On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Elma
All the islands are volcanic in origin, so there are mostly steep winding roads, usually with no guardrails and sheer drops on one side or the other. In St. Lucia the authorities were still being very careful about the pandemic. You could not leave the cruise port unless you were on an officially approved tour, where they spayed you constantly with hand sanitizer. At least it had a nice ginger fragrance. We took a bus tour of the island which went up into the hills. Fortunately, our driver seemed very competent.
Unfortunately, the bus was manufactured in Japan, and not designed to accommodate your average North American’s long legs and big backside. The island is lush and tropical on the Caribbean side and arid on the Atlantic side. I felt kind of naughty, when the guide proudly pointed out the flag of St. Lucia and my immediate thought was “beam me up Scotty.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Saint_Lucia)
Steeplejack
Peaceful pictures. Nice.
I stayed up way too late, and now I’m going to bed.
Wag
Windward vs leeward. What a dramatic difference. Nicely demonstrated!
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
Diving in St Lucia is fantastic, particularly around the Pitons (they’re really the divide between windward and leeward at the southern tip). There’s one in particular (called “Superman”) where you get dropped in the water, quickly descend about 45 feet into a current that’s running parallel to a gorgeous reef and you do no work at all as you fly over the terrain like you’re Superman, hence the name. At about 50 minutes into your dive they pick you up at the end point.
Patricia Kayden
I would love to visit St. Lucia. Looks like a beautiful island, My family is Jamaican but beyond Jamaica I’ve only been to Puerto Rico and really need to visit other Caribbean countries.
raven
@Patricia Kayden: The last time I was in Negril was when Elvis died!!! Yikes 45 years!!!
Sure Lurkalot
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: I’ve done Superman twice, snorkeling. It’s a blast!
Stayed at a resort in a room with 3 walls opening to view of the Pitons, misty mornings with rainbows. It’s rugged, but a beautiful place.
WaterGirl
Peaceful and happy photos. What a great way to start the day.
JanieM
Peaceful was my first thought too. Also — great colors everywhere. “Our ship in port” makes it look awfully enticing.
StringOnAStick
Oh, that Caribbean blue! I need to get my husband there, he’s never swam in an ocean that wasn’t cold.
SkyBluePink
Lovely photos!
eclare
The color of that water is so inviting.
West of the Cascades
“where they spayed you constantly with hand sanitizer”
My god, they were really serious about making sure you didn’t pass covid down to any offspring!
(thank you for the beautiful pictures and amusing typo!)
J R in WV
@StringOnAStick:
Wife and I loved swimming and snorkeling in the warm water of the Virgin Islands. Dad was so disappointed that his mask leaked where his moustache was he just swam a bit to cool down, otherwise he was mostly a sun worshipper. WE also spent a week in a tiny native-run hotel on the beach in Grand Turk, they called me back after I booked to tell me they had no casino nor nightclub. I said if they had the ocean, a beach, and food to eat we would be good. And we were. The water was cooler there than in the Virgins but not anything like cold.
Grand Turk and Caicos is mostly a flat set of atolls where the coral built up low-lying islands.