Judy here:
We are so happy to be here in this beautiful paradise. The first day was relaxing
and slow as we caught our breath from the long travel down. Yesterday, we went on a tour of the highlights around the town of Soufriere. Dawn’s favorite boatboy, Shane picked Ron and I up at 9:00 and left us with a local driver, Finbar who took us first to the world’s only ‘drive-in volcano’. We walked in and around the mouth of the volcano which last erupted in the 1700s. As you can see from the photo, the volcanic crater is still steaming. In fact, we saw the black lava bubbling and on full moons, we were told by our guide Angel, that the lava shoots up 10 meters high in the air like a fountain.
From the active volcano, we went to the Ladera Luxury Resort for a cool local fruit drink from the restaurant where we absorbed the panoramic view between the Pitons. (Today we are anchored in this very bay!) This resort was rated the best in the Caribbean a few years ago and we could easily see why. The open-air guest rooms each had private swimming pools that overlook the breath-taking scenery shown here in the pic we took from the Dasheene restaurant terrace. On our way out, we met the chef and a couple from the resort who just got back from the Saturday morning market with baskets full of local fruits and veggies for a private cooking class. We were invited to join them, if we had been ‘real’ guests.
The next place was the hot springs bath where we were the first visitors of the day and basically had the place to ourselves. Then off to the botanical gardens which were spectacular.
Our final stop was to enjoy a traditional grilled fish meal at a local favorite restaurant, Fedo. It was a delicious local creole meal with christophene, green banana plantain, fried banana, white yam and other ground provisions. Back to the boat by mid afternoon, in time to join Dawn on another excursion to the grocery store and local bakery. Walking around the village with some of the imbalanced locals is an experience in itself and shouldn’t be done alone or in the dark!
…another beautiful day in paradise.
