St. Lucia

I had the pleasure of going to St. Lucia for my honeymoon. This small Island, known for its mango shape, only populates 162,000 Lucians.St. Lucia reminded me and my new husband of our native lands, Dominican Republic and Guyana respectively. It was a beautiful paradise.

After an hour and half we finally arrived at the all inclusive Almond Morgan Bay Resort. We were surrounded by a sea of beautiful colors. Each hotel building was a different tropical color from intense corals, turquoises, and sunny yellows. It was amazing! The hotel hostess told us there were four different restaurants to eat and a snack bar. She failed to mention the awesome grill by the sandy beach and ocean water. There were two gigantic pools, one was for the adults, and it had a huge net for water sports. The second pool was three mini pools put together for the kids.

The resort was a laid back family friendly place. During the day, there was sailing, jet skiing, boat riding, or sports like pool, tennis or volleyball. Although the nightlife is almost non-existent, there was a reggae band that played every other night along with the international dancers. The shows were entertaining and watching other tourists truffle around to the reggae tunes was in itself a show.

The Almond Morgan Bay Resort offered various tours around the island. One in particular was a rainforest excursion: “A Taste of St. Lucia.” The tour was on the northeast side of the island. It was a rainy day and the forest was wet and slippery. We all grabbed a long bamboo stick to hold as we ventured off into the forest. There were snakes in cages. One in particular was a baby rattle snake who was just shy of 6 feet! In the forest there were vines hanging from trees, it kind of gave my husband and I that Tarzan feel. The tour only got better when we were introduced to the huts in the forest that the indigenous people used as homes in the past. The small tee-shaped hut was made from cow dong. There were no doors or windows or cement floors. In the center of the soil a small fire place was built for cooking. The hut also housed many tools made for hunting and gathering. The hut seemed crowded with five of us, but according to our tour guide up to 12 people would have slept there.

We explored the different wild plants and tasted the exotic fruits of the forest such as five finger fruit and guava. We had mouth-watering mangoes, tangerines, and bananas and washed it down with fresh coconut water. One of their plants was even used as an aphrodisiac for men, I made sure to grab one of those (as a souvenir of course). Other plants had healing properties. After filling our bellies, we had the pleasure of visiting a Creole house where we tasted some culinary dishes provided. We were treated to bakes and salt fish fritters. We were also served hot cocoa which was made from the actual cocoa plant found in the rainforest. As we were exiting, a cold drink that was made from the combination of golden apple (a fruit found only in the Caribbean) and lime awaited

We continued on to the Rum Distillery where we saw a video about rum and received an in depth tour of how it is made. At the end of the tour we received a chance to drink about 15 different rums. My favorite was Nutz’n’ Rum, peanut punch, which is to be served chilled.

Two days later we embarked on our second tour, and it was an amazing boat ride around the Island. This tour was called “Tout Bagay Catamaran Cruise” which means “A little bit of everything” in Creole. This is what I called a mobile party, equipped with alcoholic beverages and reggae tunes. The royal blue waves swayed from side to side as the dolphins swam and jumped about around us. I even asked the captain to let me steer the boat and he did! We later stopped near a sandy beach for a relaxing swim. By the beach, pan handlers sold accessories and souvenirs. They got more aggressive to the point that we started seeing them selling things in the water from a small canoe boats. “It’s cheaper in the water,” yelled one charismatic seller. The captain also took us to Soufriere, home to the world heritage site. Here we visited a natural water fall in a rainforest. The water was really cool and refreshing. From here we went into a blast from the past historic adventure. The St. Lucia volcano, also called the St. Lucia sulfur springs is said to be the only drive-in volcano in the world. It had a pungent smell that infiltrated the whole area. The tour guide explained that the volcano’s last eruption happened 300 years ago and that there were no fatalities. However, the last major eruption happened 40,000 years ago.

If you ever visit St. Lucia I highly recommend two things: 1. take one of these exciting tours around the small Island and 2. the B.B.C. (Bailey’s, banana and cream) drink which tastes like a soothing milkshake with a kick of alcohol! Traveling for me is always an awesome experience. It's about learning different customs and cultures. St. Lucia had to a lot to offer: beautiful weather, pleasant folks, yummy foods, and beautiful picturesque scenes. There is a broad array of exciting and exotic activities available on the Island.