Day 6:
We’re keeping it simple today with a short DIY activity at Trouya Beach. We’ll be making and designing our own calabash bowl today. We reserved the time 11am for our activity and I thought I had an idea of where to meet the host Melanie on the beach but it turns out I didn’t. Finding the exact place to meet on the beach was becoming quite a task. It was 11am and we went by the directions that Google gave to get there but it led us to a villa on top of the hill by the beach. We could see the beach in the distance but we just couldn’t get there.

We ended up getting directed to the same area 3 different times and the host gave us a pin and ended up having to share a Youtube video that showed (not told) us how to get there. Well the pin didn’t help and at first the video wasn’t that helpful either. I ended up looking towards the end of the video to see the exact spot we needed to turn at to get there. It ended up being a very tight area going down that looked like a path yet didn’t look like a path for a car but believe it or not we went down and there it was, the beach and a couple other cars.

We didn’t end up getting there until about 11:45am and we weren’t sure if we’d even be able to do the activity anymore since we’d lost a lot of time already. The host was willing to see how much we could get done and we were willing to do as much as we could. The activity is normally between an hour and 2 hours long and we managed to do it in about 35-40 minutes. Calabash is considered the national fruit of St. Lucia and the inside cannot be eaten raw as it is poisonous. When the fruit inside is boiled it can be used for medicinal purposes or as a beverage. The shell material is used to make dishes and utensils and today we’re making a bowl.

The first thing we do is hand saw open the calabash which isn’t as easy as it sounds or may look. It took consistent rotational movements to hack through the outer portion. Once cut through, a knife is used to seperate the halves (which should be equal). Next, scoop out everything leaving nothing but the shell. That process was also tedius but you do as much as you can with a spoon and then you can drill the rest out. (You must also get all of what’s inside out for custom purposes). Once you are left with both halves of just the shell, now you can design.

With a small drill on the outside you can draw the design you like. My mom and I were able to finish one half of each of our bowls but the others due to time Melanie did a design for us. The end result is actually quite cute and I can’t wait to see what I’m going to use the bowls for. We thanked her and briefly hung out at the beach (which wasn’t crowded only about 10 people there) before leaving. My mom’s phone still wasn’t working so we drove around to a few repair shops but couldn’t even find them. We’ve come to the conclusion that her screen probably just needs to be replaced (it stays black) but it does reboot because we can hear it. Since she’s due for an upgrade she’s just going to try to wait until she gets home to get a new phone.

Feeling exhausted from the driving around we went over by the mall to grab some food from a nearby restaurant for dinner. The mall is closed on Sunday and many food spots nearby were also closed but a few were open as well. We found a Jamaican place and ordered our food to go. We went to the grocery store near where we parked and picked up a few drinks. Back at the house we had lunch which was leftovers from dinner the night before and watched Youtube while we washed clothes. Dinnertime came and it was good and just enough (fried red snapper, mac and cheese, plantain and salad). After a bit more Youtube we called it a night. We have one more day here in St. Lucia.

Day 7:
Since we didn’t end up going to Castries Market during our city tour on Saturday, my mom and I decided we would go today. Castries Market is a big street market here in St. Lucia and we wanted to get some souvenirs to take back with us for other people. There was no need to rush so we slept in a bit and when we were ready ventured over to Castries which was just a short ride away.

On our way there we stopped at the Folk Research Center to grab a book about the history of St. Lucia. Before hitting up Castries Market we then had to go to the ATM to get our last bit of cash that we wanted to use here (because they only take cash at the market). Thankfully, right across the market was a bank which made it an easy process. We took a walk around Castries Market and the different stalls amongst the vendors. We stopped at a few different ones but today was a hot one and after about 40 minutes of walking around I began feeling heat exhaustion. I began going slower and slower and just couldn’t completely focus. My mom was feeling it too so we decided to wrap it up.

We grabbed some food to go from one of the restaurants there to have for dinner tonight and then we headed back in. My mom took a nap and I lounged around and began my last write-up to cover yesterday and today. We leave tomorrow afternoon but we’ll be leaving the Airbnb about 2 hours early because I’ll need to drive to the airport and drop the rental car off (the airport isn’t 2 hours away but because I drive slower than the average driver here due to the roads I need the extra time). We have enjoyed our time here but we are ready to go home. And for once can you believe I have no trip planned after this? I have no idea the next place I’ll go for the first time in a long time, but wherever it is you’ll know I got it at a deal.

Castries Market