Lucious St. Lucia
After our wedding, and our out of town guests leaving, it was time for us to go one our first adventure as Husband and Wife ! Our destination was beautiful St. Lucia. We had a hard time choosing where we wanted to go - so many places we want to see - but St. Lucia fit all of the main criteria. Warm, beaches, mountains, and no need for any extra vaccinations that were needed within six months.
Our flight left very early on a Sunday morning, with a stop in Toronto. For the most part the flight was uneventful, we watched a movie, ate, read, snoozed. We landed around 4pm St. Lucia time and when we exited the plane, we immediately felt the warmth and humidity. We walked down the steps of the plane and over to the main building to clear customs. Reason for visit ? Honeymoon. Smile and stamp, have a good time! We retrieved our big suitcase and after searching which booth to go to, found our ride to the hotel as well. We had an extra passenger that would be dropped off at another hotel, a Polish man, who offered us a swig of his bottle of Brandy which we both courteously declined. He offered our driver money to drive on the “right” side of the road, which he already was because in St Lucia they drive on the left side - like in England.
We happened to arrive on the day where St Lucians celebrate their Creole Day - a day where they celebrate with music, food, bright costumes and just a lot a fun. We had a two hour drive to our hotel — which allowed us to see a lot of the island from the South-East point to the middle — and then through villages and many banana farms.
It was dark by the time we arrived at our hotel, the Mystique, but still very warm. We were greeted by hotel staff who seemed surprised at our arrival. They were very friendly and we shared a laugh when we told them we in fact had a reservation for a week. The Island slogan is No Pressure, No Problem — which seems to be the answer to any small amount of anxiety. They offered us cold towels and a choice of champagne or island fruit juice while we waited. Once the paperwork was found and our room was ready, we were escorted thought the gardens to our room, explaining what we could do to entertain ourselves within the next week, and where we could find dinner and drinks. Even though it was dark, you could see how tropical and beautiful it was. Our room was on the second floor and was spacious, clean and had a balcony facing the gardens and the ocean. Since the hotel only had roughly 80 rooms — no matter where your room was you could see the ocean, which was a bonus for us.
The next few days were all a dream. We relaxed, we slept in, made difficult decisions during the day to either go sit on the beach and use our “lazy flag”, or just simply sit by the pool. However, we are adventurous, and on Tuesday we took a day long tour of the island called From Land to Sea. This tour had it all. We were picked up in an air conditioned bus, and our tour guide talked for the entire time as we went along the island’s curvy roads. There was homemade banana bread for snacks, refreshing drinks, and famous “baby maker” rum punch. We had several stops on this tour as well - we took a volcano mud bath, visited the botanical gardens, stopped in remote little villages where roosters roam the streets, ate at a local restaurant that overlooked the Pitons ….and this was only the first half of the day ! The second half, we were dropped off at a marina, and took a catamaran boat ride to a little nook where we went snorkeling - Béla who has a fear of deep water - jumped of the boat so fast I had a hard time keeping up with him!!!! We saw colourful fish, coral, spiky things, blue fish all sorts of cool things. After we got back on the boat more snacks and punch appeared, music, people dancing, an all inclusive floating party! We visited where the original Dr. Doolittle was filmed, went by the most gorgeous beaches and if you looked into the distance you could also see the next island over, Martinique. By the time we got back to the hotel is was shower and supper time. Even though it was a long day, this was one of the best tours we’ve ever taken and we highly recommend it to everyone.
We decide to not overbook ourselves and since the weather in St Lucia at this time of the year can change at any minute, we did some shopping in the local village of Rodney Bay, and got properly soaked from head to toe. Unlike at home, we weren’t cold, it was like taking a warm shower ! We walked on the beach, and even experienced service at our beach chairs under our straw umbrellas. The Mystique has a service for its guests where they give you a stick with a little white flag on it. Should you get thirsty or hungry - don’t get up - just put your flag upright (do NOT wave he flag - that’s just rude) and someone will come and ask you what you need. This flag is called the “lazy flag” - and we throughly enjoyed its use, so much so we may even create one for home and have the kids fetch us refreshments around the fire pit. We spent many days the on the beach until sunset - which was around 17:30, and they were spectacular and mesmerizing.
Our hotel also had a spa, and we each had massages during the week, and I experienced a full body mud cleaning, we also tried a head massage - but that experience does not need to get repeated again. We also took advantage of their hot tubs at the end of the day, we were almost always alone, between it being low season and people not really knowing it was there, it was always quiet and secluded.
Friday was another adventure day. The one thing we had talked about when we booked our trip was we would experience zip lining through the jungle. That morning another bus came to get us, and we picked up some people along the way before arriving at the facility. It was my first experience zip lining, so I was very excited. They handed out helmets and our gear - but when it was my turn, the guide looked at me and said "you need a child size helmet”. So I got my kiddie gear and off we went for a test run. We all passed with flying colours, and next they took us up on an arial tram, a 20 minute trip up, an experience all in itself. We went through dense forest, saw hummingbirds, and just enjoyed the silence of it all…. St. Lucia doesn’t have any animals bigger than a dog - no monkeys, no tigers, a handful of different species of snakes that are not in the jungle, and mongoose that take care of rat problems. There really isn’t anything to be afraid of, no big spiders, nothing. Once we were up at the top, we still had to hike for a bit, the paths were wet and slippery, but we all had proper shoes. I had a hard time not looking where I was going, I was in awe of the rainforests’ beauty. We finally reached the platform and after securing each one of us with multiple harnesses off we went one at a time ! Béla and I took turns taking pictures and video. We were up so high, you could see out through the trees and the view was incredible. There were 11 platforms in total, and on the last one our guide jumped on the line right after me so we went even faster. Once our zip lining was done, we hiked back to our tram and took another scenic ride down the mountain. A short hop into the souvenir store where they offered us refreshing juice and we headed back to our hotel for lunch and relaxation.
Our last full day at the resort was a relaxing one. We had thought of going over to visit Pigeon Island which was within our view but decided we would take that day and just sit on the beach and do a whole lot of nothing. We had our handy lazy flag, and pretty much spent the day under our little straw umbrella, walking on the beach and taking short dips in the ocean. There was a lot more traffic because a cruise ship had arrived and people come to Rodney Beach for the day, but our section of the beach was reserved for hotel guests only, so other then a few more people walking by and the coconut man coming to sell a fresh coconut we could drink out of, we were pretty much left alone.
Saturday night was our last night in our tropical paradise. We wanted to stay as long as we could and therefore opted to splurge and take a helicopter ride back to the airport, allowing us to enjoy an extra half day on Sunday because of our later departure. We spent some time on the beach, and then showered and had one last lunch at the pool hut. Neither of us really wanted to come back yet, a week goes by very quickly but two weeks may be too long. We agreed a 10 days getaway may be the perfect amount of time for a future adventure.
We were picked up by a private car, and arrived at the helicopter pick up site. People on the island are warm, friendly, and happy. The No pressure, No problem motto really does come across. They have a simple way of life, yet are happy. Schools for children only go up to high school level, and some never leave this little island, but others venture out to follow education and work on other islands nearby. Our cab driver to the helicopter pad, when asked if he had ever left St Lucia - simply said - “why would I, they have waterfalls, we have waterfalls, they have beaches, we have beaches… ect”? It sums up how you can be happy without all the frenzy and frivolities that we are accustomed too.
There were two other couples already at the little local airport, a lot younger than us, honeymooners as well. We had to wait a little because the helicopter needed refueling - no problem, we like not running out of fuel up in the air. Our ride arrived, and everyone but us jumped up to hurry over to the helicopter. As we are the last to board, the person in charge put us up front with our female pilot ! It was an exciting ride, to see the island from above, we flew over parts we had traveled earlier in the week by bus and boat and our pilot talked the entire time about island history and geography. We went by the Pitons again one last time before turning and landing at the airport.
Once we dropped off our luggage (we had to repack a bit, one of them was too heavy - oops) we crossed security, somewhat prehistoric to ours here, all part of the experience, and then into the packed waiting area. We walked around to find a better spot and came to realize we can go upstairs to get a cup of coffee and ice cream where there was plenty of room. The coffee wasn’t something they should brag about - but the ice cream was delicious. Sadly soon after it was time for us to aboard, we walked to our plane outside, and climbed the steps back up for our journey home.
St. Lucia will hold a special place in our hearts, as it was our first adventure as a married couple to a tropical paradise. We always like to try new things and go to new places, but I think we will go back and visit one day, there was still so much to see and experience on this little island that won our hearts.
