Start talkin' like a Looshan...

Imagine having to communicate when no one speaks your language! Especially when the dominant language changes - sometimes during your own lifetime - from French to English back to French again and again. Fourteen times depending on who was in power!

The Looshan Solooshan is Kwéyòl (Creole) - a language developed mostly from the Indigenous Peoples' language and including words from the African languages, East Indian languages, French, English and Portuguese languages

Kwéyòl words are pronounced as written.

Sometimes a Kwéyòl word combines a French preposition or an article plus a noun like the words lavi (la vie), nanj (un ange), dlo (de l’eau).
Kwéyòl has fewer vowels than French because multiple vowels in French words are often shortened to a single Kwéyòl vowel.

The sound of the vowel u in French becomes the i sound in Kwéyòl like tòti for tortue (turtle).
Also, the different sounds of r and w in French disappear in Kwéyòl like awété for arreter (to arrest) or fwè for frère.

Want to understand Looshan? Wespe! (Respect!) Here's a few phrases to start talkin' like a Looshan...

Kwéyòl: Bozu Bon jou

French: Bonjour

English: Good Morning

Kwéyòl: Boswé Bonswe

French: Bon Soir

English: Good Evening

Kwéyòl: Kommau ou ye? Sa'w fe?

French: Comment ca va? Ca va?

English: How are you?
Kwéyòl: Mwen byen

French: Je suis bien

English: I am fine

Kwéyòl: Wi

French: Oui

English: Yes

Kwéyòl: No

French: Non

English: No

Kwéyòl: Su plé

S'il vous plait
English: Please

Kwéyòl:  Mési boku
Merci beaucoup
English: Thank you very much

Kwéyòl: Padon Mwe
Pardon-moi
English: Excuse Me
Kwéyòl: Ki lé i yé?

Quelle heure est-il? Quelle heure il-est?
English: What time is it?

Kwéyòl: Sa ca fete

Q'uest-ce que fait?
What is happening?
Kwéyòl: Vini!

Venez!

Come!

Kwéyòl: Alé

Aller

Go

Kwéyòl: Ki kote au ca aller

De quel coté aller?
Where are you going?
Kwéyòl: Koté mwe?

De quel coté suis-je?
Where am I?
Kwéyòl: Ki bél péi!

Quelle bel pays!
What a lovely country!
Kwéyòl: Mwe vlé o bwé.

French: Moi veut a boire. (Je veut a boire.)
English: I want a drink.
Kwéyòl: Wum
French: Rhum
English: Rum
Kwéyòl: Mwen pa konnèt sa
French: Je ne connais pas ca
English: I don't know this
Kwéyòl: Pwéso Poisson Fish

Kwéyòl: Bef Boeuf Beef

Kwéyòl: Pul Poule (Poulet) Chicken
Kwéyòl: Sa bon
French: C'est bon
English: That's good
Kwéyòl: Listwa

French: L'histoire

English: The story
Want a smile from a stranger... here's some common Looshan proverbes

Kwéyòl: Jou ka ouvè pou tout moun

French: Le jour ouvre pour tout le monde

English: The day breaks for everyone

Don't take offense but...

Leave your shoes at the door before entering someone's home. Looshans sweep their house and entry often (usually with a tightly bound grass or branch broom).

Calling people by their skin color or the many shades of brown such as "red" "yellow" "black" or "white" man/woman is politically-correct Looshan.

Queen's Chain and the Pitons World Heritage Site

Zion Lion Farm lies between the Queen's Chain (beach) and The Pitons World Heritage Site (mountains). 

Looshan Food & Drink

Pineapples - sweet & juicy to the core (it's the sandy volcanic soil)

Five Fingers - star-shape, sweet when yellow/orange

Soursops - sweet creamy & smooth

Mangos - julie, colibri, palwee, long, woz (rose), tin kwem (cream), Tommy Atkins, graham, bombay, austin

Lucian Ackee - small, round & green fruit, pops in your mouth like a sourball, only sweet, juicy & chewy

Jamaican Ackee - large, red & opens up when ripe, sautee with garlic, onions, tomatoes, sweet & seasoning peppers

Yellow Plantains (ripe) - fire-roast to caramelize

Guava Jam - boil down with sugar, cinnamon stick & whole cloves into a solid mass, slice and put on a casava pone for breakfast

Tamarind Balls - tart tamarind flesh rolled with brown sugar into a Sweet-Sour Ball

Casava Pone - farine (casava), coconut milk & salt, slow-baked on banana leaf in cast iron pan over hot coals

Bakes - Looshan doughnuts: flour, farine (casava), yeast, sugar, salt, coconut milk - roast baked or fried in coconut oil.

Cashews - juicy fruit, watch a local fire-roast the nuts for a unique experience

Avocado - split & filled with coconut oil, lime S&P

Green Mango Salad - sliced green mango, seasoning peppers, coconut oil, lime juice

Sweet Potatoes (patates) steamed in coconut milk

Tannia - small root vegetable (ground provision) purple flesh, steamed or boiled

Yams - large root vegetable (ground provision), steamed or boiled

Cassava Fries - Green Plantain (green fig) Fries - Breadfruit Fries 

Breadfruit - baked-in-da-fyah & dropped into the sea to wash off the burnt skin - has a cake-like texture & slightly salty tasteDasheen - large root vegetable (yellow flesh), boil & mash with coconut milk

Callaloo Soup - elephant ear-shaped green leaf of the dasheen root (ground provision), must be cooked! steamed or boiled in soup

Vegetable Bouillion - simmer whatever vegetables you have in the pot with peas, rice & coconut milk

Seafood - steamed/fried/baked - yellow fin tuna,  king fish, trigger fish, marlin, butter fish, mahi mahi, red snapper with garlic & lime 

Fish Broths - saute fish, simmer with garlic, scallions, seasoning peppers & pumpkin in coconut milk

Accra - saltfish & seasoning cake fried in coconut oil

Roti - chickpea flour wrap filled with curried patate

Cristophene - raw in salad, cooked in a gratin with nutmeg & coconut milk

Dahl - yellow pea-filled pastry fried in coconut oil

Green Fig Salad - boiled green plantain, saltfish, scallions, seasoning peppers, coconut oil, lime juice

Hot Pepper Sauce

Green seasoning Sauce

Banana Ketchup

Jelly Coconut (green) Water - quenches thirst, isotonic, replenishes electrolytes, sterile water to clean wounds 

Tropical Fruit Juice - green mango, passionfruit, lime, five finger, tamarind, 

Cocoa Tea - 100% cocoa stick grated in water, cinnamon, cloves, lime peel (thin), coconut milk, sugar

Bush Teas - cinnamon, bois d'inde, tropical basil, lemon grass, lime leaf... 

Maube Tea - made from the bark of the mauby tree & whole spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves)

Spice - Denro's (double strength white rum 80%) infused with whole spices  (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, bois d'inde, bois bande...) has a very red color

Planter's or Peanut Rum Punch - rum, sugar, peanuts, coconut milk

C a s t A w a y T o u r

We offer a full-day total immersion C a s t A w a y  Tour, unique in the Caribbean, on St. Lucia's most beautiful unspoiled beach at Anse L'Ivrogne (pronounced Sévoigne in Kwéyòl), located within The Pitons World Heritage Site on the SW slope of the Gros Piton.

At Sévoigne every day is different depending on Jah plan.

The only constants are your round-trip transport, delicious food & beverages and enjoying yourselves.

Our full-day total immersion C a s t A w a y  Tour is by reservation only to insure that our guests have a high-quality experience in a remote wilderness area of St. Lucia.

Nah rushin'on da beach!

We operate on your schedule... feel free to do as much (or as little) as you want.

You decide how you spend your day

(no large groups, no wasted time repeatedly herding in/out of vans,

lost hours spent in transit or tour cut short/eliminated because of time constraints).

In Sevoigne you feast peacefully in the shade of a traditional grass roof shelter (not a box lunch in the sun).

The day before your visit we call in our crew, make preparations, harvest fruits & vegetables and pack-in supplies on an as-needed basis.

Please keep in mind, all funds support St. Lucia's only sustainable development project directly benefitting the Carib community of La Pointe (Choiseul).

For more information, please check out...

 TripAdvisor traveler reviews for Zion Lion Farm (Soufrière->Things To Do), and my/Congomon's TA posts

Plan on spending the entire day in this remote tropical sanctuary

- you still won't have enough time to do everything ...

Snorkel/swim over the wild UN Heritage Site Marine Reserve reefs, help local fishermen pull in their nets, visit local artisans at Lio's Pottery Studio or the Khuss-Khuss grass-crafter (+USD 10/per person),  mix up medicinal plant shampoos & herbal body scrubs on the Bush Doctor's Walkabout to the Rainforest Mineral Springs, tour the tropical organic Zion Lion Farm and harvest a wide variety of organic fruits & vegetables for your lunch, tour the 18th century Ruins (sugar/rum/irrigation), learn how-to make gourmet charcoals, see how cassava is processed into gluten-free “farine”, relax in a hammock or on a hand-woven grass lounger under our grass-roof shelter, participate in a Carib Cuisine demonstration in our open-air "kitchen" and then enjoy St. Lucia's only organic Farm-To-Table Carib Beach BBQ Feast & sooo much more... 

Reserve your day.

The day you reserve is for you & yours, alone.

There are no other tourists sharing your space or memories.

COSTS

USD 190/per person from Jalousie Resort/Tides Sugar Beach

USD 200/per person from Soufriere

USD 210/per person from Anse Chastenet/Jade Mountain

USD 230/per person from Canaries/Ti Kaye (Anse Cochon)

USD 250/per person from Anse La Raye/Marigot Bay

(infants up to 6 yo free, children 7-12 yo 1/2 price)

INCLUDES The Pitons World Heritage Coast Tour in our water taxi Tribute To The Lion (round-trip),

Carib Beach BBQ Feast and Activities...

SAMPLE ITINERARY

9:00 DEPART by water taxi Tribute To The Lion on the The Pitons World Heritage Coast Tour

headed to Anse L’Ivrogne/Sévoigne.

9:15-30 ARRIVAL in Anse L’Ivrogne/Sévoigne

A light refreshment awaits (Jelly Coconut water or fresh fruit)
on the beach at Paul's Coal Pot

9:45 - 11:30 Zion Lion Farm Tour & Carib Cuisine demonstration

in our open-air "kitchen" on the beach
12:00 - 1:00 Carib Beach BBQ Feast on the beach at Paul's Coal Pot.

Fresh. Local. Yummy.

See a sample menu under Paul's Coal Pot & Carib Beach BBQ Feast.

1:00 – 3:00 ACTIVITIES

4:00 DEPART Anse L’Ivrogne/Sévoigne on Tribute to the Lion water taxi on a Sunset Cruise.

Enjoy panoramic views of the majestic Pitons and the wild World Heritage Coast from the sea.

 

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES

*TRADITIONS & CULTURE TOUR USD 10/per person

Take a hike up the hill to the Carib Museum to see how we live(d) in La Pointe.

Carib, Brigand & Colonial history and legends come alive on a moderate hike

along this historic trail led by Joanne, an experienced & knowledgeable Carib guide

following 18th century sugar estate ruins along the L'Ivrogne River and
up the Old French Road to La Pointe Carib Museum

*GROS PITON HIKE USD 30/per person with official guide

*SEASIDE MASSAGE USD 100/per person/hour by special request

*HORSEBACK RIDES & SWIMMING with the horses
USD 50/per person/hour by special request

SNORKEL EQUIPMENT RENTAL USD 30/per day
KAYAK RENTAL USD 20/single per hour - or - USD 30/tandem per hour

We look forward to sharing our corner of Paradise with you!