St Lucia is in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of St Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It is 27 miles long and 14 miles wide, with a shape that is said to resemble either a mango or an avocado (depending on your taste). It has a population of 174,000 (2010). Its capital is Castries (population 60,263). Major towns include Gros Islet, Soufrière and Vieux Fort
St
Lucia was named after Saint Lucy of Syracuse by the French, the island's first
European colonisers. They signed a treaty with the native Carib people in 1660.
England took control of the island from 1663 to 1667; in ensuing years, it was
at war with France 14 times and rule of the island changed frequently (it was
seven times each ruled by the French and British).
In 1814, the British took
definitive control of the island. Because it switched so often between British
and French control, St Lucia was also known as the "Helen of the West
Indies".
Representative government came about in 1924 (with universal suffrage from 1953). From 1958 to 1962, the island was a member of the Federation of the West Indies. On 22 February 1979, St Lucia became an independent state of the Commonwealth of Nations associated with the United Kingdom.
We took a sea trip down the coast to Soufriere
Where we saw the famous Pitons. These are thought to be spines of lava which were thrust up from the craters of two volcanoes. The Pitons were named a World Heritage Site in 2004
Behind Soufriere the land rises sharply for about two miles to the crater of the sleeping volcano. We were able to enter the only "drive-in" crater in the world
Then back to our ship
... via Marigot Bay - where the original "Dr Doolittle" was filmed
For more photos of our time on St Lucia click St Lucia
No comments:
Post a Comment