Drum: EDITOR’S THOUGHTS 11
Two encores and a twenty-minute break later, our star attraction
took to the stage: “Ladies and gentlemen, will you please put
your hands together for Mr Pharaoh Saunders.” He felt a sharp
prodding in his side. “Seatbelt, seatbelt, fasten your seatbelt. It’s
gonna be a bumpy ride,” she laughed. He wanted to hit her.
“Did I tell you, me and my husband got married here ten years
ago today? It’s our tenth anniversary honeymoon thingy; I had
to tell someone.” He forced a smile but offered up no other
form of congratulations as the aeroplane began its descent.
“You’re really tired, aren’t you? You would have thought they’d
have put you up in Business Class since they can afford the Rex
Resort Hotel. Hope they’re not expecting you to be bright and
perky any time soon.” He heard himself rehearsing something
sarcastic to say but thought better of it.
TOURIST
Through the mist outside, he could see the many hills and
valleys that would give this special tropical place its character.
But was that smoke he could see billowing out from the top of
one of those two mountains below? They had stopped off
briefly in Barbados just twenty-minutes before, where his new
best friends had boarded the flight. That country had been flat
and much, much, drier. So why was there some bush fire
raging in the crater of the mountain below? No, no, no, he
must be seeing things; lack of sleep.
“Did you see that? Did you just see that down there? It’s The
Pitons; we got married down there on top of one of those live
volcanoes. Oooh, this is where I get all excited. Babes, we’re
there. We’re there! This one can sleep just about anywhere.
What’s your name again?”
Paul Boakye, Editor
[email protected]
Our team of journalists flew to St Lucia with Virgin
(www.virgin-atlatic.com) and stayed at the St Lucian
by Rex Resorts (www.rexresorts.com). For details about
this year’s Jazz Festival, visit www.stluciajazz.org.
See page 48 for more on sustainable tourism in Saint Lucia.