ISLELANDER TRAVEL-WWW.ISLELANDER.COM 2009

St. Lucia Did You Know St. Lucia has been the site for a number of Hollywood movies, including the original Doctor Doolittle, Superman II, Water with Michael Caine and Firepower with Sophia Loren.

Leatherback turtles, the largest on Earth, lay their eggs on Grand Anse beach on the northeast side of the island between March and July.

In the past 30 years, the population of the native, endangered St. Lucia parrot (Amazona versicolor), or jacquot, has tripled, from as few as 100 in 1979—when the jacquot became the island's protected national bird—to approximately 800 now living in the central mountain rain forest.

St. Lucia is a popular honeymoon destination, and some couples even choose to tie the knot on the island. Visitors must reside on the island for two days before applying for a marriage license, which will be processed within two business days. (Don't schedule your wedding to take place until the fifth day you're on the island.) Couples will need a passport, birth certificate and, if applicable, proof of divorce or the death of a former spouse.

Cap Estate, at the very northern tip of the island, is an exclusive community with palatial homes set on at least an acre/hectare each. It also has the elegant Great House restaurant, which contains the Derek Walcott Theatre. (Walcott is one of two St. Lucian Nobel Prize winners. He won the 1992 prize for literature, and Sir W. Arthur Lews won the Nobel for economics in 1979.)

The nature preserve on Maria Island, off Vieux Fort, is home to two species found nowhere else on Earth: the Kouwes snake and the Zandoli Terre lizard. The islands are closed to visitors annually April-September.

Make you next vacation a memorable one. Vacationers book with Islelander. www.islelander.com