Pitons & Parrotfish

After a lazy weekend, with one day almost entirely overcast, Monday dawned with not a cloud in the sky. A perfect day for a hike at Tet Paul Nature trail – boasting 360^o panoramic views of the whole south island … from Vieux Fort, both Pitons, up to Soufriere … all the way inland and off to the islands of St, Vincent … and when really clear Martinique as well. https://www.thetetpaulnaturetrail.com/

We ‘What’s App’d’ Presley to see if he was available … this was our taxi driver from the other day, and arranged to meet out front at 9:30 am. Some worrying clouds and quick shower appeared out of nowhere … collecting on the hills, but vanishing just as quickly.

It was a small group — just ourselves and another couple. Our guide, a very personable young man named Chevil. The trail was nicely shaded … steep at times, but with easily managed steps and wooden handrails … however at 300 pounds and with some 12 knee operations under his belt, the other fellow struggled. He was red-faced and sweating after the first incline, and prudently, Chevil called for frequent stops rather than risk possible cardiac arrest. It was unfortunate that all this guy’s lifestyle and professional achievements were broadcasted not merely for our benefit, but no doubt carried to the group ahead and behind as well. We hung back as much as possible.

Unbelievably, the views just kept getting better and better with each lookout. The most spectacular was a platform between both Pitons , looking far down into an impossibly perfect bay …. fancy yachts anchored, a white crescent of a beach and small water taxis, like so many tiny water beetles, zoomed back and forth to Soufriere just around the point. This was Sugar Beach resort. From this height we could see lots of enticing reefs hugging the base of Petit Piton … but more importantly, there was a protected swimming area. One of the main hazards of snorkeling (or diving) are the constant streams of tour boats and water taxis that speed in to pick up or disgorge passengers. Change of plan! Instead of taking a water taxi from Soufriere to Anse Chastanet for snorkeling, we would ask Presley to take us to the resort instead … and go on to Soufriere later.

Although not really our style of resort, with immaculate lawns, somewhat contrived ‘tiki’ huts and uniformed workers in a fleet of golfcarts rushing to remove any stray leaves … they DID allow non-paying guests use of their beach. Avoiding the sun-loungers, umbrellas and swim-up bar – we tucked ourselves into the shade at the far end where a more pebbly beach afforded crystal clear waters and all the rocks and reefs you could wish for.

Enormous parrotfish … several kinds … their myriad blue, turquoise, yellow and pink markings shimmering in the sunlight … looking for all the world as though they had carefully applied lipstick. With your ears underwater you could hear them crunching on coral. Parrot fish maintain the health of coral reefs by munching on them, encouraging growth – and excreting sand as a result. Their rows of teeth are one of the hardest natural minerals and can withstand pressures of 530 tons (a fully laden 747 jet doesn’t exceed 400 tons!) Fascinating facts about parrot fish can be found here https://www.dresseldivers.com/blog/parrotfish-facts/

Schools of intensely blue or yellow Tangs drifted by – they’re yellow when young, blue as adults … a 2 foot trumpet fish hung vertically upside down in the water, endeavouring to look like a piece of seaweed or coral – just waiting to hoover up an unsuspecting fish. A large clump of black urchins collected under one rocky overhang … you don’t want to step on or brush up against those! Small, speckled young Stoplight Parrotfish with orangey-red undersides flitted busily from rock to rock …. sponges like vases or long, purple/red ‘dead-man’s fingers’, and sea-fans clung to rocks and crevases. Groups of stripey yellow and black fish like escaped prisoners on a day outing, made a run for it as we approached. Goatfish and Grunts … Angels and Squirrelfish were everywhere. My favourites though were the Fairy Basslets … small, brilliantly coloured violet and gold … they often act as cleaners for other, much larger fish. One in Hawaii had its cleaning station beside a large rock and there was a line-up of fish, all waiting patiently for their parasites to be removed.

Swimming back to shore with masks just barely below the surface, we spotted small needle fish – 8-12 inches long …. their extended, narrow jaws filled with tiny, but very sharp teeth. One drifted alongside for quite a distance — eyeball to eyeball. Hilarious. Apparently larger ones can jump out of the water at speeds up to 60kmh and have been known to cause significant damage to unsuspecting fishermen – especially at night. This 80 minute video is obviously a compilation of several scuba dives, but we did see many of the same creatures… and it is quite meditative https://www.google.com/search?q=underwater+fish+st.+lucia&rlz=1C1ONGR_enCA1039CA1039&oq=underwater+fish+st.+lucia&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCjEyMDQ2ajBqMTWoAgiwAgE&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:19fe61f1,vid:HL0VBjQ9HUg,st:0 No sharks, venomous lion fish, barracuda, pufferfish or turtles but a veritable kaleidoscope of other sea life. By now the swim area was inundated with bodies … people with life jackets or pool noodles learning to snorkel … squealing children … it was a full time job avoiding collisions. Time to leave – but we’d enjoyed having the place to ourselves.

A fast water taxi ride into Soufriere Bay … briefly pausing to peer inside the ‘bat cave’ … a deep, vertical cliffside crack. Sadly, being a Monday our favourite chicken wing street BBQ was not operating … nor was the ice cream lady. She has absolutely the BEST coconut ice cream. <sigh> We HAVE to visit before we leave.