St. Lucia 2015: The Bay Through My Mother's Eyes

Every summer, Mom and I head off to sweet St. Lucia. It is our annual girls’ getaway, a time to simply relax and have some down time together, and it is one of the things I look forward to most all year. In July 2015, I took my recorder along and kept a voice diary of our days by the sea.

What I recorded that summer is very simple, and to me it is very precious. Almost every day, sometimes in the morning and sometimes at night, I asked Mom the same question: “What do you see outside?” And Mom told me.

My Vision of St. Lucia

I have very little vision, so I build my picture of St. Lucia from a recipe of smells, sounds, feel and touch. I imagine a sea of jade green, golden brown sand, lazy white-capped waves and skies that are almost always a medium blue. I smell the sweet fragrance of the ocean, the fresh sea breeze and the wafting aromas of St. Lucian cooking. My picture may not exactly match what this tiny island really looks like, but I hope that it is close enough to give you a picture.

What Mom Saw

On the morning of July 15, at seven o’clock, I asked Mom what was out in the sea. “The bay and the boats,” she told me. When I asked what colour they were, she said they were white and green, and that there were many yachts out in the bay. Not one person was walking on the beach. The sea was calm, she said, and the tide was low. “Think they call it ebb tide.”

That became our little ritual. Mom and I followed the tide together, day by day, as it ebbed and fell, then rose and came in again. Some mornings there were people at the beach and swimmers in the water, and lots of people chatting. Other times, there was not a soul there.

At night, Mom told me about the boats anchored out in the bay. She could not see the boats themselves in the dark, only their lights. On the night of July 21, after dinner, she told me that the palm trees were moving, moving in the wind, and that it was very dark.

On the night of July 20, Mom told me what she could see right in front of our bedroom door. “It is so lovely,” she said. “Always in front here. The boats, the garden.” And then she laughed.

Mom takes her time to describe things to me: the dogs strolling along the sand, the boats and their colours, what the people on board are doing, the sea itself, the swimmers, the birds, the trees and the skies. I can practically sit there and have it all come into my mind.

What I Heard

Of course, I added my own observations too, because my ears are always working. On July 14, I heard people laughing and walking on the beach, but no birds as yet. On the night of July 16, I noticed that not a single cricket was making any noise, and I felt a stiff breeze after a morning of lots of rain.

The next morning I thought I could hear a boat, but it turned out to be a plane. Then a puppy started barking. On another day, I heard a dog barking on the beach, and one night, just after dinner, I could smell someone smoking. On the morning of July 22, I thought I heard a child, and Mom told me that people surf a lot on this beach when the waves are up. And then, there were the birds.

On the night of July 21, it was quiet, and Mom said there was nobody around. St. Lucia’s Carnival was over for another year.

A Delightful Surprise in a Pharmacy

One of my happiest discoveries that summer happened in a pharmacy. Just imagine my surprise when I found that some of the products on the shelf had Braille labels on their boxes! It was just one line of Braille, the name of the product, but it was enough for me to light up with glee. Then a closer look at the other boxes showed me that several others had Braille on their fronts too. I did not expect to find this in this particular neck of the woods, and to me it was a real start.

Why St. Lucia Feels So Accessible

In my humble opinion, St. Lucia is one of the most accessible islands for a person with a vision impairment, and it is the people who make it so. At our meals, which were always buffet style, Mom was my main helper, but the staff grew so used to us that they would automatically help us out. They chatted and laughed with us, brought us whatever we wanted and knew exactly how to help me as a blind person.

Mornings and evenings on our balcony were so relaxing and so memorable: the sound of the waves breaking gently on the sandy shore, the birds singing and the crickets chirping.

Looking Back

I always look forward to these moments with Mom.

My podcast, Curb to Cabin Canada, is about what actually happens to blind and low-vision passengers when they fly, and each episode follows one part of the air travel journey, from the curb outside the terminal to the seat in the cabin.

Mom and I went back to St. Lucia the very next summer. Come along with me!

Previous trip: England 2014

Next trip: St. Lucia 2016

All of my trips: Travel Diaries

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA
Global Leader In Disability Rights, Digital Accessibility, And Inclusive Policy Reform
Turning policy into progress for people with disabilities.