Most people only ever know Saint Lucia as one of the numerous pit stops on most Caribbean cruises. Known as the Helen of the West Indies, this historic island nation has been the bone of contention between UK and France ever since ages past. Saint Lucia, named after St. Lucia of Syracuse, is one of the Windward Islands in the Lesser Antilles. Its immediate neighbors are Barbados and the Martinique.
It is easy enough to see why these two superpowers would want Saint Lucia into their fold. This tiny island nation certainly has something to offer. Aside from the staggering amount to be availed of from the tourism industry, Saint Lucia also has one of the most extensive banana export industries in the world.
If you do intend to go on a cruise, we highly suggest you make sure that one of the longer pit stops you would have is on the very beautiful island of Saint Lucia. You certainly will not have any problems when it comes to language since English is the official language of the land. A few of the natives can speak fluent French, fluent Spanish and even Creole.
In case, though, you decide to skip with the cruise and just spend the rest of your vacation time right on the island of Saint Lucia, we highly recommend you schedule your arrival during one of the island’s numerous festivals. As sure as the sands are pristine here, the native populace comes colorfully alive during nation wide celebrations. The La Rose Festival (culminates on the 30th of August) and the La Marguerite Festival (happens in October) are two of the most prominent festivals – flower festivals – you may want to take part in. These are very ritualistic festivals, and if you are indeed keen on studying another culture and religion, this is the perfect time to visit Saint Lucia so you can see for yourself.
Although these two festivals can be rather tame as compared to the Saint Lucia carnival that happens every mid-July, you would actually be enthralled with the abundant and mouth watering local cuisines that are being offered. If you are lucky, you may even be chosen to take part in the event. Plus, shopping at this time should make your trip well worth the effort. During this time, local traders and entrepreneurs bring out most of their home made products and goods and prices can drop, drop, and drop.
If you are very much into world music, you may want to visit this island nation during the legendary Jazz Festival; which by the way has been ranked as one of the world’s top 5 festivals you should never miss when it comes to the music circuit. During this time, local and international performers take to the stage, delivering wonderful jazz, kompa, soca, zouk and reggae music. It usually attracts up to 10,000 concert revelers on an average. This year, the festival was held in several parts of the island between the 2nd of May and the 11th of the same month. This year’s festivities featured Dionne Warwick, Wyclef Jean, Anita Baker, and Angie Stone.
