hotel was on the beach two miles
beyond Castries. It was a truly splendid
trip, with the bus threading its way
through tiny communities, up and down
hill, periodically offering us glimpses of
lovely sand bordered beaches on the
Atlantic side. We pushed on to the
accompaniment of much tooting as old and
young, goats and chickens all preferred the
centre of the road and were reluctant to
give way.
St. Lucia is of volcanic origin with its
forest clad mountain range forming a fine
backdrop on the left. On that side too, the
towering black volcanic cones of le Petit
Piton and le Gros Piton stood stark against
the blue cloud splashed sky.
Two-thirds of the way north the bus
swung inland toward the divide. Steep
grades, sharp turns and narrow track
demand the best of drivers. More than one
among the timid burst out with "Oh's"
and "Ah's" as we made our way down
around the sharp. hairpin bends just on the
outskirts of the city. We edged around
Castries and pulled up at the Malibar set
on the very edge of the Caribbean.
Next morning the first of 14 perfect.
sun -mellowed days we set off for town.
Mornings and evenings are unparallelled,
but as always in the tropics middays are a
bit sticky. From past experience, we have
learned to pace ourselves and to avoid any
risk of having our trip spoiled by sunburn.
It was to be the first of four or five hikes
into Castries and possibly more of an
adventure than you might guess. The roads
are narrow. pockmarked with potholes and
have no footpaths worthy of the name.
Traffic is brisk. so one always has to divide
his attention between the sights along the
way and the passing cars and trucks. It's
been noted that goats run loose. That first
morning we passed one that had just
given birth to two lovely fawn -coloured
kids. not yet dry and able to stagger to
their feet.
Our side of town brought us to the open
air market with its fruit and vegetables,
clothing and crockery, tinware and
novelties. There is a covered area for the
rainy season, and here you will find a
variety of seafood as well. The most
interesting aspect of the fish sale though
takes place close by on the waterfront,
where the small boats come in and the men
auction off their catch right at the shore.
Castries is a fun city to wander in. but
the tourist must constantly be on the alert
to avoid tripping. Remember this is a far
from affluent Third World community.
Broken sidewalks and streets. open storm
FLOWERS FOR ALL OCCASIONS
•
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•Complete Selection of Green & Flowering Plants
THE HANDICRAFT
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Open Tues. to Sat.
Evening by Appointment
Phone 357-2023
306 JOSEPHINE STREET,
WINGHAM