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St. Lucia at Its Finest
| Article
# : |
11907 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1987 |
1,577 Words |
| Author
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Adrianne Marcus
Adrianne Marcus has published in Food & Wine, Menus, Travel &
Leisure, Good Food, Cooking Light, and other magazines. |
"What in the world am I - middle-aged and out-of-shape - doing here on the Caribbean shores, with paraphernalia strapped on my back, attempting to fasten a swim fin onto a recalcitrant foot?" I ask myself. "This is insane," I mumble, as a wave slaps me down; the regulator gurgles appropriately in the water. I try to stand up, fail, sit back down. "Glub."
My scuba instructor, Wayne Brown, nods encouragement and slips the fin in place. Then another one to match. I am now about to enter the water correctly.
"The first thing we'll do, " Wayne motions to me, "is test what you've learned. We're going under, and we'll take the regulator out, underwater, like we did on land, and then replace it. Is that clear?
I nod obediently, too coward to admit that I am probably about to drown - but at least it's somewhere exotic. For I am in St. Lucia, which is, for me, the last unspoiled Caribbean island. I am on the southwest coast, by a town called Soufriere, where the twin peaks of Gros Piton and Petit Piton loom a half-mile in the air, rising from the clear waters.
I had come to St. Lucia to see the cocoa bean harvest, or how chocolate, my favorite flavor, grows. St. Lucia is home for Union Vale Estate, a chocolate plantation that belongs to Ed Opler, Sr., owner of the World's Finest Chocolate candy company. I hadn't counted on more than one educational experience per trip, but here I am, about to undergo yet another. "As long as you're on St. Lucia, you ought to try some of its recreational facilities. Learn about our wonderful island," someone from a tourist bureau had said. The island is noted for scuba diving, and a year-round facility at Anse Chastanet is available. It sounded so reasonable - at the time. Now it seems almost foolhardy. Who knows what lurks in the clear, Caribbean water?
My instructors know. And, for the past two hours they have conducted a resort course in scuba diving, going over all the things that can happen underwater. You learn about breathing in an element that is not yours, unless you happen to be equipped with vestigial gills. I was learning about the effects of pressure on the lungs and ears and what to do underwater. I had seen the picture of what happens to a balloon, inflated on land, as a result of water pressure. At thirty-three feet it begins to shrivel. At sixty-six, it gets even smaller and at ninety-nine, well, I didn't want to think about that. Now if only I could get the theme from "Jaws" out of my
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