Soufriere tour
The hotel gave us a free day trip aboard a catamaran run by “Early Bird Island Tours” today. They wanted to do some maintenance work in the inner courtyard that would have been loud and closed both the pool and the bar. So instead of making the guests listen to drilling and hammering they got us out by giving us a free day trip. Considering that there were less than 10 guests in the hotel and ultimately only three of us joined the tour it was a worthwhile investment. The other guest had already made alternate plans. Our catamaran had around 25 guests and 5 crew and departed from the landing just 100 yards from the hotel.
Motoring down the coast
The weather was a bit more overcast than usual which was perfect for a day that would put us in the sun most of the time. We motored through Rodney Bay and past Castries, Marigot, and other attractions until we turned the bend at Soufriere and got our first glimpse of the Pitons.
Mud Baths and Waterfall
We disembarked at the dock and were ferried by minibus to the mud baths about 10 minutes uphill. Luckily we only got slight whiffs of the sulphurous air on the way but we could see the fumaroles with escaping gas above the valley with the mud baths. The operation of getting us punters lined up for the 10 minute submersion was, unlike much else on island, efficiently handled and was quite reminiscent of a production line. I had forgotten that I had taken not only my passport and all of travelling cash along (I’d expected to checkout that and had removed them from the room safe) and I didn’t wish to leave my backpack unattended on the racks at the baths. So I didn’t get rejuvenated like my fellow travellers. I barely recognized them when they came out of the baths – they must have collectively lost 100 years of age…
We were then bussed to the waterfalls to clean up and I did partake of that. Again, it was a production line where everyone went under the falls and got their pictures taken. But the waterfall was pretty and the water extremely cold and refreshing. I believe they made those falls sound more interesting by calling the “Mineral waterfalls”.
We then headed back to the waterfront at Soufriere for a buffet lunch which was surprisingly tasty and were entertained with live music.
Marigot and Anse Cochon
After boarding our somewhat older catamaran (a BVI hurricane Irma wreck with no mast and several rather jerry-rigged repairs) we headed back up the coast and entered Marigot harbour for a scenic tour. Next came Anse Cochon where we got to snorkel in the very clear waters – along with over 100 guests from other boats, mainly “Go Tango” which was quite full. I don’t know how she managed it, but Sue somehow mistook their catamaran for ours. Perhaps she was just trying to escape our company.
Return to Rodney Bay
From Anse Cochon we headed straight back to our original dock to deboard, although we did approach the beach and I thought our skipper was going to beach the boat and allow us to exit from the front.
The day was a nice one with lots of things to see and I have a list of potential anchorages which I need to research before heading down there next week.