The sun rose this morning at 6:20. We had a mature wind speed of 20 mph and a long fetching sea swell of two meters. The morning air was crisp with a salt tang. After breakfast Tom Heffernan gave a talk on the languages of the Caribbean. We reached our destination of Soufriere in the southwest of St. Lucia by 12 p.m. After lunch we boarded our tenders for the short motor into the harbor of Soufriere. The physical setting is very dramatic as the town of Soufriere (population 12,000) is actually situated at the west end of an ancient caldera, where the volcano blew the western ridge of the mountain chain away about 39,000 years ago. It is picture-book perfect. The name of the town means “sulphur air,” which would be become very clearly evident when we drove inside the great ancient caldera.
One we reached the caldera we could see the fumes from the boiling cauldron bubbling with molten rock, sulphric gases (hydrogen-sulfide), and a mud-water mixture. Our guide for the day was the wonderfully voluble Padilla. She is a life-long native of the area and knows all the island lore. Our first stop was the visitor center where we saw a five-minute video on the volcanology of the island and Soufriere in particular. We visited the crater’s edge and had a specialized guide explain the volcanology to us. The smell of sulfur was pungent, especially when the wind shifted. After leaving the caldera we drove to the Diamond Falls Botanical Garden, a gift to the island by the owners, the Du Boulay family. The Du Boulays received the land from King Louis the XIV in 1713 and the present owner is a lineal descendant. The garden is a cornucopia of tropical plants of every variety from the spectacular heliconias with their blinding vivid yellows and reds to the wonderfully stately nutmeg trees. Padilla pointed out the bamboo—the national plant of St. Lucia—which can grow eight inches a day and reach 50 feet tall and six inches in diameter. We spent an hour in the garden and after our visit we returned to our vans for the very short drive to the center of Soufriere.
Shortly after we arrived back on Sea Cloud we had he most wonderful opportunity to motor tantalizingly close to the Pitons. I have never been so close. As we bobbed beneath them the galley presented us with refreshingly cold local “Piton” beer and a savory pastry that disappeared rapidly!
Tonight we had a special treat as for the first time we had a local dance group (Les Danceurs Traditionelle St. Lisi) accompanied by a wonderful traditional band of musicians (Mamay La Kay Folk Band) on board who performed for us. The dances in their elegant costumes reflected the formal quadrilles of 18th century France and England. For the last dance of the evening, however, the performers asked us to join them. Many of us joined in and danced for a full ten minutes. All this excitement and gaiety was followed by scrumptious Creole barbecue on the promenade deck.
We all went off to bed utterly satisfied.
