Day 4 (November 11, 2018): Les Pitons!

When we went to bed last night, our plan was to wake at 6:30 and, if by some miracle it wasn't raining, to eat a quick breakfast and head to Soufriere, 46km south of our resort, to see Les Pitons - the twin volcanic peaks that St. Lucia is known for.  Well, the miracle came to pass:  there was no rain and the forecast showed no likelihood of rain til 12 noon.  Up we got, were at breakfast as soon as it opened, and were on the road before 8:30.

46km in St. Lucia can take a long, long time.  The roads are narrow, windy, filled with potholes, and the switchbacks are never-ending.  To make things worse, our Chevvy Spark has no pep at all, so the mountainous roads were brutal.  All told, the 46km distance took us one-and-a-half hours.

The lushness of the island and its mountainous terrain were incredible to see.  But coming down the final stretch into Soufriere and seeing Les Pitons set out before our eyes was truly a special sight to behold.

We quickly passed through Soufriere and made our way to Sulphur Springs, which has the tagline of being the world's only drive-through volcano.  While the area doesn't have the common caldera that most volcanoes conjure up, it certainly has lots of steam vents, pools of boiling mud, and a stench of sulphur to knock your socks off!  We did the obligatory tour and then headed to the thermal baths, where we joined throngs of others in plastering ourselves with the therapeutic mud and then sinking into a hot bath of muddy thermal water.  They saw the mud makes you look 12 years younger -- we're still waiting for the effect to kick in.

From there, we explored the town of Soufriere and its sights, then started the return trek to the hotel, which again took 90 minutes for the 46km route.  We made it back just in time to catch the tail-end of lunch, following by cappucinos at the Choc Bay Coffee Shop.  Then we closed the afternoon with a couple hours of beach time before heading to dinner at the resort's pier restaurant.

Going to see Les Pitons was a highlight of the trip.  We are just so pleased that the weather held enough to enable us to make the journey to Soufriere.

Tommorrow is our last day here in St. Lucia.  We will be up with the birds to squeeze as much as we can out of the day, before out to catch our 4:30 flight home.


“Hairpin bend” is no exaggeration! I’ve driven some switchback-laden roads in my day, but St. Lucia’s take the prize. 



Our first view of Les Pitons — Petit Piton and Gros Piton, with the town of Soufriere in foreground. 



Gros Piton

Petit Piton, at 2460 feet tall, was marked as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004. 



The waterfall at Sulphur Springs. Apparently a scene from The Bachelor was filmed here. Woo hoo for that. Yawn. 



Steam vents and bubbling mud at Sulphur Springs. 





This was muddy, geothermal-heated water - Pam was in there like a dirty shirt!



The therapeutic mud of Sulphur Springs is supposed to make a person look 12 years younger. Here’s hopin’!


Looking down one of Soufriere’s main streets. 


The church in Soufriere. 



Ok, so why have I included this sign? I am fascinated by signage around the world, and the overtness of this one really caught my attention. 



Colourful and well-organized graffiti on Soufriere’s water-front. 



A tall ship in Soufriere’s bay. 



The view of Soufriere.


Giant ferns - notice the telephone pole to the right, to get a good idea of the scale. 



Morgan’s Pier is where we had our final dinner of the trip. 





Comments

  1. DeborahNovember 12, 2018 at 1:24 PM

    As I was scrolling down the photos, I said to myself will there be pics of David and Pam in the mud...? You don't dissapoint! Bravo!

    ReplyDelete
  2. NovaScotiaDavidNovember 13, 2018 at 12:08 PM

    You know me too well! But alas, the mud did NOT take off 12 years, as was guaranteed. :-(

    ReplyDelete

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