St. Lucia

I’m sat by the sea in a tropical country again. This time it’s for the research part of my Master’s degree in Tropical Coastal Management. After much deliberation (with at one point me seriously considering throwing a dart at a map of the Caribbean) it was decided that St. Lucia was the place to be.

I arrived yesterday after an 8:35hr flight (and a night at Gatwick Travelodge). Currently I’m staying at a quaint little hotel named ‘Casa del Vega’. We (my partner in marine biology crime Josie and I) were picked up by the owner from the airport. During the hour long drive from one end of the other she answered all the questions we could think of about St. Lucian life. We also had a guided tour of all the damage caused by last year’s hurricane Thomas and other local sites such as the prison and mental hospital. We also found out that there was no running water that day on the whole island due to repair work on the damn – just like CCC!!

Our evening was spent sat on the balcony watching the cruise ships go by and the sun go down. The hotel is on a hillside going down to the sea. There’s a rocky cove at the bottom that I can’t wait to snorkel in. The room that we had was great. It was big and had a huge walk in wardrobe. However, we had the opportunity to move to one with a small kitchen so it was out with the space and in with the home cooked meals. The owner even took us to the supermarket this morning to get supplies.

At the moment we are in the capital city, Castries, as we have to sort out research permits and official things like that. In the next few days we’ll be moving to Soufriere; where there is a marine protected area and more tourists that aren’t cruise ship passengers.

More info on what I’m actually doing soon!

Love
Abi
xxx

PS Here's great video of where I am and the owner, Mrs Compton :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOi9Yzq3Kws