Monday, January 23, 2012

A rainforest walk / Day in Soufrière


I have so many photos on my hard-drive(s) which I haven't had the time to show you as yet. You remember when we made a one night stop in Soufriere, St Lucia? St Lucia has its more touristy/yacht areas like Rodney Bay, Castries (the capital) and Marigot bay.. this little town is more authentic I would say. More dirty and rugged, more real in a way. I know that many excludes this town from their itinerary by but we did enjoy it a lot. We might not be walking around these streets on dark nights, but we loved the city despite its cosmetic flaws and we truthfully enjoyed seeing a different side of the island.

Soufrière has a population of around 8.000 compared to the total of the country/island of 174.000. The famous Piton mountains/volcanic plugs as well as the hot springs and water falls are located just South of town. Both of which were on our agenda for the day.
The streets are colorful and rustic although much is still destroyed from numerous hurricanes this city have had to deal with.

A typical Caribbean coffee shop.


And a very typical street of Soufrière as well as of any other Caribbean city or town.
Caribbean houses. Most of them are very colorful around here.
The view when we've walked up on the hill above the city.
A goat by the road, usually they're not leashed and they're running around like they want to.
Alex always make friend with animals.. he can even get wild birds eating from his hand and tropical lizards to cuddle up with him. I swear. Will show you pics of that one day.
Misty day but nonetheless a beautiful view.
Caos anchored down there. Beautiful yacht isn't it? Buy it here.
The view of Soufrière from above one hill, view to North East.
Taken at the same spot, looking out on the sea to the North West.
Fantastic view when we came over one hill and walked down South on another.
A bull hiding in the bushes..
Up one hill, down another..
Green rainforest all around.
Lots of villas beautifully nestled inside of the lush nature.
Swing on a liana anyone?
Almost there...
Finally found some natural springs and rainfalls to enjoy after a long, sweaty walk.
The water comes out straight from the volcano and is very hot.. we loved it.
After the walk we met a man who sold fresh fruit, this is a cocoa fruit, did you know that all your favorite chocolate comes from this? The white cocoa beans are wonderful to eat/suck on just like this, tastes very sweet. When the fruits are fermented and dried, they become brown and dark and only then is when they get the characteristic cocoa flavor and can be used to make cocoa mass (after they're cleaned and roasted of course).
More fruits..

Great day spent in St Lucia. We've done many of these promenades around on different islands and I will try to post more pics from some of them in the nearest future.. the nature of the Caribbean islands are breathtaking and if you are in the right mood, you will feel very energized and refreshed after a day soaking in all this spectacular natural beauty and the tranquility of it all.

Here's another favorite town/village of St Lucia that we visited in the beginning of last year.