February 17th, 2008
St Lucia
Think of the Caribbean and we picture beautiful lush islands floating in the turquoise ocean, when doing so we may consider St. Lucia which is one of the Windward islands and truly a gem amongst precious Caribbean destinations.
The island of St. Lucia was one of the first to benefit, albeit unwittingly, from the surge in eco projects when the government of the country, in the shape of the forestry department, began to protect the forests and mountains in order to safeguard the island’s water suply. As a result they ended up protecting the wildlife making the island a birdwatcher’s paradise and the interior of St. Lucia is now a major attraction for walkers and hikers. Of course the enduring image of St. Lucia is its mountains and in particular it’s twin peaks known as the Pitons which rise steeply from underneath the ocean (which is great for diving) and are actually the ‘plugs’ of now dormant volcanoes.
St. Lucia also lays claim to the world’s only drive-in volcano at Sulphur Springs Park, which occupies 25 hectares within St. Lucia’s Piton World Heritage Site. Sulphur Springs Park is at the intersection of two fault lines which traverse the centre of a large steep sided volcanic depression, called “Qualibou” caldera. The caldera is about 40, 000 years old, and is a great tourist attraction on St. Lucia.
St. Lucia has also gained a reputation for it’s most famous crop, bananas. As you drive around the island you will see the fruit in abundance. Nowadays, St. Lucia gains most of it’s income from tourism and the island is perfectly geared up to make your holiday memorable.
The island has a small number of popular resorts including Castries which is the capital and a popular destination for cruise ships, and to the north of Castries, Gros Islet, which is famous for it’s Friday night street party known as a ‘jump-up’ where visitors and locals mix and dance to reggae and calypso sounds whilst enjoying fish and chicken from the many street vendors. To the south west is Soufriere which as well as being home to Sulphur Springs Park is also reputed to be the birthplace of Napoleon’s companion Josephine de Beauhamais although it may be that she spent some of her childhood here in what was the island’s capital during the time of French occupancy.
Flights to St. Lucia from the UK depart from Gatwick or Manchester and we are able to put together a complete holiday package for you to enjoy this true Caribbean gem.