After several months of research, we've decided to spend out Christmas holiday in St Lucia. It looked like the perfect location and coming back from it i ca definitely say it was the best choice. We took an early flight from Toronto on Boxing Day and got on the island around 1pm. Luckily, we had a transfer arranged (Fabian Tours) a week before so no headaches there (i strongly recommend having an airport transfer arranged not to waste any time in the airport looking for one and also the prices are pretty much the same all over the island (+/- $5 US)).
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| Petit Piton - symbol of St Lucia |
Stayed in Rodney Bay - northern part of the island - so the transfer took about 1.5 hrs. Finally got to the hotel - Village Inn and Spa (2.5 star hotel) - got through the check in process fairly quick, changed and went out exploring. I was a bit concerned about this hotel cause i have read a lot of poor reviews about the services here but overall - for us at least - it was a good deal - we got what we paid for (we got a really good deal on travelquestcaribbean.com - $ 81 US/night). The room was clean - the furniture was old and worn out, the mattress was almost new and very comfy, the safe was not working but they fixed it fairly quick so overall they tried to accommodate us as good as they could. Also we've made sure we had a room with a small fridge because the days in St Lucia cand be very very humid and cold water is a must every day.
Restaurants in Rodney Bay are way overpriced. Prices at lunch were better than dinner and more affordable. (we usually ordered whatever was special on the menu- mostly catch of the day with rice). We tried Delirium restaurant - the food was very good - the services not that great - they are so slow - it took almost an hour to get out food and as usual overpriced. We paid for a meal with fish and rice over $30US which i think is a rip off but considering the choices we've had it was the best we could do. Also we've tried Spinnakers which we found reasonably priced and the food was delicious. And also the location is priceless - especially for sunset... it's amazing. Good cocktails too - try happy hour 3-6pm buy one cocktail get the second one free... Really good deal considering the fact that cocktails are around $10 US
each. The rest of the meals we had were from the local supermarket specially breakfast. We bought local bread (it was called annie's bread - really tasty and very good - it has no preservatives in it and it doesn't last more than 2 days so eat it fast - we had to learn the hard way :)) and all sorts of cheese and meat that we usually eat in the morning.
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| Casava bread - how it is done |
Also there were pastries - nothing really worth mentioning - Casava bread which you must try - I loved the original coconut one - I think it's the best. For breakfast they also make sandwiches at the supermarket if you don't want to make a mess in the hotel room :P. For dinner they have creole chicken to go which is simply delicious. Best snacks ever are the fruits. Bananas are always in season so that is no problem getting but other fruits have to be in season to be found at the supermarket. In december-January only grapefruits and oranges were in season but let me tell you they are delicious. Another thing that is a must to try is the local cocoa tea. Is a blend of hot water, milk, spices and local cocoa. It might have a weird taste at first when it is hot but once it gets colder it gets thicker and tastes better - we bought ours from Castries local market but i am sure you can find it everywhere around the island.
Money is another issue that can be easily fixed. Everyone receives US dollars (restaurants, shops, taxis) but the exchange rate is not that great so if you want to save a little bit of money exchange the US dollars in EC (local currency) at the bank (or at the hotel's reception - the rate was the same 2.65 EC=$1 US) - at the restaurants and taxi's the rate is 2.50 EC= $1 US)
On the island we took 3 tours. The main reason we took a tour and not go on our own was that we had no time to waste on the roads. The roads in St Lucia are very narrow and steep and there are no traffic signs pointing towards tourist attractions so that would have made everything 10x slower. Also, on top of everything they drive on the left-hand side of the road (they were British colony before). So having only 6 days on the island, we've decided to go for the tours.
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| Marigot Bay from the top of the hill |
The first tour of the island was the Land and Sea Tour from the Serenity Vacations & Tours. It is a nice tour to start with cause you get to see the west coast on land and also on sea. Everything that they list on their website is done but i felt the tour was a little bit rushed. The 2 guides were very knowledgeable and answered all our questions but the amount of time we spent in different touristic locations was not enough. Marigot Bay was a disappointment - the advertising around it is unbelievable but the place is just a regular bay. The lunch was fairly poor but the location of the restaurant was amazing (photos will follow). The volcano is very interesting - especially the history behind it so it is definitely worth the drive. I've heard mud baths are awesome but again we didn't get the chance to go there. Heading down to the Soufriere port we took the boat down to Castries (the rum punch was awful on the boat - i would suggest to stick to Piton beer - it's actually pretty good ) and we had unbelievable views - the Pitons are truly remarkable. The entire west coast is very nice but the Pitons stand out the most :P
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| View on both Pitons from the sea |
The second tour we did was Kool Kayaking Tour from Jungle Reef Adventures in the Soufriere area at Anse Chastanet. Again, i felt that the tour was a little bit rushed and unorganized, but in spite of that we had a great time. The tour guide again was very knowledgeable about the sea and everything in it, the island and it's history and traditions. We went inside a cove with the kayaks which was amazing and also got very close to a bat cave (close enough to the the eyes of the bats glowing in the dark). Again the views of the pitons were breathtaking and well worth the effort. Got some amazing photos there. After 4 hours, going from Anse Chastanet to Soufriere and return, we had lunch and the headed back to Rodney Bay.
Third tour, and the best in my opinion, was the private tour that we did with Fabian Tours. We left this the last, because we wanted to include in it everything that the other tours didn't have. So we started off in the morning (7 am) with a drive to Soufriere and a hike on Gros Piton (the Petit Piton trail was closed - we've been told there are some locals that offer to guide tourists up but it is not safe so we've decided to go on the Gros Piton Trail instead). It took forever to get there and honestly i don't know how we would have done it without a local driver because there only 2 signs that point to the start point of the hike so they could have been easily missed. We got there fairly quick, paid the $30 US per person for the hike and guide and headed up on the trail looking for a good workout and most importantly awesome views.
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| View of Petit Piton |
Half was through the hike there was the first lookout point to Petit Piton and it was amazing. The weather was perfect for hiking cause it was cloudy and it wasn't very hot.Finally, after 1.5 hrs we reached the top. There was a lookout point towards the South side of the island with not much to see to be honest. (the south side of the island is fairly flat). So my fist question was obviously - Is there another lookout point? Cause that was definitely not what i paid for. So the guide said there is one but we have to hike another 10 minutes so we said we'll do it. So after
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| Creole fish and creole chicken with local Piton beer at Fedo's |
another 10 minutes we reached the 2nd lookout point with breathtaking views of the Petit Piton and the west coast of the island. That was definitely what we expected and more. After 30 minutes of taking photographs and admiring the view we had to leave cause the guide was getting very impatient. Heading back down, we've noticed that the other couple that went up with us didn't go to this second view point so i asked the guide why. And surprise, he told me they don't take you there unless you specifically ask them to take you there...... WHAT????? so he made it look like he did us a big favor taking us to the second lookout point. It is true that he never mentioned the second lookout- when we got to the first his only words were- Good job- you made it to the top of Gros Piton - it was us who asked him where is the lookout for the west coast. So they don't even tell you about the second lookout to give you an option which i found very rude. But apart from that, the hike was worth the time and money and i would do it again in a heart beat. It took about 1 hrs going down and we were starving so we went to a local restaurant in Soufriere and had a nice creole meal. The place was called Fedo's and the food was delicious(we've had the creole fish and creole chicken - photos will follow). Better that any restaurant we've eaten to in Rodney Bay and a lot cheaper.
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| Cocoa fruits - Jungle M&M's |
After lunch we took a nice tour at the Botanical Garden where we've learned so much about all the tropical plants and all the fruits that grow on the island. We've seen almond trees, cashew trees, grapefruit, lemon, mango, guava and so many other trees that grow on the island. At the end we took a mineral bath that was unbelievably rejuvenating (don't forget your bathing suit). A definite must.
After an afternoon full of relaxation and incredible views, we headed back to Rodney Bay, but not before a small stop to Plasse Cassava where we witnessed the preparation of cassava bread on banana leaves. The best bread was the original coconut cassava bread - simply delicious.
That was the end of the private tour which i think was the best of all - it almost feels like we saved the best for last :P and also because the tour guide - Curtis - who answered all our questions about the island and what is on it.
The other 3 days were busy with kitesurfing and exploring the northern part of the island called Cap Estate and also a half day trip to the Pigeon Island which is great for the sunset views :)
Beth is the only one teaching Kitesurfing in the northern part of the island on Cas en Bas beach and i have to say she is very patient and dedicated to this sport. We've learned a lot from her about the sport and the sea.Gave us a lot of tips on how to buy our first Kite and what to look for at the beginning.
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| Pigeon Island at sunset |
Pigeon Island was very nice. Got to the gate - had to pay $5US the entrance and then walked around the northern side side first. The views of Cap Estate are very nice and also we could see Martinique Island (it was a clear day). Passes by the ruins that are close to the main gate (nothing special). Then headed for the beaches on the south side of the island - there are 3 beaches on the island - very crowded and small but pretty nice - the view again is spectacular- over the Rodney Bay . After about 2 hours of sunbathing we went up on the peak of the island which is on the North side and had a better view of the Martinique Island and Cap Estate region. Went all the way down to the restaurant to get something to drink (ended up getting some dessert too (banana crumble - very good actually)) and headed up to the old fortress on the south side to watch the sunset. We were very lucky because the sky was clear and the sunset was amazing - the sun going straight into the sea - speechless - in 7 nights that we've spend in St Lucia this was the only night that the sky was clear at sunset - all other nights it was either cloudy or partly cloudy and the sunset wasn't that great. After the sunset we headed down the main gate and took a taxi back to the hotel.
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| Sunset seen from Pigeon Island |
