Visiting the Caribbean - St Lucia

Seeking the sun we decided to go away for Christmas and New Year. It turned out to be a very exciting trip to the Caribbean, where we visited Guadeloupe, St Lucia, Martinique and Dominica. Let's start with St Lucia.

We flew from Paris to Guadeloupe and started our adventure from there. After two days to adjust to time difference, we took a flight to St Lucia. A wonderful, tropical island, especially the southern parts of the island. We were staying in a beautiful B&B in the outskirts of Castries. Sérénitý Vigie. At the end of a small peninsula we had nothing but the sea in front of us.

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From there we did excursions and drove more or less over the whole island. The most touristic area is Rodney Bay, on the north western part of the island. Here we enjoyed the beaches and also a visit to Pidgeon island and its old British fort.

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Yes, it started to rain not long after...!

The most beautiful part of the island is in the south. We went there a couple of times. We passed the old French capital, Soufriére, with its colourful houses. Quite another atmosphere.

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In the area we visited the beautiful Diamond Botanical garden, with tropical flowers, a waterfall and sulphur baths. Nice warm water which hopefully makes something good to your body. It is relaxing at least. The baths were built in 1785 by Baron de Laborie who was the Governor of St. Lucia. It is said that Empress Joséphine came here to take a healthy bath (presumably before she became an empress). 

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No time to rest too long. Our next goal was a drive-in volcano. Yes, that is true. You enter into the caldera, where you can see hot sulphur springs boiling away. No risk for eruptions though. A small tour with local guides were offered. The surrounding was beautiful and it is difficult to imagine an eruption. 

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Sorry, the boiling puddles are invisible!

Next to the volcano was a much anticipated visit. Mud baths! Quite a nice experience. You dress your body with the mud and go into warm, nice sulphur pools. It was great and exciting. Not to talk about the wellbeing. 

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Here after cleaning off the mud


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Our son took it seriously and went for a
second mud bath!

All this activities make you hungry, so we headed for a nearby hotel for lunch. There we could see the two peaks that symbolises St. Lucia, the Pitons. There was an idea of climbing them, but the hot weather and very steep hills made us enjoy them from a distance.

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After lunch it was time to head home, through the hills and the winding roads. We did take another tour to drive further south a couple of days later. This part of the island is the most beautiful with its tropical green and exotic flowers. 

There is a wonderful beach, just below our B&B where we spent some lovely hours at the end of our visit. There were some waves, with a lot of current, so difficult to go in and out of the water. 

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The overall eating was not a very great experience in St. Lucia. We did enjoy a very good meal, a gourmet menu, at The Naked Fisherman. Excellent food, situated on a small beach where you can also enjoy swimming and snorkling. 

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We enjoyed ten wonderful days on this island. It was time to continue our adventure. Next stop: Martinique! Hope you will follow me there. 

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