Friday, February 23, 2018

Exploring Marigot Bay … Tues-Wed 20-21 February 2018


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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