Castries, St Lucia 🇱🇨

Having visited St Lucia before, we toyed with what to do in port, deciding against a shore excursion and planning a walk instead. The ship had docked by about 8am but we had a leisurely breakfast in hopes of the town actually being open when we got in - the last time we were here was Christmas Day and it was unsurprisingly decidedly not open!

We walked around the harbour and into the main town under an already oppressive morning sun. On our way to see the church, it was clear the Sunday service has just finished as we passed myriad well-dressed people despite the heat. The central town is sea-battered and geared towards an eclectic mix of cruise tourists, resort tourists and locals, like most Caribbean islands we've visited.

Wanting to see something a bit different, we walked out towards La Toc battery along the industrial harbour front. Evident from the car horns, walking was not the normal mode of transport here! Just minutes outside the main town, the difference is a world away. Under the colonial-looking mansions on the hillside are more makeshift wooden houses and cluttered together communities. We walked as far as a small inlet to see some sunken wrecks, before deciding to turn back in the heat and heading for the ship.

On the way back, Ben spotted the Parliament of St Lucia. Not open, as it was a Sunday, but one more parliament visited nonetheless.

As we were back before midday, we had lunch on the ship and then went to our balcony to read (and cross stitch!) For the afternoon, Ben failed in his first mission which was to not let us get sunburnt - despite factor 50 sunscreen, the morning sun was so strong we both got caught on our necks. An early night after dinner, still recovering from the flight and the term, meaning I only got to about 54% in the Sinister Booksellers of Bath, whilst Ben moved on to Carl Sagan's Contact having finished ACOTAR on the plane.Read more