St. Lucia (MAR 17)

We approached the island of St. Lucia from the west, so the rising sun precluded a good view/picture of the Pitons at the south end of the island.

Pam & I tried to spot where we had stayed (Marigot Bay) at the St. Lucian Hotel about 20 years ago, but could not pick it out.  We later determined we had been looking too far north.  And later still, we learned that both hotels had moved to another part of the island.

When we were last here, Castries had no capacity for cruise ships. Already in port today was MEIN SHIFF 5 (last seen in Aruba).  There was capacity for her, VEENDAM and at least one other ship.

We were docked about 8:00 AM, after which the wait to go ashore began.  First there was an announcement by the Cruise Director saying there was a delay.  At 9:00 AM the Captain announced that the delay would continue for an unspecified length of time as the ship was processed by customs, immigration and health inspectors. 

Speculation among the passengers was that it had something to do with health compliance requirements.  Bingo!  At about 9:20, the Captain announced that anyone with proof of a Yellow Fever vaccination could go ashore.  People who did not have such proof must remain aboard for the time being, along with anyone who had a Yellow Fever vaccination waiver.

Pam & I each grabbed our World Health Organization yellow book containing proof that we had been vaccinated.  We rendezvoused with two friends who were going on today’s tour with us.  They had vaccination waivers.  They encouraged us to continue on without them.  Being pragmatic about the situation, we reluctantly left them behind as we disembarked.

The tour operators were all feeling the pressure of their customers at best being late getting ashore.  We were quickly herded into our group, then led to vans that whisked us away from the pier.

Today’s tour was to the Treetop Adventure Park to go ziplining.  I had never done it.  I knew my back would make me pay some heavy dues, but I went with the tried and true  carpe diem rationale. 

We were driven to a base station where we met our guide Kennedy.  He projected himself as a laid back, happy-go-lucky character, but beneath that persona was a true professional.  He had an extensive knowledge of the rain forest and the island.  Without being overbearing, he never missed a beat on maintaining safety standards.  From the get-go, we knew we were going to have fun with him.

We were fitted into a harness and helmet.  Note the jaunty angle of my helmet.  Alas, this was not machismo; the hat I had underneath it had slipped.  However, I was wearing the hat backwards, so in some circles I might be regarded as having a certain hip factor.

The white protruding from Pam’s helmet was not gray hairs, but the hairnet required for those who did not have a hat. My observation that today her hair would really have a case of helmet-head was not well received.

We hiked up a path a short distance, thinking we were going to the gondola.  Instead, we went to the ‘bunny slope’ zipline.  Here we had a safety briefing and instructions on what to do.  Everyone in our group then successfully completed their trial run while being photographed; pictures available for purchase at the gift shop.

Now that we were no longer zipline virgins, we swaggered up the hill again, this time boarding a gondola car for the trip up the mountain.

While ascending, Kennedy talked to us about the rainforest through which we were traveling.  Most of the time we were at the understory level with the forest floor (and water?) levels below us and the canopy and emergent layer levels above us. 

We disembarked the gondola at the top of the ascent, then started walking down a fairly steep trail.  

Eventually we got to the first station. From there, it was a-w-a-a-a-y we go!

Kennedy's sidekick - Donny

Look at that form, that technique - perfection!

Someone is having fun!

Eight stations later, we started back up the trail.  Why is that every time we hiked somewhere on this trip, it started downhill, condemning us to a climb out on the return leg?  Ugh!  In this case the climb out was even longer than the hike in because we had descended further on the ziplines.

Back at the upper gondola station, we boarded a car for the trip down, this time rising above the emergent layer, then descending through the canopy and understory. Unfortunately, for most of the descent the sun and haze defied my photographic skill.

At the base station, we got out of our gear.  We had a complimentary non-alcoholic fruit drink, of course obtained by passing through the gift stop.  We boarded the bus for the return ride to the ship.

We got back to the pier less than an hour before 'all aboard' time.  Pam & I wandered around shopping village, then boarded VEENDAM.  The ship departed on schedule at 4:00. 

Looking back at Castries, we saw quite a rainbow.  I was not quick enough with my camera to get the double rainbow that had a mirror-image color sequence.

- - - - -

As for the rest of the story, upon returning to the ship, we learned that passengers who did not have proof of a Yellow Fever vaccination had to remain aboard the ship all day.  This included passengers with waivers. 

As the ship prepared to depart at 4:00 PM, the Captain updated everyone on what had transpired. 

He said that officials in St. Lucia had decided that since VEENDAM had been in Brazil and there had been an out an outbreak of Yellow Fever in Brazil, anyone not vaccinated must be quarantined.  He stated that this was a policy unknown to the ship or to corporate headquarters.  It was Holland America Line’s position that the policy was in violation of World Health Organization protocols.

Being me, I did some research online.  I found the World Health Organization’s INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AND HEALTH, ANNEX 1 – UPDATE – AS OF 16 FEBRUARY 2017  - Countries with risk of yellow fever transmission and  countries requiring yellow fever vaccination.  To my layman’s eye, it appeared that Brazil was a country “with risk of yellow fever transmission” and St. Lucia was a country “requiring yellow fever vaccination”. 

While this document seems damning and has no doubt been latched onto by some conspiracy theorists aboard - and we've got a bunch of them - there is reason to question it as definitive.  On the same notice, immediately under St. Lucia is St. Martin, our next port of call.  It too has “YES” under vaccination requirement, but the Captain concluded his remarks by assuring us that it would not be an issue in St. Martin. Moreover, the United States and Canada do not even appear on this WHO list.  I conclude that those who would challenge what the Captain told us about the situation in St. Lucia are will need more facts (and no, hearsay is not of itself fact) to support their theories. 

Regardless, there are a number of unvaccinated passengers aboard who are unhappy along with, thankfully, a number of philosophical ones.  Many of the former have added St. Lucia to a laundry list of complaints about what Pam & I have found to be an enjoyable cruise.  We invest time and effort avoiding these people.

Presuming it is ‘all ashore’ in St. Martin, VEENDAM will not be the stuff of a bad, made-for-TV movie; a plague ship shunned by every port as governments make dark decisions about how to end the threat we pose to humanity. Here’s hoping.