Sunday, March 26
After a leisurely breakfast we headed off on a 2 hour taxi tour of the island with some other passengers from Koningsdam. Being a Sunday most of the shops and markets were closed in town, so it was good to get out and see some of this island. Again the weather wasn't the best for the beach, and we had a few showers during our tour.
First stop was a lookout which gave us a great view over the harbour and made our ship look small! Next up was an old fortification where the British and French had fought one of their 14 battles for this island. It was 7 all but as the British won the last battle St Lucia became part of the British West Indies. They achieved their independence 20 years ago but are still part of the Commonwealth, so they have a Governer General and we drove past Government House where the GG resides.
A bit further on we came to Morne Fortune, which is where some battles were fought and is where the old British barracks are located. Now they have been converted into the main college on the island, but they still have that old time look. There is also a cemetery here, with monuments to the island's two most famous people (apart from cricketers) - both of whom were Knights, with one winning the Nobel Peace Prize and the other won the Pulitzer Prize. Derek Walcott only died last week and was buried here last Friday, so that was really recent!
We then visited an art studio where they carve wood (mostly local woods) and make other genuine souvenirs - these were a long way ahead of the "everywhere" Chinese souvenirs! Our final stop was at a banana plantation where we tasted some local spiced rum and other products made from bananas. All in all it was a good tour, and just before we left the sun has finally come out!
After a leisurely breakfast we headed off on a 2 hour taxi tour of the island with some other passengers from Koningsdam. Being a Sunday most of the shops and markets were closed in town, so it was good to get out and see some of this island. Again the weather wasn't the best for the beach, and we had a few showers during our tour.
First stop was a lookout which gave us a great view over the harbour and made our ship look small! Next up was an old fortification where the British and French had fought one of their 14 battles for this island. It was 7 all but as the British won the last battle St Lucia became part of the British West Indies. They achieved their independence 20 years ago but are still part of the Commonwealth, so they have a Governer General and we drove past Government House where the GG resides.
A bit further on we came to Morne Fortune, which is where some battles were fought and is where the old British barracks are located. Now they have been converted into the main college on the island, but they still have that old time look. There is also a cemetery here, with monuments to the island's two most famous people (apart from cricketers) - both of whom were Knights, with one winning the Nobel Peace Prize and the other won the Pulitzer Prize. Derek Walcott only died last week and was buried here last Friday, so that was really recent!
We then visited an art studio where they carve wood (mostly local woods) and make other genuine souvenirs - these were a long way ahead of the "everywhere" Chinese souvenirs! Our final stop was at a banana plantation where we tasted some local spiced rum and other products made from bananas. All in all it was a good tour, and just before we left the sun has finally come out!
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