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Saint Lucia (16 - 23 August 2014)

Visiting a new part of the world for the first time is always exciting for us avid globe-trotters, and furthermore who doesn't like vacationing in some tropical island somewhere?! This was my first time in the Caribbean, and after a lot of discussion with Kristina over which island or islands we should go see this year, we finally settled on a week Saint Lucia (to be followed by others in due course, given the Caribbean's handy location to the US). As a travel agent, Kristina sells a lot of the Caribbean to her clients and so was able to arrange free accommodation for us at three different all-inclusive resorts throughout the week (they're always eager to schmooze travel agents). With that being the case, all we had to pay for was the flights! Furthermore, one of those resorts is reputed to be one of the most stunning in all of the Caribbean (and definitely one of the most expensive), and we'd be saving that one for last :)

On the approach into Saint Lucia after a four-hour flight from New York we flew over some of the other Caribbean islands, including Guadeloupe on the left there and some of its dependent islands on the right.				Our first close look at Saint Lucia. Not exactly a flat island.

After a 90-minute drive through some very hilly and very lush terrain (photos of that later), we finally arrived at our first accommodation in the far northwest of the island country.

This is The Landings, just north of the little town of Gros Islet. The Landings is a beachfront resort on Rodney Bay built around its own private marina. Many of these apartments are privately owned, and are worth anywhere between $1 million to $5 million depending on size and exact location if you're interested :)

Hot tub on the back deck - nice!		The resort contains private pools and also tennis courts which we made good use of, but after settling in we headed straight to the beach!		I was so excited I spilled my drink all down my front before even taking a sip.

Nice wee beach, nice views, free drinks, not bad :)

Come night the marina was completely full and the parties were in full swing!		We spent it in the hot tub, wishing we owned a yacht hehe. Apparently many of these come in from neighboring islands for an easy weekend getaway.

The following morning we headed into the nearby town of Rodney Bay to check out the mall and do a little shopping. Seeing as our apartment had a full kitchen we figured we might as well use it. I like the colour scheme of the buildings going on here, which can be seen all over the island.				We spent the rest of the day down at our beach. This thing struggling along was full of fruit, and looked to be on the verge of collapse hehe.

Some dude approached us later in the day asking if we'd like to hire his jet ski. After bartering him down we did just that, and had a great blat all over the bay! The shot on the right is looking back towards The Landings. Aside from this we did absolutely nothing except laze on the beach, and it was great! :) The temperatures were around the 30-degree mark (86 F) every day and humid as hell, but made a little more comfortable by a constant breeze thanks to Saint Lucia's windward location.

The following day was our first of two with a private driver, organised for Kristina by the Saint Lucia Tourism Board. While we were primarily here for vacation, Kristina was asked to do a number of "site inspections" of other resorts on the island; basically just more schmoozing to encourage her to send her clients in their direction. If nothing else it was a good way to get out of our own resort and see what else is around.		This is what the locals call a traffic jam, in the capital city of Castries. Saint Lucia is 616-square-kilometres (238 miles) in size and is home to about 175,000. It has been an independent nation since 1979, but for the previous 300-something years the island went back and forth a total of 14 times between British and French control with the two countries continuously fighting over it. Given they drive on the left and use British power plugs, I guess the Brits were in control when motor vehicles and electricity became a thing.

Outside of the larger towns and cities, there are numerous fishing villages such as this scattered along the coast.		Good luck with the hills.		This is a typical Saint Lucian vista, especially the damn power line which couldn't be more perfectly centred to ruin my shot as we were driving along.

The first resort Kristina was asked to check out was Windjammer Landing, a short distance south of where we were staying.		Rough enough.		This guy was on the door of the male toilets in the poolside bar hehe. The female toilets had a female equivalent. Cool mun!

Next up was Calabash Cove a little further south again, and this place (with its little beaches) is pretty damn nice! Unlike Windjammer that was pretty much targeted towards any old rowdy crowd, Calabash is aimed more at couples looking for a quiet romantic getaway. Incidentally, there are no private beaches on Saint Lucia. Anybody is welcome to rock up to any beach, if you can access them that is. I think the resorts make that a little difficult if you're not a guest and so having your own water vessel of some sort to access the beaches is better.				Nice spot for a bit of this.

After a big free lunch at Calabash, we finished our day's 'work' at Sandals Grande St. Lucian, right next door to our own resort.		They invited us back for a free dinner since we were within walking distance, but frankly I think we needn't have bothered. There are Sandals resorts throughout the Caribbean and three of them on Saint Lucia alone. This particular one was frankly a bit cheesy for me hehe - I don't go on vacation to dance like a moron.

The next day we were back on the road with our driver to inspect a couple more resorts en route to our next accommodation.		First up today was Capella in Marigot Bay, due to open in September.		Upon our arrival, this guy made light work of a couple of coconuts for us to drink from...

...and after inspecting a few rooms this guy, their mixologist, threw together these refreshing goodies with far too much Caribbean rum in them. Just what we needed ;)				Although overcast, tt was very hot and humid today with very little wind to cool things down. Even the crabs were looking for cover.

The drive from there took us through some typically lush Saint Lucian scenery...

...and through some more fishing villages.				Seems to be a very chilled way of life.

Somewhere along the way we passed this clown standing on the side of the road holding up a snake hahaha! Our driver told us folk can pay to get a photo with it. I took my photo from the car instead, for free.		What happened later was the stuff of travel nightmares: our driver pulled over in the middle of nowhere, told us he had something for us in the trunk, and came back wielding a machete hehe. If not for the two coconuts he was also holding I might have freaked ;)

Our final resort inspection was Ti Kaye Resort & Spa, another one aimed at couples and apparently the only one with its own wine cellar, which was awesome! These guys also put on a big lunch for us. It's a tough life being a travel agent.

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