Last night in Cashew Villa

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Our last evening on our balcony, watching the sun set into the Caribbean.

We spend our evenings cooking in our little kitchen, which has been somewhat challenging. Many fruits and vegetables are unknown or a bit strange – “love apples” that look like plums and taste between a sweet lemon and a pear; a sweet potato that is white inside and looks like an ordinary potato; avocados the size of melons, with a stone inside to match. And can anyone tell me why they sell Waitrose semi-skimmed milk here?

We have no problem with the language – everyone speaks English and signs are in English. But to each other the locals speak a Caribbean Patois that is French-based but includes English words. I guess this is the result of the island changing hands 14 times between the English and the French. We won in the end, so they drive on the left!

While idling on the balcony, we are entertained by the wildlife. During the day there are birds of many colours, including hummingbirds constantly taking nectar from our flowers. At night, bats swoop past, dining on the moths. We also have at least two huge toads who see the insects as supper dishes. Tonight, we are joined by a little frog, the size of a thumb nail. Oh, and I forgot the lizard who “helps” in the kitchen.

St Lucia is very rugged – lots of verdant green pointy mountains – and we have enjoyed some good walking. We walked up Gros Piton, 2617 feet, the further and larger of the two peaks that we can see from our apartment. We tried to make an early start – climbing in the heat of the day was not going to be fun – and managed to be on the trail by 8:15. It would have been earlier had we not got a little lost a couple of times driving there. Our map is poor and roadsigns non-existant. Luckily, there is always someone sat at the side of the road who is pleased to help.

After a two hour climb, the view was spectacular. We could not only see most of the island but also St Vincent, the next island south, and Martinique, the next north.

Between the two Piton mountains is Sugar Bay, a well named bay of white sand. It is backed by the exclusive ($1-2,000 a night!) Jalousie resort but anyone can use the beach. We spent some lazy hours on the sands of this beautiful bay.

Today we walked the Barre de l'Isle trail along the spine of the island, with views of both coasts. St Lucia is only 14 miles wide. Our start was delayed by our first rain storm – well, it is a rainforest up there.

The undergrowth everywhere is dense and jungley. Lots of plants that we grow as house plants, here grow on the forest floor but they are dwarfed by the huge leaves of wild tobacco. Above, the canopy is made up of tall, slender ferns, giant mahogany trees, wild mango trees and many that we cannot identify. Everything is covered with lianas, creepers and lichen.

We have also driven around a bit. While our Caribbean, west, coast is still and the sea calm, the east, Atlantic, coast, is windy with a big surf. On this coast there are small fishing villages, untouched by tourism. In fact, we have seen very few tourists. The main resorts are clustered on the north end of the island and the rest of the island is surprisingly untouched. Many more banana and coconut plantations than hotels.

Tomorrow we will leave lovely St Lucia and board the local ferry for Martinique, 90 minutes north. We are hoping for a smooth crossing!

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