St. Lucia - Day 3

We got up nice and early for the excursion and went to meet the group in the lobby. When we got there we recognized a couple that had arrived around the same time we did and started chatting with them. The tour got started and we were led down to the pier and on to a speed boat. The boat took us down the west coast of the island and the tour guide described the various parts of the island along the way. Rodney Bay, Maringo Bay, the oil drums, Castries, lots of tiny villages and coves, etc. On our way down the coast we made a pit stop in front of the Pitons, a duo of peaks that are famous on the island and even have a beer named after them! we were able to get a photo op in front of the mountains but also opted out of the two hour hike to the top ;) In one such cove we parked and did some snorkeling. We donned our snorkel gear, posed for a picture as we jumped off the dock and got to exploring. We saw lots of fish, dove down and got a close up view of the reef and even discovered a spotted lobster!! We were the last people out of the water and were promptly greeted with some rum punch back at the boat. The next stop was the volcano. It was steaming and smelled of sulfur. The locals told us that people used to be able to walk over the volcano until a man named Gabriel fell into a thin spot. Now people stick to the volcanic clay/soap and hot springs, which is exactly where we were headed. We made it through the stinky sulfur steam and down to the springs and painted ourselves in mud. The hot spring was much much hotter than we both anticipated and we foolishly agreed to dip in and walk through to the other side risking what felt like second degree burns! We did make it through only mildly scathed and with super soft volcanic mud exfoliated skin :) the next stop was to a waterfall just to make sure we got all the mud off. It was both beautiful and effective :) we finished the trip with some authentic island food: jerk chicken, banana ketchup, rice and beans - delicious! We had a great time on the excursion and made some fun friends while we were at it.