St. Lucia - Culture

St. Lucia is the sort of island that travellers to the Caribbean dream about--a small, lush tropical gem that is still relatively unknown. One of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located midway down the Eastern Caribbean chain, between Martinique and St. Vincent, and north of Barbados. St. Lucia is only 27 miles long and 14 miles wide, with a shape that is said to resemble either a mango or an avocado (depending on your taste). The Atlantic Ocean kisses its eastern shore, while the beaches of the west coast owe their beauty to the calm Caribbean Sea.

In natural beauty, St. Lucia seems like an island plucked from the South Pacific and set down in the Caribbean. Its dramatic twin coastal peaks, the Pitons, soar 2,000 feet up from the sea, sheltering magnificent rain forests where wild orchids, giant ferns, and birds of paradise flourish. Brilliantly-plumed tropical birds abound, including endangered species like the indigenous St. Lucia parrot. The rainforest is broken only by verdant fields and orchards of banana, coconut, mango, and papaya trees.

St. Lucia has been inhabited since long before colonial times, and its cultural treasures are a fascinating melange of its rich past and its many different traditions. The island's people have earned a well-deserved reputation for their warmth and charm, and the island itself is dotted with aged fortresses, small villages, and open-air markets.

There is a broad array of exciting and exotic activities available on St. Lucia. The island's steep coastlines and lovely reefs offer excellent snorkelling and scuba diving. The rainforest preserves of St. Lucia's mountainous interior are one of the Caribbean's finest locales for hiking and bird watching. Of course, the island also possesses excellent facilities for golf, tennis, sailing, and a host of other leisure pursuits. Not to be missed is St. Lucia's Soufriere volcano, the world's only drive-in volcanic crater.

St. Lucia possesses a topography and ecology of stunning beauty, matched by no other location in the Caribbean. The island's pride in its natural resources is evident in the country's ongoing protection and conservation efforts. In the mountainous interior lies the enormous National Rain Forest, and the island's protected coastal sights include the breathtaking, unforgettable spires of Les Pitons. All sorts of nature hikes, tours, and programs have been developed to showcase these peerless assets, allowing visitors to enjoy the island without harming its complex and fragile environment.

St. Lucia's environmental philosophy also extends beyond its shoreline to the protection of its beautiful coral reefs, with their rich and diverse tropical sea life. The government has created four preservation areas, encompassing all of the island's outstanding reefs. Watersports enthusiasts, divers, and boat owners are required to purchase a permit before entering the reserve, and the fees are used for repairs to the reef and preserving threatened marine species.

St. Lucia's culture has evolved from the intermingling of the many different groups of people who have participated in its history. Each has brought different beliefs and traditions, all of which are reflected in the life of the island today. A visitor is likely to drive on the British side of the road to an Indian restaurant in a French town, greeted all along the way in Creole patois.

One of the most accessible expressions of St. Lucia's rich cultural heritage is its cuisine. The fertile, volcanic soil of the island yields an enormous supply of produce, and the island is one of the leading banana exporters in the Caribbean, with six different varieties available

Local chefs combine the island's fresh produce with a wide variety of equally fresh seafood to create tantalizing curries, Creole-style entrees, and pepperpot stews. Callaloo soup, made from a leafy green similar to spinach, is the national dish. The island's outstanding cuisine has recently gained international recognition by garnering several gold medals in the regions most prestigious culinary competitions.

But St. Lucia's culture extends far beyond the table, as the island has long held a reputation for its intellectual and artistic talents. St. Lucia has produced two Nobel Prize winners: the late Sir W. Arthur Lewis, who won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1979, and poet Derek Walcott, who won the 1992 Nobel Prize for Literature.

To understand as well as enjoy St. Lucia's culture is largely a matter of gaining some sense of the various peoples who have contributed to it. The first of these were the Arawaks and the Caribs, Amerindian peoples indigenous to the entire Caribbean. They were expert hunters, farmers, fishermen, and skilled artists. Their primary crops were cassava, yams, sweet potatoes, all of which still play a central role in the island's food. The Amerindians were decimated by the arrival of the Europeans, and only a small number of St. Lucians can still trace their roots back to this group. Some of the few particular aspects of Amerindian culture that survive include farina and cassava bread, fish-pots and other local craft items. Some villages still practice the ancient art of fishing in dug-out canoes.

In addition to the wide variety of opportunities to hike, bird watch, and tour St. Lucia's outstanding natural attractions, the island is replete with a full range of recreational facilities. Visitors may enjoy the leisurely pleasures of touring the island by horse, chartering a yacht for an evening sail or day cruise, or relax with a round of golf amid St. Lucia's entrancing natural beauty. For those who enjoy the thrill of more vigorous pursuits, there are plenty of places to windsurf, dive, water-ski, or play tennis or squash. There are also a number of activities more closely related to the traditional life of St. Lucia, including deep-sea fishing, weekly "jump-ups" at Gros Islet, and visits to the weekly market at Castries.