It’s hard to believe that an island only 27 miles long and 14 miles wide can harbor so much breath-taking beauty, but anyone who has ever visited the lush Caribbean island of St. Lucia, situated in the West Indies, will attest that it’s true.
Nestled between Barbados and Martinque towards the end of the Windward Island chain in the eastern Caribbean Sea, St. Lucia is a land with a unique mixture of history and charming influences.
Although small in size, this formerly British-ruled island has a reputation for large-scale beauty. In fact, the national tourism board has appropriately adopted the slogan “St. Lucia — simply beautiful.”
Visually speaking, St. Lucia offers everything from panoramic mountains and lush rain forests, to soft rolling hills and rugged coastlines. Completing the colorful mosaic is green vegetation including the travelers tree. This palm-like tree has leaves similar to those of the banana tree and when the leaves are moved by the wind, the action acts as an enormous rotating fan. The name is derived from the cupped-shaped depression at the base of each leaf which can hold up to a pint of water. These trees are common throughout the islands of the West Indies.
Scattered throughout the island are massive mountains, a result of ancient volcanic activity, that serve as a backdrop for the breathtaking white beaches that are surrounded by azure blue waters. Two of the mountains, the Pitons — are national landmarks of St. Lucia.
Filled with traversing fields, woods, cliffs and beaches, the island is a bird-watcher’s paradise with 30 exotic species including the St. Lucia Oriole, the St. Lucia Black Finch and the famous St. Lucia Parrot.
Although English is the official language on the island, the French patios dialect, which is similar to French Creole in enunciation, is spoke by the locals.
St. Lucia has been a stable independent democracy within the British Commonwealth since 1979. British influence is evidenced in many ways such as driving on the left side of the road and the St. Lucians’ passion for Cricket.
The Caribbean influence can be seen in the rich, spicy, Creole cuisine, the love of calypso and reggae music, dance, carnivals, festivals and days of national pride.
With the sparkling, coral-laden waters of the Caribbean on one side, and the Atlantic on the other, St. Lucia is a haven for sailors and fisherman alike.
Referred to as the “angler’s dream come true,”
St. Lucia is home to several species of big game fish and offers opportunities for some of the best deep sea fishing in the world.
The island’s warm, constant breeze keeps the lush palm trees swaying in the wind and provides the perfect setup for windsurfing, sailing, para-sailing and water skiing. Watersports are a way of life on the island where a coastline of rain forested mountains is frequently interrupted by natural harbors and bays. The island boasts some of the best underwater dive and snorkeling sites in the Caribbean.
In the last three decades the media in St. Lucia has advanced greatly, becoming an important vehicle for social and political change in the country. Today, St. Lucia not only produces programs of its own and receives satellite-transmitted stations from the United States and Europe, it also has five television stations. The island also boasts three radio stations, and in rural areas the programs are broadcast in Kweyol of Patois — still widely spoken in the countryside.
Newspapers in St. Lucia have been in existence for three centuries, and are considered the leaders of St. Lucia’s medical system. The first recorded newspaper, the St. Lucia Gazette, was published in 1780.
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