10 April Soufrière, St Lucia Climbing the Mountain

A beautiful sunny day on this Palm Sunday. This was a tender port so after room service with salmon, cream cheese an English Muffin and a croissant we headed for the Restaurant to get in line for the tender ride to the pier.

We were in bus Number Five with guide who was celebrating her birthday. This may have been a farce, but she was a good guide with the a gift for gab and provided the usual population , island size, school requirements info we’ve come to expect from all the contractors Viking hires to support shore excursions.

Our trip was described as Scenes of Soufrière which in Viking parlance usually means a bus tour of the local points-of-interest. In this case it meant a short drive (there are no long drives on St Lucia) to the Tet Paul Nature Trail. We had a long and arduous walk to the summit overlooking Gros Piton, the large granite peak the at is the hallmark of the island. Karla stopped at the first rest stop about 2/3rds of the way up a rocky and steep trail. I made it to the top. The final portion called the Stairway to Heaven. There was a fantastic view, two beautiful yachts on a crystal bay for my reward.

The climb down was just as taxing. Upon reaching the base we are rewarded with salted cod fish balls and fish fritter and a rum punch. (Not to worry, Cutter’s has no competition here)

Back on the van we headed for the Sulphur Springs of the island’s active volcano. Let there be no doubt these are sulphur, the odor is present well before you arrive. If you wish you can make a reservation for a mud bath and natural hot tup experience. We opted for the tour and chance to see the bubbling caldrons of hot, muddy water.

Our third and final stop was at Courbaril Estates, an old plantation that once raised sugar cane and cocoa beans. We saw demonstrations of the sugar cane press as well as the process to extract cocoa from the cocoa plant. More snacks of fish and a sweet banana dish. Bananas are the islands most important crop, 80% exported to the United Kingdom. We had a walk around the estate with a guide pointing out the various flowers and trees.

It was a long day. We wanted to stay in town and see if I could add a T-shirt to my collection, but the place was closed down on a Sunday, A Palm Sunday at that. We tendered back to the ship and split a hot dog and fries. (Just like COSTCO) Karla headed for the showers and I to deck six for some sun time.

After I showered there was the usual Sunday Ecumenical service with newcomers and then Karla worked on the blog, while I relaxed in the Explorer Lounge with a Banks beer brought on-board in Barbados. Viking has no restriction on bringing spirits or food back from trips ashore.

Frozen margaritas for cocktail hour and dinner in the World Café wrapped up the day.