St Lucia -- Part I

As we're on the eve of yet another snowstorm, I thought I needed to reminise about someplace warm. Someplace without snow and ice. Someplace that doesn't require boots. Or puffy coats. Or mitts.

 

At the end of February, I went to St Lucia for a week. And it was fabulous.

 

We stayed at the BodyHoliday, which is outside of the capital of Castries, and almost at the northen tip of the island.

 

But before I tell you how spectacular it was, let me tell you how we got there.

 

We took a HELICOPTER!!!!!!

 

Okay, not all the way from Ottawa. But from the international airport, which is in the south of the island. There were five other passengers and a British pilot. It was SUCH a weird feeling being in an actual helicopter. We just lighted up into the air -- almost like a hummingbird.

 

This was my view out the front of the chopper. We all had headphones so we could hear the pilot and each other.

 

We saw lots of coast line.

 

And some buildings too. Mostly we saw lots and lots of hills and green.

 

The trip took only about 12 minutes. This was our helicopter, with folks getting onboard for the return trip to the airport. We landed about 30 minutes from our hotel, so we had to hop in a cab. We arrived on St Lucian Independence Day, a national holiday, so traffic was light.

 

And soon enough, we were at the resort -- and the beach! This was worth the trip for sure.

Here's a view from the opposite side of the beach, looking up at our room block. Yellow flag on the beach meant it was a bit rough. Red and black apparently meant jellyfish, which luckily, we didn't encounter.

 

 

We arrived about 4:30 p.m., but our bags couldn't come on the helicopter with us, so they came by shuttle. We were forced to sit in our balcony and watch the sun set. Tough life.

 

This was our room. Plain but comfy.

 

And the bathroom. I won't spend much time on the room, because we didn't spend a lot of time there.

Mostly we were here. On the beach. Check out that view.



Sometimes we looked at boats. And sometimes those boats pulled waterskiiers.

We did leave the beach to eat. This was the buffet. Very nice.



 

And we ate in here (I can't figure out how to tilt this photo).

Sometimes we left the beach for the pool. But not very often. Those beds you see above the pool were pretty comfortable though.



 

Or sometimes we wandered to the end of the boardwalk for a cappucino. (Again, you have to tilt your head to see this pic.)

 

And sometimes we wandered into the clubhouse for a G&T or Pimms at the bar.

 

Honestly I can't say enough about this resort. The guests were mostly Brits, which was great, and the British influence was definitely strong. From the afternoon tea, to a bar stocked with Pimm's, this place really appealed to the Anglophile in me.

 

And the staff were absolutely lovely, and went out of their way to make sure everyone enjoyed their stay. While we were first-timers, we met many people who had visited two, three, seven or more times. They must be doing something right to get that kind of repeat business.

 

We did actually leave this paradise of a place for a day to explore some of the island. I'll tell you more about that next time.