St. Lucia: A Romantic Adventure

I was totally floored when I saw how awesome our room was at the Ladera Resort. All of the rooms were open air (only three walls with the other wall totally open), and with the weather as perfect as it was this was great. The hotel is overlooking a beautiful bay with the twin peaks of the Piton mountains on each side, so I don't think we could have created a better view. With our own plunge pool in our room along with the four post bed and mosquito netting made for quite the romantic setting. By adding a few candles and a cheap bottle of champagne or a joint (a special indulgence fitting of the Carribean and readily available from the locals), we could not have been in a more relaxed and amorous mood. The resort also has a larger guest pool with an equally breathtaking view as well as a restaurant that isn't half bad. The service at the hotel was great and the grounds were well patrolled at night so you always felt safe. I couldn't imagine having a better room, but we made some friends at the resort and they invited us over for drinks. Their room was twice as big, with two floors and a pretty large pool. I'm not sure what it cost, but it was impressive.

The most interesting dining experience we had was a home cooked meal by the Aunt of our driver. We had mentioned that we really wanted some authentic local cuisine. It just so happened that our driver's Aunt had a restaurant. Unfortunately it was closed, but he gave her a call anyway. She said she would open up if we had enough people, so we gathered up a few friends we had made at the resort and headed out. We were under the impression that she had something she could prepare pretty quickly. However, it turned out that she was going to cook everything from scratch. In fact, she brought out a bunch of vegetables, fruits and a choice of meat (chicken or lamb), and the choices we made became our meal in front of our eyes. We started laughing when we realized that some of the vegetables were coming straight from the garden. We had several beers and a huge meal including some kind of squash soup, mixed vegetables, fruits a chicken and lamb curry dish as well as some interesting bread. We listened to music, had a long conversation with several of the members of the household, and got drunk over the course of the evening. Everyone was extremely nice and made us feel like we were over for Sunday dinner with the family.

The food was generally not the high point of the trip, but the restaurant at the Ladera Resort was one of the better places to eat. We ate breakfast there every morning (it was included with the room) and it was pretty good, with local fruits and breads. For dinner, we ate here a couple of times and were always satisfied. We had fish every meal and more than anything enjoyed the atmosphere, the drinks and the spectacular view.

If you aren't in good shape, don't even think about it. We chose Petit Piton because it was steeper and more challenging. It is a very strenuous climb that takes about 3-4 hours total to go up and down. It is very steep at times and you may wonder if you are doing the right thing. At the steepest parts, you will find ropes and a few handles to help you up, but for the majority of it you are on your own. However, the hard work is well worth the effort. You get an awesome view of the island and the ocean and you can just relax at the top for awhile undisturbed. Bring some water, you will need it!!

If you want to get a flavor for the local music, food and people go to this (or one of the many other festivals that happen throughout the week). We chose the one in Castries over the one in Soufriere because it was a lot bigger and because we wanted to see what Castries, the biggest city on the island, was like. We were warned about pick pockets and the like, but we had no trouble. As for the festival, I tried a bunch of the food (fish, meat, fruits and other indigenous foods) from the street vendors (my girlfriend was a bit more squeamish). We also had several local beers. We bought some stone necklaces and other trinkets for souvenirs and generally just mixed with the crowd. People were dancing in the streets and having a good time. The crowd was a combination of locals and tourists from the cruise ships and large resorts that were in Castries. This was a fun break from more secluded activities in Soufriere, but the ride from Soufriere takes about 2 hours because of the winding mountain roads.

As part of staying at the Ladera Resort (which is located on a hill well above the beach - great for a view but not for being on the beach) you have unlimited access to the beach at the Jalousie Resort next to the beach. A shuttle goes back and forth from the Ladera to the beach on a regular basis and you should use it (we walked down and regretted it due to the fact that the long winding road makes the trip take forever). The beach itself is beautiful and very relaxing. We had a nice beach chair, cocktails and relative privacy. The water was wonderful and clear and with a mask and snorkel you could see everything under water. We got food from the resort and made this our total chill-out day.

Everyone who stays near Soufriere usually ends up at the rain forest at some point. We shared a car ride with another couple to save some money and packed a small picnic of fruits and bread. The drive is beautiful and we got several pictures along the way (including a stop at the home of the driver's mother). The rainforest had a couple of trails that led to a really cool waterfall at the bottom of the trails. The hike is all down going to the waterfall and all up coming back to the car (about 2 miles each way). It is a pretty easy hike and there are only a couple of tricky spots (a group of old German tourists made the trek, so I think just about anybody can). The waterfall was awesome particularly before the throng of tourists arrived. The water is very cold and refreshing and at the very least you will get an awesome photo under the falls (you may have to ask everybody to clear away for the perfect shot).

We had gone to a variety of waterfalls around Soufriere, but had continually been disappointed by the fact that we were usually one of several couples at the same place. We wanted something a little more isolated that felt a bit more special. Our driver knew there were some pretty isolated waterfalls near Canaries (a town about 15 minutes north of Soufriere), but he wasn't sure exactly how to get there. He called his older brother (who was the owner of the car) who came to take over as our guide, because we would have to drive a little ways off the main road. We followed a road that ran next to the river through the city (it was more like a tiny town and a stream but it was very interesting). Kids were playing soccer on some big fields, women were washing clothes in the river and goats and dogs were walking all over the place. We continued until the road got a lot rougher and started to climb up a mountain. After several minutes, the guide acknowledged that he didn't really know exactly where he was going, but he knew where he could ask someone for help. We came to a small hut and were amazed to find that about fifteen 'Rasta' men were naked in the hut. One of them put on some clothes and came to the window (where he posed for a couple of pictures and volunteered to take us farther on foot). He didn't have any shoes yet he walked over the rocky, steep terrain as if it was nothing. We were twisting our ankles, dodging holes and scrambling to keep up with this guy (the driver stayed in the car). We started to get a little worried the farther back we went. It didn't help that we occassionally passed locals with big machettes and were about as isolated as you could be on this island. The hike was incredible as we saw the type of unspoiled beauty we really wanted to see. Every now and then we would pass a small hut where a family lived and they would look at us a little warily. Finally, after about 45 minutes of hiking we came to some very beautiful waterfalls. It was well worth the hike because the terrain was so beautiful, but we hadn't planned our trip very well so we had to leave within 5 minutes due to the approaching darkness (I definitely did not want to be in a dense rain forest in the dark trying to keep up with this guy). We doubletimed it back to the car and ran into a pickup truck on a little side road. We got a ride in the back of the pickup (which turned out to be even more hair raising than the anything else as we were on a tiny dirt road with the wheels of the truck within inches of plunging over the side of several very high dropoffs). At the end we smoked a joint as a show of friendship and thanks to our guide and then headed back to the resort.

St. Lucia still has some volcanic activity and the best evidence of this is the Sulfur Springs. We had heard it was pretty cool to check them out and bath in the hot mineral baths. Unfortunately, this was a total disappointment. A large cruise ship had just pulled into Soufriere so we arrived at the same time as about 300 tourists from the ship. We felt like part of a herd of cattle. Also, the springs stunk like you wouldn't believe, so you were stuck walking behind all these people in the middle of some pretty bad stench. As for getting in the hot springs, once you did you then smelled like them. Not an appealling occurrence if you didn't have immediate access to a shower. You might want to see this if you don't have to compete with a bunch of other people, but don't waste too much time.

These shots are just a few more interesting people and sights (besides the beautiful natural surroundings) around St. Lucia that we wanted to share.