St. Lucia was first colonized successfully by France who signed a treaty with the native Carib people in 1660. Great Britain took control of the island from 1663 to 1667 then went to war with France over the island fourteen (14) times, and finally took complete control in 1814.
St. Lucia is a volcanic island that is more mountainous than many other Caribbean islands, with the highest point being Mount Gimie at 950 meters (3,120 feet) above sea level.
We woke up to another beautiful, sunny and warm day when we arrived in St. Lucia. We took our time at breakfast and getting off the ship since we once again had not planned any shore excursions. Arabella and Jay "played" a little chess before we decided to leave the ship.
Once on land, we tracked down a taxi that took us and a few other people from our ship to a resort where we were able to rent chairs and umbrellas. Again, it was a day of fun in the sun for Arabella and I, but poor Jay was starting to reach his limit. Now don't get me wrong, he could of always gone golfing (I hear the courses here are really nice) or deep sea fishing...maybe next time?? He did get to enjoy a local beer! Jay might be able to enjoy golf or fishing, that is if we go to this island again, but I think the only way I would visit again would be if we went to an all inclusive resort (Sandals has 3 on the island), continue reading to find out why. The ride to the beach was nice and the landscape was lush and beautiful. And the beach was very nice, once we got to it. In order to arrive at the beach from the parking lot of the resort, you had to pass some shops and a "market" type place where the locals try to get you to buy their wares. Now here is where I started to have my issues. As soon as you walked in, they wanted to braid your hair or get you to buy jewelry. Now, I am usually OK with this, it is after all how they make a living, selling things to tourists, but they wouldn't take no for an answer. We did however make one small purchase...a sand shovel for Arabella since she had broken the one that we brought with us. But when we started to make the purchase, the price for a shovel and bucket was $8 (US), but all we want is a shovel, can't we just buy that?? So another individual comes forward with just a shovel and wants to sell it to us for $5 (US), and at this point, Arabella sees the shovel and is starting to fuss for it. We tell the woman, no thanks, now way are we buying a shovel for $5, so she says $3 (US), and again, Jay told her "It is not that important" so as we are walking away, she says $2 and we take it and run to the beach. Now once we were on the beach, we thought we would be able to relax and enjoy it since it was beautiful. But no such luck, we started to get hounded by people selling everything you could imagine - jewelry, fruit, shells, items made from coconuts and palm branches. They even wanted to braid mine and Arabella's hair. They also wanted us to rent jet skis or go out on tubes being pulled behind boats. No matter how you declined the offers, they persisted. So we decided to go swim and play in the water. But once again the peacefulness of being in the water was abruptly broken when men would kayak by trying to get you to buy shells and fruit! Overall, St. Lucia is a beautiful island with a lot to explore - mud baths, mineral baths, banana valleys, rain forests, dolphins and whale watches to name just a few. And it would be nice to see those areas of the island, but if it is anything like what I experienced at the beach, we won't go back!
After our un-relaxing beach excursion, it was back to the ship to get ready for Elegant Night. But first, Jay and Arabella took a nap and then we all got dressed up for dinner and had a fun time. Arabella even had her first Shirley Temple drink and enjoyed more ice cream!
*Fun Facts have been taken from the Carnival Fun Ashore Your Guide to Shore Excursions Book.
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