My family just returned from our Southern Caribbean cruise aboard the Galaxy. Here is the mini-review of our day in St. Lucia.

I had never been to St. Lucia and was not sure what to expect. Everyone beforehand kept "warning" me that the people here were very very poor. Well, aren't just about all the Caribbean islands like that? So I went with an open mind, it could not be poorer than the Dominican Republic and as a matter of fact, I thought it was better.

For this day, for our family of 10, we had booked a private tour with Cosol Tours. Excellent value for the money and a tour delivering everything which was promised. Cosol is young and lively and showed us all the highlights: a drive through the capital Castries, a view of the Governor's House and stop for pictures of the harbor, a Banana Plantation, Marigot Bay, and the fishing villages of Anse La Raye and Canaries. We also drove through the rain forest and on to Soufrière and a view of the Pitons, as well as a stop at Toraille Water Fall and Botanical Garden.

Cosol stopped for sample of local island favorites: fish cakes, Johnny cakes, bananas direct from the tree in front of you, and cassava bread. He was also generous in stopping for photo opportunities and they are many. The island was not entirely great mountain peaks as I had pictured in my mind. Spots such as the Pitons and Anse La Raye are some of the most picturesque I have seen in the entire Caribbean.

None of us "kids" have ever been to Hawaii nor seen an active volcano before so taking a tour of the "drive in" Volcano, Soufrière, was quite impressive for us novices. There are hot springs, fumaroles and mud pots. The only thing missing is lava and pyroclastic flows. This was fine by me. The kids of course whined about the ever present smell of sulphur. Gee, guess that is why this area is also considered a "sulphur spring".

Oh and did I mention that Cosol also keeps a cooler in the back of the bus/mini-van filled with refreshments?

Fishing Village of Anse La Raye

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