ST LUCIA
North of Castries lies Pigeon Island National Park, erstwhile home of the pirate Francois Le Clerc. Pigeon Island contains more history than any other part of St Lucia. The 44-acre island is now linked to St Lucia by a causeway and contains a couple of restaurants and quiet beaches. Once a British garrison for observing French activities in neighboring Martinique, there are forts on the island's two summits. Fort Charlotte is now a college but once saw some of the fiercest fighting between the French and the British. Today Pigeon Island is the site of the annual St. Lucia Jazz Festival.
Along the main road south of Castries is Soufrière, St. Lucia's first capital. Here you'll see the heart-stopping twin peaks of the Pitons, which thrust up from the water to heights of over half a mile. Guides are required for the strenuous climbs.
Not far from the Pitons are the Sulphur Springs, a seven-acre crater billed as the Caribbean's only drive-in volcano. A walk through the crater takes you past pools and hot springs bubbling with sulphur-laden steam. Just outside the Springs, you can bathe in the warm, soothing sulphuric river. The Pitons and the Sulphur Springs are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, designated for its geological importance.
Nearby are the Diamond Botanical Gardens Waterfall and Mineral Baths. Funded by King Louis XVI in 1785, the baths were intended to restore the health of battle weary soldiers. They've been rebuilt and a small fee entitles you take a steaming bath and visit the waterfall and gardens.
Soufrière Estate offers another glimpse into the history of St. Lucia. The 2,000 acre property was granted to the Devaux family by King Louis XIV in 1713. A tour of the estate and museum shows the traditional ways of processing cocoa, copra and sugar.
The coast road continues on through the villages of Choiseul and Laborie before descending into Vieux Fort on the southern-most part of the island. At the extreme tip of St. Lucia is Moule-A-Chique peninsula and its lighthouse. The cliffs are home to numerous sea birds and the heights offer views of the coasts of St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Off the Atlantic shore of Vieux Fort is the Maria Islands Nature Reserve. The reserve is home to the indigenous St. Lucia Racer, a small, nocturnal snake, and the St. Lucia Whiptail lizard. Nearby, the reef-protected Anse de Sable Bay offers one of the finest, longest beaches on the island. It is arguably the best wind- and kitesurfing location in the Eastern Caribbean.
From Vieux Fort, the road wanders north along St. Lucia's spectacular eastern coastline, where the Atlantic thunders onto rocky cliffs. The 33-mile drive back to Castries takes you through the villages of Micoud and Dennery and across the Barre de L'Isle mountain range.
Between Micoud and Dennery, just off the coast, lie the Fregate Islands, another nature reserve. The small islands are the nesting spots of the Frigate bird and there is usually a National Trust guide on site. The Trust also has a hiking trail that starts at Mandélé, to the north, and ends at the Fregate Islands Reserve.
At the summit of the Barre de L'Isle is another Forestry Department hiking trail through stands of pine and mahogany. The hike takes three hours and offers views of Mount Gimie, the tallest peak in St Lucia, as well as the Bexon Valley and the Fond D'Or Valley on the Atlantic Coast.
