We spent a few days back in Rodney Bay, St Lucia before heading south to the magnificent bay, Anse des Pitons, where we moored off the beach between Gros and Petit Piton. Jaleel, the water taxi guide, arranged for his “uncle Dave’ to take us on a brilliant tour inland. We hiked up to the spectacular viewpoint of Tete Paul where Jonathan had the chance to deploy his drone. Then we had great fun visiting the Jerusalem volcanic mud baths – 38 degrees and very sulphurous – where it was ‘de rigueur’ to apply layers of mud and pose for pictures, before a lovely forest walk to the Piton’s hot falls to rinse off.
Scrubbed clean and refreshed we completed our tour at the beautiful botanical gardens where Napoleon’s wife bathed in the hot springs. The gardens were lush, with huge mahogany trees, beautiful flowers and many hummingbirds enjoying their nectar. Unfortunately they were way too tiny and fast moving for us to capture them on film.
We departed St Lucia and sailed to St Vincent. This is a much less touristed island and was the setting for some of the filming of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’. Sadly, it also has reports of theft from yachts so many boats, including ourselves when we headed north, tend to bypass it completely. However, some of the Vikings reported having a good visit so we dropped anchor in the beautiful bay of Chateaubelair.
As we entered the bay we were greeted by Kemroy, a local lad who paddled out to us in a canoe. He was so pleasant and friendly and arranged for his cousin Rayan to take us on a trek to the volcano the next day. We spent the rest of the afternoon being entertained by the local kids paddling out to us on assorted surf and paddle boards. Whilst some asked for sweets and cookies, most were really shy and just wanted to chat.
Soufriere Volcano is active and last erupted in 2021. As we sailed along the coast we could see where the lava and lahars had flowed down to the sea. Rayan was a shy teenager who guided us on the steep climb to the volcano with few words but many smiles. We trekked along dry riverbeds of larval deposits that had cut through narrow gorges, then ascended into unbelievably lush rainforest terrain. The path was along an arrete with steep gorges either side, all densely covered with ferns, creepers and giant tree ferns.
As we left the rainforest the landscape opened out to a steep, barren expanse dotted with petrified trees scorched by the recent eruption. Eventually we scrambled our way up to the spectacular caldera, buffeted by really strong winds. From the crater rim you look down a 300m drop to the dome of the volcano with spumes of sulphurous vapours escaping all around. We were the only tourists and it was an incredible experience.
Overall it took almost 6 hours so, despite an early start, we were hot and sweaty on the descent. Our final treat was as we took our dinghy back from the beach where we started the walk. Beautiful pelicans and a cooling swim completed the day.
