Visit from Friends

Last week our long-time friends Andy and Aliza arrived for a visit to Tahina while we were in St. Lucia. After long flights, and a very long taxi ride from the other side of St. Lucia, they were glad to finally arrive to Tahina in the wide Rodney Bay anchorage.

We spent a couple of days in the Rodney Bay area doing some sightseeing. But, the real reason we didn’t move the boat right away was that Andy and Aliza had a date at a bar on Monday night. They are both Duke graduates, and the championship game of the NCAA was that night. Needless to say, they were happy with the result!

We did a walking tour of Pigeon Island, home of Fort Rodney. We even walked to the top of Signal Hill with great views of the bay and surrounding area. Martinique wasn’t visible due to haze and rain the area though. On another day, we managed to organize a trip to do zip lines through the rainforest. Karen did this with our daughter the last time we were here 5 years earlier. So, she was really looking forward to it. Andy and Aliza had a good time as well.

The next day we got up at the crack of dawn to sail down to The Pitons. On the way, we sailed past the main port of Castries and ended up sailing right between two cruise ships arriving. We were also treated to lots of rainbows that morning as there were showers in the area.

The rain didn’t keep us from enjoying the spectacular peaks of the Pitons. We also went ashore to the very swank Sugar Beach Resort and had lunch. After eating, we took a ride up to the resort reception to get information on a taxi ride for our guests to get to the airport the next day. The hotel welcomed us like guests and let us walk around the grounds to admire their facilities. We were very tempted by the nice massage parlor, and enjoyed the garden grounds and lilly pond with spectacular views of the Pitons in the background.

I took Aliza on a short snorkeling trip. We did see a sea turtle and some nice coral and fish. But, had issues with current. Aliza wanted to swim back to the boat, while I continued to snorkel a bit, and she got stuck in the current. Fortunately, the park ranger happened by and picked her up just as I was arriving to do the same in the dinghy.

We enjoyed good meals and lots of catching up with Andy and Aliza. It was good to share a bit of our life and home with them again (they visited us in 2010 in Aruba). Over the last few years, they have welcomed us to their home several times when we visited the US. So, this was our chance to try and return the favor.

Here’s a slideshow showing a sample of the experiences: