Soufriere
A very Caribbean town with small streets filled with concrete and wooden buildings. The waterfront has been nicely laid out with flower beds and untypical features, but it is behind this that the character emerges. Open doorways lead into all manner of surprises from hardware to bakery to auto-parts.
A real gem at the upper end of town was Zacks Art Cafe. Inside the colourful exterior, a cool breeze made the invitation to try the locally grown coffee all the more tempting. The young lady was shelling the coffee beans ready for roasting, and readily showed us how it all was done. She also had fresh cloves, which we had never seen before and were nothing like the hard black cloves one normally thinks of.
The interior was a riot of colour, with painted carvings of fish and faces all around, with the workshop visible in the next room. The coffee was strong and excellent, and there was wifi to keep us there even longer.
Back on the street, we wandered further. An abandoned church (rare in these islands) probably bore testimony to the limited Anglican reach, it’s owner now enjoying permanent rest in the graveyard. Further down, there was the incongruous sight of a small shopping mall. It really did not fit comfortably in its surroundings. By contrast, the Catholics snaffled the central pitch in the main square! (Having gained the town monopoly, they make the most of it with 2.5 hour services!)
Of course the real draw to the Bay are the two Pitons, which we have mentioned before. Mooring below one of these majestic peaks is magical, the changing light through the day cast making for ever-changing images of rugged beauty.
Sadly we have to miss the 4 hour hike to the top of the peak, and the other local sights this time as full recuperation is going to take a few weeks yet.
In the meantime, we are planning on heading South this week to our next destination. We would have left on Tuesday had it not been necessary to wait for a couple of emails. It could just be that we need to briefly stop by at Rodney Bay again before heading off. As ever, nothing happens in a hurry here!
PostScript:
Shortly after writing this, we upped sticks and went back up the coast. A combination of a very rolly night and a boat boy banging on the hull at just after 7.00 in the morning proved too much!
Freebooter 