Blogs from Castries, Saint Lucia, Central America Caribbean - page 3

It's been a week, so I thought it was probably time I unpacked my suitcase. Plus I did some laundry yesterday and I didnt really want to put it back in my suitcase. So that's what I did this morning. Had another mango smoothie because we are currently overrun with mangoes and having to leave most of them in the garden for the animals and passersby to take because we have too many. Not a bad problem to have. Around lunchtime, the girls and I headed to a nearby resort. It has a pool, private beach and a beach bar. It's the only resort here that lets non-guests use their facilities, and it's really nice. There aren't any locals, so it's mainly American tourists at this time. So apart from occasionally hearing some loud, annoying American ... read more

The last two days at the hospital have been much of the same. There are 5 patients on the ward, and they have all been here longer than I have. So ward rounds are very quick. Today one of the doctors did a presentation on diabetes. It was really odd because other than the consultants, I knew more about diabetes than every doctor there, including the one presenting. It's just not common over here at all. The only reason they were doing the presentation is because a young girl was diagnosed with diabetes on the ward two weeks ago, and none of the doctors or nurses knew much about the treatment or complications. It made me feel smart, and better about knowing nothing about sickle cell anaemia the days before. It was also odd because their ... read more

So today was my first day at the hospital. I turned up at 8am, and finished at 9:30am. Most other days will take an hour or so longer, but I'll be done by lunch time every day. Which means I have plenty of time to do touristy things and see St Lucia. So the hospital was really run down. There was no air con, just some ceiling fans that apparently break down regularly. The ward had no sinks, just one hand sanitiser dispenser that the doctors never used. The beds had no curtains around them, no side rooms, so all the patients are just together and there's no privacy. They don't have computers on the ward, so all xrays are sent to a whatsapp group and the doctors can just look up their patients on their ... read more

After my fairly chill day, we went out to Gros Islet to see Great Grandma's old house and the land the family are disagreeing about. The house has no roof, as uncle had to remove it to stop squatters living there. Errol told me all about the plans for the land and the issues around it. I found out that the birds tweeting all night long that were keeping me up are actually frogs! Apparently they are tiny but so loud. I've been bitten 8 times now by bugs despite spraying myself with deet as much as possible. I also have cuts on my leg from brushing past a pineapple bush - those things are really spiky! It's cool to see the baby pineapples growing though, some smaller than my hand. And within a few days ... read more

St.Lucia - 1st Port of call Thursday 15th - We set off from Bridgetown, Barbados around 11pm. It had been a long day travelling so following a light meal we were tucked up in bed by 10pm.Our arrival into Castries, St.Lucia this morning was around 8.00am. Opening my birthday cards whilst enjoying a coffee on the balcony with the beautiful Piton mountains as a backdrop. A magical start to the day. We have visited St.Lucia several times before so have seen all the usual tourist locations. This visit we chose an excursion to Mamiku Gardens. We drove through the centre of Castries, passing the local fish market and colourful fruit & vegetable stalls.Once out of centre the roads became narrower and we meandered round very tight bends. As with most Caribbean islands the transpo... read more