On arrival at Soufriere we were directed to a mooring by one of the local 'boat boys' but after mooring up we realised we were on a private mooring that put us far to close to another boat and to the town shore (and therefore a rather easy target for any would be wrong doers). The owner was a rather surly chap too. We therefore moved to an official mooring much further away from the town near the foot of the Petit Piton. The long dinghy haul into town was more than compensated by our now beautiful and clean surroundings...
The following morning I took the dinghy in to town to check in with the Customs and Immigration authorities and took a look around and picked up a few provisions...
In the afternoon we joined our friends Johannes and Olena whom we had met back in Charlotteville for a walk up to one of the islands waterfalls...
We weren't expecting the water to be hot, but it was heated by the thermal activity of the nearby volcano!
Later that evening we were invited for dinner by Johannes and Olena on board their boat Lea and had a most enjoyable time.
The next morning we teamed up with them again for a short guided tour by car around some of the local tourist spots: the (now non-active) volcano (where stupidly I left my phone in the car), a view point and the botanical gardens containing beautiful tropical plants and hummingbirds. Unfortunately the latter are so small and fast that capturing them with my phone camera proved impossible.
Soufriere from the view point with Petit Piton (nearer the camera) and Grand Piton in the background.
The morning ended on a slightly sour note when our guide took exception to our request to vary our itinerary a little. His attitude felt all too typical of the outlook of many locals in this very tourist centric town and compared poorly with that of the lovely people we had met in Tobago.
Later however, we had lunch in a local restaurant on the outskirts of town away from the tourist hawks, where in addition to a basic but excellent value meal, could not have been treated better.
In the early evening Johannes and Olena joined us on board Bonny for 'sundowners' with the Petit Piton providing a stunning backdrop to a gorgeous sunset.
The following afternoon we all piled into Bonny's dinghy and went snorkeling around the base of the Petit Piton just a few hundred metres from where we were moored. This was probably the best snorkeling I'd experienced yet, with lots of different fish and coral species in evidence. The highlight for me was spotting a very large green fat fish with large eyes some 5 metres or so below me on the rocky bottom. 'He' was clearly keeping just as close an eye on me as I was on him! I was rather glad not to be too close.
Somewhat surprisingly after about 30 minutes, I began to feel cold and so was the first to return to the dinghy. Bad timing on my part because no sooner was I out of the water than clouds gathered and the wind got up and in no time I was shivering violently - in the tropics - very odd. I warmed up once the cloud and wind passed however.
More sundowners on Bonny were followed by one of Mick's culinary delights - pasta carbonara - yum, yum. Fresh pineapple for dessert too!
The following morning Lea departed for Rodney Bay at the northern end of the island. Mick and I spent the day securing our previously wonky engine (see Wonky Engine Worries).
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