EKOS Communications, Inc.

As I write this, waves slam against the sand beach just metres from my hotel room in the wake of a tropical storm that passed over Barbados on its way towards St. Lucia, where I was just the day before. I’m in the Caribbean to hold meetings related to the contract that EKOS won from the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States to re-vamp high school curriculum to include biodiversity themes.

I had hoped to see some of the biodiversity of the islands, but the rainy season has arrived with gusto, making the conditions outside challenging for either birdwatching or photography. Still, while on St. Lucia, before the meetings with the OECS, I managed to squeeze in a short drive down the coast from Castries to Soufriere, a distance of 26kms one-way. I didn’t do the driving. Too intimidating to do so, what with driving from the opposite side of the vehicle and road along with very narrow roads kinked by frequent hairpin curves.

Probably the most picturesque place was Canaries - a tiny village dependent on fishing. Unfortunately the taxi driver cum guide was unable to tell me what kind of fish they caught or anything about the state of the fishery. In fact, it turned out that he wasn’t all that knowledgeable about anything, except where I could sample the best locally made spiced rum or chocolate kassava.

Before turning around for the trip back to Castries, I managed to fire off a couple shots of the Pitons - ancient volcanic cones. Apparently, they can be climbed, but regretably, time was not on my side. Nor was it for an adventure I’ve always wanted to do - a zipline through the forest canopy. Oh well, perhaps while I’m in Jamaica next week where I plan to visit the Blue Mountains National Park.