The island of St. Lucia rose on the port side of the Sea Cloud at 6 a.m. The distinctive piercingly pointed shape of the twin pitons—Petit Piton and Gros Piton—immediately identifies St. Lucia. These two extinct volcanoes rise majestically as sentinels guarding the entrance to the bay of Soufriere, the second largest city on St. Lucia. After breakfast Tom Heffernan gave a lecture and introduction to the religion of the Rastafarians, called My Home is in Ethiopia: The Religion of the Rastafarians. At 11:30 as I stood looking out at the Pitons not one mile distance, I noticed a pod of bottlenose dolphins. These beautiful creatures rode the bow wave alongside Sea Cloud for more than 30 minutes. They leapt completely out of the water, crashing back in with what one only could describe as pure delight. They are sleek green gray and some of them were 8 feet long and must have weighed hundreds of pounds.
Lunch was served and the talk was magnificent as the display of the dolphins. We tendered in to the dock to begin the day’s excursion. Our first stop was the still-active volcanic caldera of Soufriere. There we saw a short video and guides took us to the edge of the caldera where we saw water, mud, and molten rock bubbling at temperatures exceeding 200°C (almost 400°F). Looking at this I am reminded that this is how all of these lush islands were made. St. Lucia is one of the more mountainous islands in the Caribbean and although once a major supplier of bananas to the United Kingdom, today tourism views with agriculture as the principle source of income for the islanders.
We then drove a short distance to one of the better botanical gardens in the Caribbean. The flowers were riotous in their profusion, antheriums, flowering gingers, crotons, wax roses, begonias, an innumerable variety of palms, mango, banana, papaya, cinnamon, coco, and coffee trees grew as if effortlessly. The local guides showed us a variety of the fruits from the plants and explained their medicinal value to the local people.
The sun was not bright and the temperatures about 82°F, perfect for our next adventure—a plunge in an icy mountain pool filled from above by a waterfall. The power of the falls and the chill of the mountain water was such that we had to cover our heads from the beating water—fabulous natural air-conditioning.
Our last excursion was to drive up to the top of the mountain, which surround Souffriere to see the three native species of hummingbirds. They did not disappoint but were out seeking nectar on the trees. We then entered a lovely overlook restaurant for great views of the bay below. While there had rum punches and various Caribbean delicacies, one of my favorites being the coconut candy and jerk chicken. Back on board we were served coffee, tea, and cakes. Tonight at 7p.m. we had one of my favorite meals on Sea Cloud—how can one have a favorite meals when every meal is 5 stars?—the lido deck barbecue. After dinner we were treated to the Sea Cloud crew singing sea shanties. What a spectacular day. I went to bed exhausted but exhilarated thinking could we really have done all of that.
