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We are very excited about our incentive trip to St. Lucia, West Indies and hope you are
beginning to catch some of our excitement.
The island of St. Lucia is situated between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea,
north of Trinidad and Tobago. Part of the Windward Island chain, it lies between the
French overseas departments of Martinique and St. Vincent. Its total area is 239 square
miles, approximately 3.5 times the size of Washington, D.C. Its coastline measures 98
miles, and its capital and main town, Castries, lies in a sheltered bay of the island’s
northwest coast.
St. Lucia’s population was estimated at 180,000 in 2010. Approximately half of the
population lives in or near the capital of Castries. The other important centers of
population are Vieux Fort in the South and Soufriere on the southwest coast. Otherwise,
the population is scattered in small towns and villages, mostly near the flatter coastal
regions.
More than 90 percent of the population is of African descent, a legacy of the island’s
past as a plantation economy. African slaves were brought to St. Lucia by Europeans
(mostly the French) to work on the plantations. English is the official language, but
there are strong French influences because the island was colonized by France for much
of the 17th and 18th centuries. Many St. Lucians speak a French Creole.
St. Lucia possesses some of the finest natural harbors in the Caribbean and is centrally
located within easy reach of the rest of the region and North America. As a result of this
strategic location, the French and British fought endlessly for possession of the island.
St. Lucia changed hands 14 times between the two colonial powers. A tug-of-war that
inspired one British historian to give St. Lucia the sobriquet “Helen of the West Indies”
comparing the island to Helen of Troy.
Circle the date: November 30 – December 6, 2013 and make plans to join us as we
explore all this beautiful island has to offer.