Exploring Marigot Bay
… Tues-Wed 20-21 February 2018
On Tuesday morning we left Soufriere just as another squall
rolled through. It’s certainly been showery and windy these past several days
and according to locals this weather pattern is highly unusual. It was a quick
motor sail up the coast to Marigot Bay and we anchored towards the open end of
this finger shaped inlet. It’s a beautiful spot and we took the dinghy to the
dock at the marina / hotel at the head of the Bay and hiked up the road to the
east, which gave us great views over the anchorage. We were excited to bump
into Duncan and Cathy from “Free Sailing”, one of the Caribbean 1500 rally
boats. We chatted briefly and hope to meet up with them again in Rodney Bay
over the weekend. It was a little early for Happy Hour ashore so we returned to
Cotinga and did our own Happy Hour with a couple of excellent “pain killers”.
Even Marigot Bay was a little bumpy overnight – we think that the swells that
have built up with all the strong winds are simply wrapping there way round the
islands and making all the anchorages somewhat rolly.
This morning we jumped in a taxi that we had booked
yesterday and headed to the center of the island to a trail called ……….. that makes it way through the mountainous
rainforest. It turns out our taxi driver, Albert, is the father of the man we
made arrangements with and it seems like a family business. On the way back
Albert pulled over at a local shopping center where we met another of his sons
who took us the rest of the way back to Marigot. Albert himself needed to get
to Castries for an appointment to get an infected eye seen to. In retrospect I
feel bad because we were late in the morning to pick up our taxi and he
probably had the times all worked out carefully and we inadvertently messed
them around. Anyway, Albert and his son were both lovely, interesting people
and we enjoyed travelling with them. The trail itself was also atmospheric and
enjoyable. We were a little disappointed not to see any parrots (or boa
constrictors, which are not native), but we did see some great land crabs … and
a lot of mud!
Once back on the boat, Stew and Paige took a quick swim and
then we pulled up anchor and headed out of Marigot Bay and northwards up to
Castries, where we are now anchored in what can only be described as an urban
harbor. Tomorrow (22nd February) is St Lucia Independence Day and we
are hoping to see some parades and street parties.
Marigot Bay
Paige
Paige and Stew - daughter and father
Rastafarian house above Marigot Bay
Creeper vines in the rain forest
Land crab in the rain forest
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