I've shown you a bit of the island scenery. I know I keep repeating that St. Lucia is a beautiful place, but it is a very beautiful place. What more is there to say? So today, I thought I'd feature people and places. The people we met on St. Lucia were friendly, helpful and very happy to sit down and chat with us for a while. We were impressed by their hospitality and friendliness.
First up, the fish market in Castries. Castries is the capital and by far the largest city. We decided we needed some fresh fish and vegetables, so we headed for the Saturday market.
We were tempted by these little needle nosed fish. But we weren't quite sure how to prepare them. Do you filet the little guys? They were very small. But quite beautiful in their barrow.
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| Needle nosed fish |
We bought tuna and kingfish (king mackerel) for our Saturday night dinner from this fellow. He cut our steaks with a machete.
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| Cutting the kingfish |
The kingfish proved to be a tough opponent. He had to hit the machete with a club to cut it through.
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| Clubbing the kingfish |
We bought a lot of fish. More than we could possibly eat. I think we were carried away by the excitement of the machete/club performance.
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| Buying many kilos of fish |
The market wasn't exclusively a fish market. There was a great deal of produce there, too. I never figured out what the orange-ish fruit or vegetable was (the one left of the bananas) but I thought they had great visual texture.
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| What is this? |
The next group of pictures is of us. You can skip this part if you wish. The first is of the guys, dressed alike for happy hour on the roof deck.
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| Did they arrange it? Or was it a coincidence? |
Anse Ger was very wavy. But had a beautiful, very private beach. We did a bit of bodysurfing.
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| Erik riding a wave. |
While we were bodysurfing, a local man was fishing from the rocks nearby. He caught a few fish, but we couldn't figure out was he was catching in those rough waters near the shore.
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| Fishing off the rocks |
Janet and I enjoyed the local beer, Piton (named after the volcanic plugs that are an iconic image in St. Lucia). And the beach. And we especially enjoyed a beer on the beach.
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| Cheers! |
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| Janet keeping cool, island style |
Elena was deemed too young to have a beer, but she made her own Piton.
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| Piton made of sand |
We didn't spend all of our time on the beach.
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| Carolyn at La Tille falls |
On a more sober note, one of our group had a small accident and ended up going to the hospital in Vieux Fort. This is the hospital, believe it or not. St. Jude Hospital. Formerly an Olympic stadium.
From the hospital website:
"On September 9, 2009, St. Jude Hospital was devastated by a fire. The fire destroyed the surgical and pediatric wards and the operating theaters of a seriously aging facility. The hospital was evacuated to the George Odlum Sports Stadium where it is still currently located. Most services previously available at the old site, a facility in great need of renovation, have resumed. In many instances the level and quality of services available at the Stadium are improved from those available at the old hospital".
It was a bizarre place, but we were impressed by the level of care. Talk about making do with the resources available!
St. Lucia. What a wonderful place!
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