Saint Lucia

 A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR READERS ALL OVER THE WORLD

In 1965, aboard the Royal Navy frigate HMS Eskimo, I was privileged to visit the seaport of Massawa which was then part of the country of Ethiopia (now Eritrea). Along with a Russian Kotlin Sam missile destroyer , the USS Charles H Roan and a bevy of Ethiopian war canoes we were there to celebrate the ‘passing out’ of a number of the countries officer cadets from the Dartmouth Royal Naval College, Devon. Among them was one young Midshipman grandson of

EMPEROR HAILE SALASSIE

himself who inspected the various ‘guards’ of which I was part. The Lion of Judah and Power of the Trinity is not simply a figurehead to the Rastafarian People, but to many a God and revered as such, so this manifestation was to have far reaching effect on me in later life. I seemed to have something of an affinity with the Rasta and have enjoyed much of their company throughout the world, not least in London and Panama. Today was to be yet another delight in the same direction.

Talking of direction mine today was restricted to seeing, even if briefly, one of the most endangered birds in the world, and I would need some help. Seeing these 2 Rasta Men lounging in the middle of the capital Castries I made an enquiry which sent me scurrying for the

COLLECTIVO BUS to

SOUFIERE during which time I met

SIMION who turned out to be my guardian angel.

Not able to find me either a taxi or a guide, he directed me to the nearest bar to discus the next tactic over a couple of

Spiced Rums. After the board meeting we headed for the sea front where we met up with some of his Rasta pals 

who suggested, after buying me yet another beer,that the chances of my plight would be better from

but only after they had delivered some groceries and then headed for home.

Allow me to introduce you to my new found pals, from left, EDGAR, CRYER, KEVAN (the camera carrier) and SIDHAN.

HOME

What was the old Slave Massers house

The house is now owned by Mrs EDWARDS with splendid views

over CANERIES

and onward to the PITONS

EDGAR with ZIZI Cryer's daughter and
 
Mrs Edwards' grand daughter.

The GARDEN

and the BELL which be rung by the Masser should he see any slaves doing what they should not be.

The plan to find me transport and a guide had now paled, with Plan B being, they would take me themselves to the rain-forest.

Another of the Rasta's favourite passtimes followed and we were off.

Reaching the mountain top it was a steep, slippery and dangerous walk down hill

to the river and

On the way down (and back) we dined on COCOA BEANS

which you simply such at this time of year

GRALEFRUIT and Coconuts Yum, Yum!

Then, at last, the first bird a BROAD-WINGED HAWK

followed by TROPICAL MOCKINGINGBIRD

BELTED KINGFISHER

by which time it was raining cats and dogs but not what I wanted to see.
Then there was an almighty squawking and the lads ran into the forest and
flushed c2

SAINT LUCIA PARROTS
photo from Google.
The impossible had been achieved and we returned to the house wet through but very happy

A few more beers and a BLACK-FACED GRASSQUIT or two

before saying farewell to my new buddies.
The hand sign denotes the Power of the Trinity.

What a day, what fun, what an achievement and what company!
My thanks go to
Kevan, Edgar, Cryer and Sidhan - bless you and may your God go with you!
RESPECT!

Goodbye Barbados

The SERENE now having to cleared the harbour, complete with helicopter, to make way for the Cruise Ships. You may have money man but there's always someone with just a little more.

 At last we encounter a male

SHINY COWBIRD, blamed for the demise of the Martinique Oriole.

Just a quick visit to the Fish Market en route to catch the bus.

Great views of the Island but destination was always to be Bathsheba where I had great fun before.

Today the surf was up and as it was to be a relaxing time

I headed for this little bar beach side for a beer and a drop of local rum. There I met Robert an ex-pat American who has lived here for the past 20 years

in this little pad down the road to which he invited me.

The rim bottle wasn't empty yet as he got down to an accomplished set of Cole Porter,

while I chipped in with Led Zeppelin.

BAJAN BLACK-BELLIED SHEEP strayed unhindered into the garden

while across the road I noticed movement in the trees which turned out to be SCALY-NAPED PIGEON.

All too soon it was time to go, catching the bus back to Bridgetown.

Finally, a chance to make one amendment.

My own identity of this bird on 18/12/2012 was Soft-plumaged Petrel which it most definitely it isn't. Through the good offices of Paul Harris, Martin Cade et al we now have the correct diagnosis, as a much less common and somewhat out of its usual rage, a TRINIDADE (HERALD) PETREL which is a fabulous addition to any bird list. I thank all of those who wrote to put me right, which I always welcome

and finally I now have the identity of this one which I had no idea about. Steve Smith writes to say it is a CARIB GRACKLE while Anthony Levesque from Guadeloupe qualified this by adding that it is a 'female'. Thanks to you as well gents, it's always good to put these things to bed!