The next stop in St. Lucia was Rodney Bay Marina, we arrived on January 25th and ended up staying until February 7th. Sometimes this happens - its' hard to leave. You get comfortable with Wi-Fi, cable TV, electric and water. We decided to do an island tour, hired a taxi driver and spent 9 and 1/2 hours seeing St. Lucia. Our first stop was the Aerial Tram at the Rain Forest Sky Ride. They advertise you sit comfortably in your own gondola flying at 130 feet in the air (I thought it would be enclosed - silly me) having a fantastic bird's eye view of a mature forest canopy. We certainly did all that (minus the comfortable part). My favorite were the tree ferns - small trees with a fern canopy on top - I want one for the greenhouse back in Minnesota. We did see lots of hummingbirds and other local birds. The top view was spectacular - we could see both the Caribbean Ocean and the Atlantic.

Going up, up, up!

Cute little tree fern.

Castries, the capital of St. Lucia has burned down twice and was most recently rebuilt in the 1950's.

Marigot Bay from the top side - now you can see how well it is protected. It is said that a British Admiral is reputed to have hidden his fleet here, disquising the masts by tying coconut fronds in the rigging. The pursuing French sailed right by.

Anse La Raye is a poor but picturesque fishing village. The night to go is Friday, when they have a fish fest. Tables and chairs are put right down the center of the front street, and vendors set up stalls on both sides of the road and cook seafood.

Bay at Anse De Canaries - Cliffs surround this pleasant quiet area.

We stopped at The View - wow what a view. Of course, you have to put up with the vendors, but with Rick watching my back - we managed to get out of there without buying anthing!

The wares.

No wonder this is Oprah's top five things to do - WOW!

Ok, we probably should have done a little more research on this one, but, our friends Wayne & Carol suggested we stop at the Cassava (sp) stand and try them. This picture shows the beginning product, a root vegetable, then they are mashed and strained, spices added, then baked on some kind of leave? We tried a chocolate one and a cinnamon one. Very heavy, doughy, and somewhat edible. Wayne likes them. Anyone knowing more than us on this one, please get back to us.

We had lunch at Soufriere Town and we were told this is French for sulfur in the air - Sandra were they right on this? We definitely could smell the volcano, but the view of Petit Piton is well worth it.

We visited Diamond Botanical Garden which is one of the oldest plantations on St. Lucia, the story of Soufriere Estate began shortly after one of the many battles between colonists and Carib Indians then the French began settlement in earnest. In 1713 three Devaux brothers received a 2,000 acre grant from King Louis XIV. During the following centuries Soufriere Estate rose to a position of prominence. Exquisite gardens where designed to blend into the agricultural and natural foliage of the river ravine. The lush paths meander through a grand assortment of attractive vegetation to end at the foot of the unique Diamond Falls. The water plunges along rocks that have been encrusted with minerals yielding a unique collage painted in burnt oranges and yellows.

We managed to crash another posh resort - curious, can you tell we are not $500.00 a night people? This is probably where Oprah stays. This is the most awesome view. It is perched on the edge of a giant precipice looking straight down to the valley between the Pitons. It is hard not to exclaim "WOW" when you first see it.

Ok, this view for $500.00 a night is worth it! ( after all it does include your meals).