If you’ve ever seen pictures or footage of St. Lucia (or if you watched the last season of The Bachelor), chances are you’ve seen the Piton Mountains. They consist of two distinct volcanic peaks in the southwest corner of the island. They’re a World Heritage Site and a symbol of St. Lucia. In a word, they’re gorgeous.
The local Piton beer (which is very tasty…I liken it to Corona, but more refreshing and with no need for a lime slice…perfect for a hot day) is named after the two peaks, the taller of which is called the Gros Piton and the smaller of which is called the Petit Piton. Based on the picture below, can you guess which is which?
If you guessed the one on the right is the Gros Piton, you’re wrong! A close look at the label on the Piton beer will tell you what the locals call the mountains…the Mystic Mountains. They call them this because of the phenomenon that is displayed in the above photo; every new view of the Piton Mountains gives you a different perspective of them.
That may seem like an obvious statement…duh, every new view of object will give you a different perspective of it, but the the Pitons take it to a whole new level. It’s like they move, grow, and shrink.
Sometimes they look really close together, like you could jump from one to the other, and other times they look really far apart (they are really about a mile apart). Then you’ll round a corner and the one that had previously been on the right is now on the left. It’s really quite extraordinary they way they morph.
At first he looked dead, but as we watched and listened we found out that he was just basking in the sun and wasn’t hurt or anything. He was young but old enough to be out on his own. Our little visitor made the local news! Here he is.
