St. Lucia is one of the largest of the Windward Islands, and it feels friendly the moment you step onto the island. In this film, we take a bus and ride out to the Volcano. The French and British spent many years fighting over the twin-peaked island deep with rainforests and surrounded by beaches. There are very many excursions you can take, and various versions will be on sale from the independent operators as you leave the cruise terminal. A reminder that the ship only waits for the official excursions to return. The Volcano is a long way, over an hour away with added pleasant stops. Take a costume and towel.
Soufriere Volcano and Sulphur Springs, St Lucia – Considered the world’s only drive-in volcano, it is still active, hot and smelly. The steam clouds continually pump into the air and the sulphur smell is stronger the closer you get. That is good as your guide will tell you. If the sulphur smell stops then run, just follow her she says. The smell going is a sign it is going to erupt, something that has not happened in a while. The tour is now done from the roadside with a steel fence, on firm ground. The tour did used to walk into the volcano until the ground collapsed and dropped a guide in the steaming hot water.
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The tall hills of the rainforest all around are the rim of the volcano and looking up confirms you are inside. You can bathe in the hot springs which is a hot watery mud bath high in volcanic minerals. It is fun but we passed on it.
Tip. The volcano can be seen almost as well from the gate and hot baths barrier, so paying the extra ticket for the volcano to walk up the road and have the guide explain the history was something some of the tour members did not engage in. I am not sure we saw much more but having driven an hour to get there, we were going up as you see in the film. The entrance to the places was not included in our taxi bus there and back.
Barbados Beach Deal Amber Cove Look & See St Kitts Port Basseterre Town Guadeloupe Town & Beach Bequia, a trip from St Vincent
The trip to the Volcano is broken up with a couple of stops. A banana plantation, where the crop is explained. Bananas are still the biggest-selling food product in the world we are informed. These are small, sweet bananas, not the ones we normally get in the UK. There are cafe stops and some sellers of tourist trinkets. Here and in some of the other nearby islands, you will find the Caribbean dolls, there is a face at each end and a skirt in the middle. Hold her one way up and she is happy, hold her the other way up, she is sad. Locals otherwise describe it as happy is married, sad is not married. I will let you make your own interpretation of the doll, but this is a traditional doll of the area. Please share this with others who might be wondering what is on this tour. Shares help us. See below for booking links.
We also have a film on the Rain Forest where you can hike, sky ride or zip line. Then we have an extensive film on the Diamond Falls Botanical Gardens. Enjoy and come back.
TIP – You can get to Southampton Cruise Terminal by coach so, so cheaply have you ever considered it? If you have never cruised, and we are mainly a cruise site, then click here to see how to look at what cruising is.
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Watch the film, research the tours
and get to know this wonderful island before you go.
