Old Peg-Leg Le Clerc and his cohorts were joined on the island in 1600 when the Dutch military arrived and built a bastion at Vieux Fort on the far southern tip. Europeans didn t try to actually colonize St. Lucia until a few years later, and even that was an accident. In 1605 a British ship called Olive Blossom, under the command of Captain Nicholas St. John, blew off course, and her 67 passengers came ashore to seek refuge. For some reason, the Caribs sold a parcel cedar rapids iowa airport address of land and a few huts to the English refugees, allowed them time to settle in, then turned inhospitable. Most of the new colonists were killed by their Indian hosts, and the rest were forced off the island in makeshift boats.
Cable & Wireless and Marpin Telecommunications provide the island with dial-up and DSL Internet service. If you bring a laptop, you ll need a surge suppressor to avoid damage to your computer from the island's frequent cedar rapids iowa airport address power irregularities.
Back on the Gros Islet Highway, heading north, you ll pass some unsightly commercial and industrial sites before you come to Choc Bay and its superb beach. Watch for turnoffs that lead to the water. Several beach bars and restaurants line the golden sand, and you can enjoy lunch or a snack while observing Rat Island a short distance offshore. Arawak Indians once lived on the outer island, and people with communicable diseases were banished there in the 1800s, but the place is uninhabited now. Nobel laureate Derek Walcott has set up the Rat Island Foundation to attract investors to develop the island into an artist retreat, but visitors aren t allowed, for now.
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