Our Summer Vacation - Day 5 (St. Lucia)

Meaning of the Flag

Cerulean Blue represents fidelity. This blue reflects their tropical sky and also their emerald surrounding waters— the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.


Gold represents the prevailing sunshine in the Caribbean and prosperity.


Black and white stand for the cultural influences - the white part, the white culture; the black part, the black culture -the two races living and working in unity.


The design impresses the dominance of the Negro culture vis-à-vis that of Europe, against a background of sun­shine and ever-blue sea. This is represented by the three triangles in the centre of the flag, symbolising three pitons.


The Triangle, the shape of which is an isosceles triangle, is reminiscent of the island’s famous twin Pitons at Soufriere, rising sheer out of the sea, towards the sky -themselves, a symbol of the hope and aspirations of the people.

Arriving at St Lucia

On day five, we arrive in St. Lucia, were we have booked another shore excursion.  We are excited for the adventure that awaits us. 

'Kodac Moment'

First we stop to take in the scenery and have a 'Kodac Moment,' as our guide calls it.  That is our ship in the background in the port of St. Lucia. 

The Carnival Victory

The Governor's Mansion

Across the street from our panoramic view is the Governor's Mansion.  Very beautiful. 

Chuck Norris and George Foreman's Summer Home Neighborhood

Our tour guide told us a lot about the island, explaining what their flag symbolizes (see top) and showing us the summer home neighborhood of Chuck Norris and George Foreman.  What a hard life they must have.  She also showed us some of their school that are painted green and named after the owner of the New York Jetts, because a hurricane had come in there and destroyed their schools, and he came in and helped rebuild them. 

One of the Locals

St. Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, and northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 238 square miles and has an estimated population of 173,765. Its capital is Castries. Because it switched so often between British and French control, St. Lucia has adopted many French customs and many British customs. They drive on the left side of the road like they did in St. Thomas.

Banana Trees

We drove past a banana plantation. It was the first time I had seen banana trees. N8 had seen them before when he lived in Brazil. At one of our stops, we were able to taste one of the locals favorite foods: Banana Ketchup. They also let us try Banana Bar-B-Que Sauce. It wasn't half bad. While at this stop, we had people trying to sell us stuff. That happened a lot on these islands; however, N8 had someone try to sell him weed. That was a first.

Fish Leaves

Instead of buying weed, we bought these leaves that they had made to look like little fish.

The Smelly Volcano

We finally got to the volcano. It smelled just like rotten eggs. The smell was strong and made our eyes water.

Mud Bath

We hiked down a trail for a bit and stopped to take a mud bath. We were told that this mud bath was the cure to almost all ailments. It would help sun burns, cure bug bites, and even help us look 10 years younger. We even heard a tour guide from another group tell us it was a natural aphrodisiac. (Almost everything in St. Lucia was, we learned. They even had an alcoholic beverage that they used as their "Viagra." Our tour guide told us that is why they have so many people living on such a small island.)

Do I have anything on my face?

I'm just trying to blend in

Did I get it all?

It was hard to get all the mud off of our bodies. They had little showers that helped a little, but the stream was so low, it made our progress slow.

Do we look 10 years younger?

I don't know if we looked any younger, but the mud bath did do one thing that was promised. It sure kept the bugs away, and anything else that was within smelling distance. We stunk!  We smelled like a book of matches. Once back on the ship, we threw our bathing suits in the wash, then brought them up to the deck to sit in chlorinated water. We even washed them more when we got home and swam in the pool at our apartment, but even today, two weeks later, they still smell.

The Pitons

The volcanic island of St Lucia is more mountainous than many other Caribbean islands, with the highest point being 3,120 ft above sea level. This picture is of the Pitons. They form the island’s most famous landmark. They are located between Soufriere and Choiseul on the western side of the island.

N8 and JME with our tour guide Jayan

We really enjoyed ourselves in St. Lucia and really enjoyed our tour guide. At one point, she had the bus stop close to her house. She ran inside and brought out some hot homemade bread she had just cooked that morning. It was the best bread I have ever tasted. It was warm and buttery and chewy on the inside, and then was flaky like pie crust on the outside. It was delicious.

Our Summer Vacation - Day 4 (Bridgetown, Barbados) - Blogged by JME

Barbados Flag

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is 21 miles in length and as much as 14 miles in width, amounting to 166 square miles. It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 62 miles east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea. Barbados is outside of the principal Atlantic hurricane belt. The English took possession of it in the name of ‘James, King of England.’ It became an English and later British colony. Barbados is one of the Caribbean’s leading tourist destinations and is one of the most developed islands in the region.

Clear Water

The water there was so clear. Here, some fish are swimming around one of the ropes that went to our pirate ship.

Saying 'Goodbye' to our ship for the afternoon

Today, we left our ship to do a shore excursion. We decided to do the "Shipwreck Snorkel and Pirate Party Cruise." 

N8 chillin on the Pirate Ship

We boarded the 'Pirate Ship' and set sail. They gave us free drinks and N8 and I enjoyed a nice pirate ginger ale. It was the best ginger ale we've ever tasted.

Our vessel had pirate flags all over it and pirates that ran the show. The atmosphere was great, which made the trip so much fun!

Snorkel Ship

The 'Pirate Ship' took us to a beach where we boarded a small boat that took us to the area where we would snorkel. The sunken ships we would be snorkeling over were the pirate captain's that he sank about 10 years before. It was amazing to see how the sunken ships became a home for the ocean life in such a short time.

Ready to Go?

Look at all the fish

Sunken Ship

JME over a sunken ship

All Sorts of Critters

N8 having a good time

After spending some time over the sunken ships, the guides brought us back on board the snorkel boat. I thought we were going to go back to the beach, but they had something special in store for us.

They took us to a different area where we got out and followed our guide with our snorkel gear. He took us to an area where there were turtles. He started to feed them and they swam around us as they ate. Sometimes they got really close to us. It was amazing!

N8 and JME at the Beach

After we swam with the turtles, the snorkel boat brought us back to the beach where our 'Pirate Ship' waited for us. We spent a couple more hours on the beach before we headed back. It was beautiful and the beach had the whitest sand we had ever seen. There were locals around trying to sell their stuff. They can come off a little pushy and I was really worried about offending someone, but N8 was so good at talking to them and telling them we weren't interested without being offensive. I was really impressed with him.

JME's Pirate Braid

We did splurge a little. The pirate ship had little shops down below the deck. At one of the booths was a woman who was braiding hair. She put a braid in my hair and let me pick out some beads to put at the end. I had that braid in for two solid weeks.

N8 Kissing His Pirate Wench

N8 thought I was so cute and couldn't help but kiss me. 

Leaving the Beach

Our time on the beach is over. I guess it is time to head back. 

Beautiful Beach of Barbados

Now it's time for the Pirate Party

But wait! The party is just beginning.

But first we will have a 'Pirate Wedding.'

The pirates began their party by picking a random couple from the group and performing a 'Pirate Wedding.' "By the powers vested in me, I now pronounce you, 'Pirate and Wench.'" 

Dancing to Soca Music

Then we all danced to Soca music. It was so fun and the boat was rocking!

Back on Shore