Coconuts & Volcanos

Around 7:00 one morning, young Mervano from upstairs came knocking at the door – saying ‘Uncle’ has some coconuts, would we like to see him open them? Definitely! I’m not sure if Thomas is his real uncle or it’s a respectful name for an older member of the household who works about the place. Wise, softly-spoken … he has endless patience with Mervano’s questions and energy. Wielding a wickedly-sharp machete he made short work of the piled coconuts … creating a small hole in one side and pouring the liquid into a jug, before cutting the nut neatly in two. The soft, white pulp inside was delicious eaten straight from the shell, but even a few minutes later was already starting to change texture and dry slightly – becoming more coconutty. And the juice inside was superb as is or mixed into rum punches! Glen made an exceptional Caribbean curry all from local ingredients …. chicken, fresh ginger, locally blended curry spices, veggies, rum, guava jam, a tinge of hot sauce and, of course, the coconut. A five star restaurant would be hard pressed to serve an improved dish.

Plan A was to catch the bus to Soufriere, and then a water taxi to Anse Chastanet to perhaps do some snorkeling. It was midday, and after an hour there had only been two buses … both of those were full. This was unusual. Did we wait … or change plans? A passing taxi slowed and asked … we accepted … and we were off to the ‘drive in volcano’ near Soufriere … snorkeling could wait for another day.

Cab driver Presley (his father liked Elvis) gave us a mini guided tour on the way and deposited us in the parking lot at the Volcano. It IS possible to drive right up to the vantage point, but its barely a 10 minute walk … so we did. Gave the mud baths and sulphur springs a miss … but it was interesting to look down and see grey-caked bodies wandering about like zombies before they washed off in the pools. The volcano last erupted in the 1700s and is now considered ‘potentially active’ … the part you see is the collapsed caldera with steam vents, fumaroles and scaldingly hot mud pools. Suzette was our tour guide and it was obvious that she loved her job – there was no fact or snippet of information that she didn’t know – it was educational and thoroughly interesting. Visitors used to be able to get a lot closer to the hot mud pools and vents but this changed when a tour guide stamped on a ledge to indicate how safe it was, and submerged up to his waist. He was badly burned, but survived. As you can imagine the smell of sulphur permeated everything as it escaped the vents and bubbling, plip-plopping mud holes. https://www.buckettripper.com/exploring-st-lucias-drive-in-volcano/

We escaped the stalls of identical plastic tourist tat, and strolled back to the highway through cool, overhanging greenery, tree frog chimes and echoing bird song. Not long to wait for the next bus into Soufriere and some delicious chicken wings from the BBQ grill on the corner. We sat on shaded park benches while a timid, young cat sat looking on, hopefully. A chatter of excited primary school girls went by with proud Mums in tow … all the girls were in crimson, scarlet and ruby-red dresses – some sparkly with sequins, others decorated with hearts. It’s Valentine’s Day! I guess this is a big day for little ones.

And what better way to finish off the day than with some locally made coconut ice cream. We had discovered this tiny shop along the waterfront on our first visit to Soufriere. Friendly, welcoming owner … exceptional flavours. Two scoops in a cup … Glen tried Soursop along with his coconut the first time (an acquired taste) … I chose a strawberry/coconut combination (the best). – and stuck with it this time. Why mess with perfection? Glen tried pistachio – not bad.

Back on our balcony we have a great vantage point for watching the constant stream of planes arriving every afternoon – low in the sky … traversing right to left … sinking behind the hills to land at the airport in Vieux Fort. Saturdays are by far the busiest with planes every few minutes … British Airways, Delta, Virgin Air, Air Canada Rouge, Jet Blue, and more. We were on the beach one Saturday and THREE buses showed up with pale-legged passengers, trundling suitcases along the dock to one of Nerv’s catamaran water taxis for transport to the north island resorts. There must’ve been over 40 of them … and depending on distance and number of passengers, cost could be anywhere from $150.00 to $300.00 US per person! Nerv’s a local entrepreneur who appears to have the transportation sector secured in this area … buses from the airport, water taxis, bus tours, sunset cruises, etc. We can see his boats go in and out several times each day. It’s a going concern.