Sunshine in St Lucia, 1960s

[Music] The early morning sunshine of the Caribbean softly touches the Petons, the famous twin peaks. of volcanic lava that rise she sure from the sea coast of St. Lucia an island of beauty and contrast that has inspired travelers for centuries moving one to call her St. Lucia fair Helen of the West Indians as the sun rises higher over St. Lucia's 150 enchanting miles of coastline. Sea and sky turn to Caribbean blue and the numerous beaches to white and gold. Some are deserted, palm fringed. Some conceal hotels with gardens that reach to the water's edge, where guests can enjoy the best of both worlds. All that a modern hotel can offer in the delightful surroundings that can only be created where the temperature remains between 70 and 85° the whole year round. [Music] This is February in St. Lucia. It could just as easily be June. How different from the February left behind in Chicago, Toronto, or London. And how much better in the summer than the stifling heat of New York. Yet from St. Lucia's VG airport, nowhere is really far away. International airlines link St. Lucia not only with the numerous other Windwood and Leewood islands, but with the main continents as well. Visitors landing from so many countries feel at home at once in an island that was seven times French and seven times English, that has taken the best from both countries and added a special character of its own. [Music] Viji airport is but two miles from the port of Cis St. Lucia's modern spacious capital. [Music] Castric with a population of 30,000 and its thriving commercial center is always colorful and always full of life, but especially so at carnival time. [Music] [Music] The keyside at Castric is always busy with the welcome given to visitors from the numerous cruise ships. ships that call so frequently as well as with commerce. For who can resist some special souvenir of a special place? Perhaps something made on the island for handiccrafts and home industries are an important part of St. Lucian life. [Music] And who can fail to enjoy the welcome or send off provided by one of the steel bands that are so very much part of the Caribbean scene. [Music] Whether your visit to St. Lucia is a day, a month, or forever, nothing on the island is beyond your reach. Just 27 mi long, St. Lucia is full of surprises, and you can drive to places like Grand Ants with its marvelous beach. A wonderful place for a picnic or a plunge in the surf. Around this splendid site, there will soon grow a residential and holiday estate with golf course, swimming pool, hotels, and 800 individual homes. There are similar projects for other parts of the island where people are staking their claims and investing for the future. For a complete contrast, you can drive right into St. Lucia's own volcano, where the very ground you walk on is hot to the touch, and steam issues from a thousand cracks and fissures. [Music] All around, boiling cauldrons spit and bubble, disappearing periodically, only to be spontaneously replaced by others. Visitors can benefit from the constant supply of natural, health-giving water that is tapped for the nearby sulfur bars. [Music] But most of St. Lucia's mountains and valleys are covered with luxurian folage and plantations of coconuts and cocoa, coffee and nutmeg, and many kinds of fruit, all enriched by the climate and by the most modern methods. And above all, there is the banana. In the deep shade of the banana plantations, the stems cut represent three-fifths of the total production of the Windwood Islands. 5 million stems a year go to Britain alone with a target of 10 million in sight. [Music] protectively wrapped for their journey to harsher climates. The bananas are carried to the keyside, creating that same scene of colorful activity that inspired the banana boat song as the taliman spreads his tallies for eager hands. Banana come. [Music] Some produce stays at home for sale perhaps in the market held daily in Castric. Saturday morning is the busiest time when people come into Castric from outlying districts to buy and sell almost everything you can think of. From a chicken to a chair. [Music] All this is part of St. Lucia. the color and bustle of the market contrasting with the quiet of Castric's yacht marinas. Lying between the big ships and the airport, they have every facility for yachts and for the yachtsmen attracted by the many delightful bays and the natural harbors that St. Lucia has to offer. Yachts of every kind, privately owned and for charter, abound in St. Lucia. [Music] Perhaps the most famous and the most beautiful of yacht havens is at Margo Bay. It was here that Admiral Rodney hid a small flatilla of British ships from the French fleet by tying palm frrons to their mast heads to blend with the trees that even today screen the harbor from the sea. Today, holiday makers water ski where men of war once lay at anchor. [Music] [Applause] The launches that now set out from the jetty chase not enemy fleets, but the shores of fish that abound in these Caribbean waters of Migo Bay have so much to enjoy. Whether you prefer to ski or sail or just relax in the sun and conditions are ideal for swimming in sea or pool [Music] all around the coast of St. Lucia, there are villages where the fishermen beach their boats as they have for generations. Close to the village of Grole lies Pigeon Island where Admiral Rodney established his lookout towards Martineik before finally sailing to victory over the French. Today, the cricketers of the future play on the beaches where the French and English once fought. Now all the boats are strictly for fishing or for pleasure. Perhaps setting out from the beach of a nearby hotel. Does it matter if you're not an expert sailor when the temperature of the water never drops below 70°? And anyway, there are always the pleasures of the beach and the hotel service waiting back on shore. [Music] St. Lucia's most modern hotels are built on the finest beaches and in delightful surroundings that match the luxury and comfort they provide for the discerning traveler. Whenever you like, you can build up that golden tan in the Caribbean sun, or you can choose the cool shade of the palm trees. There's always plenty to do on St. Lucia, and yet it's a marvelous place in which to do nothing at all. [Music] St. Lucia is an island with a fascinating past, a fascinating present, and an even more fascinating future. Your visit may pass all too soon, but you will want to come back. Perhaps next time for good. [Music]