Castries, St Lucia

Today we arrived in Castries on the island of St Lucia. We were berthed on the town side of the bay; across from the main cruise terminal, where we could see Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth was parked.

We had originally planned to go on the jungle aerial tram excursion but it got cancelled because of storm damage. So we did what we’ve done on our last few visits; walked to Viggi beach, armed with sausage sandwiches, bananas and muffins for lunch.

On our arrival we negotiated two loungers for 20 dollars and settled into our day on the beach.

Where we were based was sandy and murky, and not good for snorkeling, but it was bliss nonetheless. It was a shady spot under some trees where we could dip into the sea when we felt like it, read and watch the world go by (a couple of Palomino horse riders came past occasionally).

After being there for some while we went for a walk up the beach and identified an area of sea close to a clump of rocks, where the water also looked clear. Closer examination with snorkel and goggles revealed lots of interesting fish, and I’m hoping I managed to get some good underwater video footage.

We had planned to walk back to the ship but a taxi driver ambushed us as we left the beach and $10 seemed like a good deal. He tried to encourage us both to get into the car from the near side, but Tracey opened the door on the opposite side, breaking what turned out to be a malfunctioning door handle in the process. Poor bloke then spent the next 10 minutes trying to put it all together again, which he had to do before we could leave (the door wouldn’t stay closed).

Feeling slightly guilty we gave him an extra couple of dollars on our arrival back at the ship, although he did entertain us with a story of how he had stolen his father’s car when he was younger.