Americans are known for having all kinds of drive-ins. Restaurants are definitively the most common, but drive-in cinemas were also quite common in the ’50s and ’60s. When we heard that there is a drive-in wedding service in Las Vegas we though this was the strangest drive-in experience there was. That was, until we visited St. Lucia.
St. Lucia is not know for very much, many people are not even aware that it is a sovereign country (which it is!).
Travelling all the way to a Caribbean island paradise with lush green forests and bumpy roads for a drive-in experience might sound odd. But St. Lucia doesn’t feature just any drive-in, it has the world’s only drive-in volcano.
This strange place is named Sulphur Springs and is located near Soufrière, about an hour’s drive from the capital, Castries. Despite the time it takes to drive here the distance is just 40 km, but the islands steep mountains and lush forest make the road very curvy. As a matter of fact it is barely 20 km as the crow flies.
While the area by no doubt is unique it should be mentioned that expectations should be managed. Volcanos are something most people associate with boiling red lava and molten rock. Sulphur Springs has, as the name suggests, sulphur. It is not red, but rather brownish grey. It also smells like rotten eggs… Although that might not sound too appealing it gives the place a very distinct feeling and quite a different experience from viewing photos of this place online. If you have ever visited sea lions in Namibia’s Skeleton Coast you know what we are talking about (luckily the smell isn’t as strong here!).
Further on, the “drive-in” label is open to interpretation. You drive into the crater, which definitively counts as driving into the volcano itself. But don’t expect to see boiling sulphur right next to the car. To get closer to the boiling areas you have to exit the vehicle and walk a couple of meters. By no doubt a short walk, but having to leave the car kind of invalidates the whole drive-in concept.
Despite this it is hard not to be fascinated by this place. As a dormant volcano it is alive with boiling sulphur, smoke and a landscape that could be from Mars. At the same time nature has reclaimed a lot of the area and the green forest is creeping down the hillsides of the crater. Sulphur Springs simply looks like a reverse oasis.
At the outskirts of the volcano it is not as hot as in the centre, enabling people to experience a natural mud bath. Diving into this pool is supposed to make you 12 years younger, something we hardly want to guarantee… Unfortunately we did not have enough time to try this, and looking like 14-15 year olds isn’t really something we want to do. But it would be fun to try the bath, so we have got come back here another time!
