Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025

Sa Ca Fete: Welcome to St Lucia

Sa Ca Fete: Welcome to St Lucia

The Caribbean region is overtly blessed with a wide variety of; peoples, languages, cultures, and islands.

Some small islands such as Saba and St Eustatius have populations of less than 2,000 persons whilst other big islands, such as Jamaica and Puerto Rico, have populations exceeding 3 million persons.

Caribbean Geography 101


For clarity, the Caribbean has four main sub-regions.

The Lucayan Archipelago, The Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles, and the Southern Caribbean.

The Lucayan Archipelago consists of the Bahamian Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The Greater Antilles consists mainly of the larger islands; Cayman Islands, Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic), Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and both the British and United States Virgin Islands.

The Lesser Antilles is actually split into another Sub-region.

The Leeward Islands, which consists of; Anguilla, Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, Nevis Saba, St Barts, St Eustatius, St Maarten/St Martin, and St Kitts.

Also, the Windward Islands, which consist of; Barbados, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent, and the Grenadines.

The Southern Caribbean consists of; Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Margarita Island, Trinidad, and Tobago.

Sa Ca Fete


In late August, I had the opportunity to travel to two of the Windward Islands, Dominica, and St Lucia, in order to attend a United Nations meeting.

My first stop would be a direct four-hour flight from Kennedy Airport in New York to St Lucia.

Incidentally, St Lucia has two airports, Vieux Fort in the South, which handles international and regional flights, and the George F.L. Charles Airport in the North, which handles regional flights only.

Upon arrival, all visitors must present the following: travel authorisation forms, vaccination cards if immunised, and then fill out a form with general and some health-related questions.

If one is immunised, they are given a white wristband indicating that they can roam freely around the island.

Oddly, there is no requirement for tests upon arrival or during your stay.

Now, a bit about St Lucia itself.

Total size: 238 Square Miles

Population: 185,000

Languages spoken: English, Creole, and French

Economy: Tourism and Agriculture

GDP 2.5 Billion

Currency: East Caribbean (EC) Dollar $1US: $2.68 EC

Tourism is their leading economy, with over one million visitors in 2019, prior to Covid-19. These visitors helped them to generate nearly 1 billion dollars in foreign income.

Thousands of Lucians are employed in the hospitality industry, ranging from taxi drivers, hotel staff, tour guides, and small to large hotel owners.

St Lucia is essentially a very lush rural country, with pockets of settlements spread around its coastal regions. With Agriculture as their traditional economy, one can find all sorts of fresh organic foods selling on the roadsides and markets.

Goodies such as; bananas, plantain, watermelon, mangoes, coconuts, yam, cassava, carrots, honey, peppers, vanilla, and cashews, to name a few, are easy to find and relatively inexpensive to purchase.

All of this fresh food means the cooking is quite simply, heavenly.

The survivors


Without a doubt, their greater product is their people.

St Lucia is but one of the islands that historically was fought over between the French and the English, from the 1600s-1800s, when the French ceded the island to the English

As a result of the French influence, the descendants of the enslaved Africans speak several languages, with a distinct French dialect.

Creole French, or Patwa, is the language created by the then enslaved Africans. They mixed French and African words, in order to hide things from the ears of their oppressors. Creole was very commonly spoken up until the 1970s, when many parents chose to only taught their children English.

As of late, many are now teaching their children this language, as well as structured classes in government schools.

Our tour guides, teaching us Creole words, took us around St Lucia to visit; historical sites, local beaches, cassava factories, chocolate factories using local cocoa, the sulphur springs where one can take a bath in mineral waters, and tours of the historic capital Castries.

If one wants to mix with locals, there is the weekly outdoor festival in Gros Islet.

To say that St Lucians are friendly will be an understatement. It is no surprise their tourism product is in high demand.

St Lucia is essentially a very lush rural country, with pockets of settlements spread around its coastal regions. With Agriculture as their traditional economy, one can find all sorts of fresh organic foods selling on the roadsides and markets.

The Sulphur Springs in St Lucia where one can take a bath in mineral water.

The Windward Islands consists of Barbados, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent, and the Grenadines.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Macron and Merz: Europe must arm itself in an unstable world
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Airlines Evaluate Flight Cancellations Amid Escalating US-Iran Tensions
Starmer Invites Innovators to Join Government Talent Scheme
UK Economy’s Strong Opening Quarter Shows Signs of Cooling
Harrods Seeks Court Order to Secure Al Fayed Estate for Victims
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
BBC Demands Perplexity AI Immediately Stop Using Its Content
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
Political Turmoil Resurfaces in Belgium Amid Economic Concerns
Fed policymakers divided on timing of interest rate cuts
Trump signals imminent agreement with Harvard University
Inheritance tax referendum alarms Swiss billionaire community
Japan cancels bilateral security meeting amid US defence demands
AI skeptic Emily Bender warns that ‘the emperor has no clothes’
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
EU Proposes Ban on New Russian Gas Contracts
×