Castries, St. Lucia: Our ship docked early this morning in Castries. It was warm and sunny, and we later learned it is warm and sunny every day! This island is a bit more prosperous than Dominica, but they have really only one industry and it is tourism. Dave and I were off on our own today, while the kids went to a fancy hotel and bought day-passes to enjoy a beautiful beach, pool and beach-side food.
I had signed us up for a 3 hour trip to a banana plantation. Something we eat all the time, really do not think that much about, so thought it was time to learn. Wow, did we get a good education and have a fun day in a mini van with about eight other tourists, a driver, and a guide, Quentin.
Our van climbed up and up to the top of the island. St. Lucia is 27 miles long and 14 miles wide, holding 185,000 people. Britain and France fought over and over for control of the island, with England finally winning. St. Lucia became independent in 1979. It was an interesting drive, with narrow winding roads, cows, dogs, and chickens roaming all over. We passed by a new KFC in the middle of nowhere and Quentin reported it stands for KEEP FAT COMING.
Once arriving at the banana farm, we had a chance to taste banana ketchup, using a dried/salted plantain chip for a dipper. They offered regular, spicy and BBQ-flavored. I tried the spicy, and it did have a little kick, but one guy nearly passed-out from the spice. He was crying! (Later we learned he was from Alaska - land of no jalapeno plants?)
Then we headed out in the fields. Many crops are grown on this property - bananas, plantains, pineapples, tangerines, Golden Apples (not like the apples Americans know), grapefruit, and a funny-looking thing called something like (?) sourina (because it is really sour) and loved by pregnant women.
Now we were deep into the banana forest. Quick description. First there is a flower, then the fruit emerges. After the bananas are developing, workers removed the flower. When the bananas are fully mature (but before they ripen... I assume it takes major skill to figure-out this time-line... the bananas are harvested by loping-off the top of the tree. After the bananas are harvested, the tree is cut down to about 5-feet tall. In a while new shoots will appear at the bottom of the trunk. They are given a while to grown, then the largest one is left and the smaller buds are cut off. Apparently you only need to plant a banana tree once!
So Alaska - as everyone was now calling the man with the sensitive palate - had quite the way with a machete! The guy harvesting the plantains showed Alaska where to chop the trunk of the banana tree trunk (in two places) so the fruit will gently tilt, rather than fall. Dang, if Alaska didn't look like he had been doing this for years. I am sorry, but I am too stupid to figure out how to make this video any smaller - but if you double-click it should open-up in your laptop video browser:
Then the worker grabbed several dead/dried banana leaves, wound them into a turban, and used the turban to cushion his head from the 30 pound load.
Then we all walked over to a table to watch the worker divide the plantains into smaller bunches and pack them carefully into a box. We also were able to sample the other fruits grown on the farm.
(Mandarins, unripe and ripe golden apples, and grapefruit)
100% of the bananas grown on this farm are for export. Our guide, Lisa, told us everyone has banana trees on their properties and bananas just grow everywhere. You can't even buy a banana in a local grocery. No need! (Apparently there is no need to buy chicken either - just go catch one.)
This was a great excursion. We could have gone to a beach or a museum... but we've never been to a farm that grows bananas, and it was very interesting. Guess what? They gave us each a banana! It was delicious.
We had another stop to a beautiful view of Marigot Bay - a location used in many movies (Pirates of the Caribbean, Dr. Doolittle, and more). Wow, is this a gorgeous bay.
Our last stop was to a beach where I think we stopped so we could shop at a small craft market. Not sure. Dave and I just went down to the beach. It was in another beautiful bay and a popular spot for fishing. We watched a boat go out, loaded with two bamboo lobster traps. The traps were baited with coconuts cracked in half!
We stopped to talk to a local guy, Timothy, who was busy cleaning, de-scaling and filleting tuna. He asked us all sorts of questions. Asked if we liked Trump. Asked if we thought Trump would win, but said he had an extra room in his house if we needed to leave America. Quite generous, I think. He asked if it were true Mexico used to own much of California. Yes! And, now, you're trying to keep them out, mon!
Dave and I were back to the boat at one o'clock, had a little lunch and a nice nap. Meanwhile on a tropical beach on the north end of St. Lucia:
We had no dinner reservations tonight. No need to rush anywhere. We relaxed in our stateroom while the 4L's dressed for dinner. Happy we did, as we were treated to this gorgeous rainbow as we set sail to Martinique:
We ended-up having a very quiet evening. Leo wasn't feeling well from too much fun in the sun, so Dave and I had dinner with Lucile and Lenny in the Capri dining room, while Lisa and Leo had room service and watched a movie. Lucile has formed a habit already - she orders a fancy appetizer from the main menu, then has a bowl of chicken noodle (alphabet and number shaped pasta) from the children's menu. Then, she orders a fancy desert from the main menu. Dinner menus change daily, so there is always something for everyone. I had a salad with sliced oranges, shaved fennel and coconut, and hazelnuts. Different. Chicken Parmesan for my main. One nice thing on Princess, the portions are small-to-normal... and if you are still hungry, just order something else. Since I had been to a banana farm, this evening I ordered a banana cake. Delicious.
After dinner we went to the Vista Lounge so Lucile could play a BINGO game. Instead of numbers on the cards, song names were listed. They would play a few seconds of a song, and if you had it on your card, check it off. She had a terrible card! As usual, the cruise staff are more entertaining than the game. The first table to call BINGO did NOT have a BINGO. Boy oh boy, did the staff give them a hard time. When a second table called BINGO and they also did NOT have BINGO, the staff made both tables come up to the stage and do the Chicken Dance! Lucile was enjoying this scene so much. One of the prizes tonight was one of those cheap cloth sling bags that can also be a backpack. When the staff gave this booty to a winner, he always called it a "Louis Vuitton-slash-Princess" bag, to the delight of the crowd. Other prizes were Princess coasters or notebooks. The big prize at the end of the night is a bottle of champagne "valued at more than one dollar, freshly delivered from Deck 2" (near the engine room). Too funny.
Not enough fun for our girl. Lucile wanted to attend the production show at 9:30! It was a technical thing with lots of fancy stage productions, lighting, props dropping down from the ceiling, dancing, and space-age stuff. Something about a guy playing a new video game? Anyway, ten minutes into the show, they had some-sort of technical difficulty. I took this as my cue to exit to my bed, but Lenny, Lucile and DT remained to the end... which I will ruin for you by saying the guy did win the video game. Spoiler alert!
Tomorrow? Another day another island!
Until my next update, I remain, your "I've gone bananas" correspondent.
LINKS:
Current position of the Enchanted Princess
Enchanted Princess bridge cam