London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 31, 2025

Sa Ca Fete: Welcome to St Lucia

Sa Ca Fete: Welcome to St Lucia

The Caribbean region is overtly blessed with a wide variety of; peoples, languages, cultures, and islands.

Some small islands such as Saba and St Eustatius have populations of less than 2,000 persons whilst other big islands, such as Jamaica and Puerto Rico, have populations exceeding 3 million persons.

Caribbean Geography 101


For clarity, the Caribbean has four main sub-regions.

The Lucayan Archipelago, The Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles, and the Southern Caribbean.

The Lucayan Archipelago consists of the Bahamian Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The Greater Antilles consists mainly of the larger islands; Cayman Islands, Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic), Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and both the British and United States Virgin Islands.

The Lesser Antilles is actually split into another Sub-region.

The Leeward Islands, which consists of; Anguilla, Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, Nevis Saba, St Barts, St Eustatius, St Maarten/St Martin, and St Kitts.

Also, the Windward Islands, which consist of; Barbados, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent, and the Grenadines.

The Southern Caribbean consists of; Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Margarita Island, Trinidad, and Tobago.

Sa Ca Fete


In late August, I had the opportunity to travel to two of the Windward Islands, Dominica, and St Lucia, in order to attend a United Nations meeting.

My first stop would be a direct four-hour flight from Kennedy Airport in New York to St Lucia.

Incidentally, St Lucia has two airports, Vieux Fort in the South, which handles international and regional flights, and the George F.L. Charles Airport in the North, which handles regional flights only.

Upon arrival, all visitors must present the following: travel authorisation forms, vaccination cards if immunised, and then fill out a form with general and some health-related questions.

If one is immunised, they are given a white wristband indicating that they can roam freely around the island.

Oddly, there is no requirement for tests upon arrival or during your stay.

Now, a bit about St Lucia itself.

Total size: 238 Square Miles

Population: 185,000

Languages spoken: English, Creole, and French

Economy: Tourism and Agriculture

GDP 2.5 Billion

Currency: East Caribbean (EC) Dollar $1US: $2.68 EC

Tourism is their leading economy, with over one million visitors in 2019, prior to Covid-19. These visitors helped them to generate nearly 1 billion dollars in foreign income.

Thousands of Lucians are employed in the hospitality industry, ranging from taxi drivers, hotel staff, tour guides, and small to large hotel owners.

St Lucia is essentially a very lush rural country, with pockets of settlements spread around its coastal regions. With Agriculture as their traditional economy, one can find all sorts of fresh organic foods selling on the roadsides and markets.

Goodies such as; bananas, plantain, watermelon, mangoes, coconuts, yam, cassava, carrots, honey, peppers, vanilla, and cashews, to name a few, are easy to find and relatively inexpensive to purchase.

All of this fresh food means the cooking is quite simply, heavenly.

The survivors


Without a doubt, their greater product is their people.

St Lucia is but one of the islands that historically was fought over between the French and the English, from the 1600s-1800s, when the French ceded the island to the English

As a result of the French influence, the descendants of the enslaved Africans speak several languages, with a distinct French dialect.

Creole French, or Patwa, is the language created by the then enslaved Africans. They mixed French and African words, in order to hide things from the ears of their oppressors. Creole was very commonly spoken up until the 1970s, when many parents chose to only taught their children English.

As of late, many are now teaching their children this language, as well as structured classes in government schools.

Our tour guides, teaching us Creole words, took us around St Lucia to visit; historical sites, local beaches, cassava factories, chocolate factories using local cocoa, the sulphur springs where one can take a bath in mineral waters, and tours of the historic capital Castries.

If one wants to mix with locals, there is the weekly outdoor festival in Gros Islet.

To say that St Lucians are friendly will be an understatement. It is no surprise their tourism product is in high demand.

St Lucia is essentially a very lush rural country, with pockets of settlements spread around its coastal regions. With Agriculture as their traditional economy, one can find all sorts of fresh organic foods selling on the roadsides and markets.

The Sulphur Springs in St Lucia where one can take a bath in mineral water.

The Windward Islands consists of Barbados, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent, and the Grenadines.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
×