Nature lovers will enjoy this island, with coves, sands of all colors, crystalline waters, craggy volcanic mountains and exuberant valleys (map)

Along history, the island of St. Lucia had so many pretenders that was nicknamed the “Helen of the Antilles”. For more than 200 years, British and French fought to conquer it: its strategic position, halfway from Martinique and St. Vincent, made the island a much-coveted treasure during the colonial age. Now, to St Lucia arrive a very different kind of invaders. Tourists attracted by the natural beauty of the mountainous landscape, and the beaches of crystalline waters. Another incentive is the opportunity of tasting the typical Creole culture that natives have developed in this precious Caribbean island.

No doubt, outstanding among all the beautiful places in the island, are The Pitons, two majestic, conic, twin peaks, covered by a dense vegetation, photographed in many postcards and tourism guides, and that have become a symbol of the Little Antilles. The craggy hillsides of both mountains emerge directly from the Caribbean waters, to reach an altitude of 795m. The Pittons are a sound proof of the volcanic origins of the island, which is really a huge mass of lava that came up to the sea surface, some million years ago, due to a series of volcanic eruptions. The same origins have the beaches, with sands of many different colors, like white, honey color, anthracite gray and black also.

But in the inner lands, green is predominant. An exuberant tropical jungle covers at least one tenth of the 617 square km. of the island, with an exotic diversity of flora and fauna. At the thickest part lives the parrot of St. Lucia (Amazona versicolor). Between orchids and wild frangipani, with fragrant flowers, run little salamanders. The highest peak in the island is Mount Gimie (950 m.), almost always clouded; in fact, rains provide rivers and streams, crossing St. Lucia, with the necessary water to irrigate fields and plantations, to maintain their fertility all the year. The Atlantic Ocean waves burst against the craggy eastern coast, where are the majority of banana plantations of the island.

Dollars and Bananas
Agriculture was until the 1980’s, the main economic activity of the island, especially bananas, the principal exportation; but now, they are facing the stiff competition of the big countries in South America. Nevertheless, for the past twenty years, tourism has a preferential place in the island’s economy, receiving 250,000 visitors a year.

Though it’s true, that the growing of the tourist industry has not affected the natural beauty of St. Lucia (there are no huge buildings), and that the elegant and luxurious hotels, with shops, restaurants, bars and nautical sports centers, employ many islanders; it’s also true that these hotels of the “all inclusive” kind, are a very tough competition for small restaurants, souvenir shops and local travel agencies.

An example which cause great controversy, dividing the inhabitants in two, was the opening of the exclusive Jalousie Plantation Resort and Spa, a hotel including everything, built between the symbolic twin mountains, the Pitons, in a place consider by many, as an ancient Arawak cemetery. Though there were some islanders favoring the opening of the hotel, perceiving the possibility of new jobs, the majority of the population rejected it, saying it was a humiliation and an insult to the island. One of the most critic islanders was the poet Derek Walcott, Nobel Prize of Literature, who compare this situation with “opening a casino in the Vatican, or a fast food restaurant inside the circular ruins of Stonehenge”. The resort, including more than a hundred little houses in the hillsides, had a very low rate of occupation after the opening in 1992, compelling the owners to close it three years later. Finally, the hotel is operating again.