St. Lucia

St Lucia. 

June 17- June 22. I flew with American Airlines from EWR to UVF round trip for $600. I remember American Airlines not being one of the best airlines for me, but lately I’ve been flying with them, and I can say they have improved their services.  The hotel I used was called Hotel Chocolat or Rabot hotel. It’s better to say Hotel Chocolat, everyone seems to know it by that name. It is a 4-star hotel and the price was $1500 for 4 nights. I wanted to stay at The Royalton, but 1 it was sold out and 2 I found out it was way up north. All the activities are all down south by the hotel I stayed at. Up north they do have wonderful beaches and I heard there’s a party life, but due to covid there’s no partying. 

Hotel Chocolat is such a pretty establishment. I loved all the palm trees on the premises. The view of the piton is amazing in their dining room. The staff was very attentive to my needs. The only thing I will add is there is NO AC. I repeat there is NO AC. I knew this prior to booking. What I didn’t know is I would get bitten by mosquitoes/sand flies while sleeping. There were also lizards and grasshoppers in the room. That’s to be expected being that the room is in the open.

Complimentary breakfast comes with the booking. If you want all-inclusive just add $120 per day. That’s not worth it to me. Hotel Chocolat offers chocolate pretty much in everything. They have a ton of drinks made with chocolate, chocolate butter, and the list goes on. I get it their name is Hotel Chocolat but it was a bit excessive lol. They even offer a chocolate tour teaching you about the chocolate making process. 

Prior to going to St. Lucia you need a covid test 5 days before going, and you have to fill out a tourism authority form within 7days before arrival. Here is the link: https://www.stlucia.org/en/covid-19/. You have to upload your covid test on their site as well. Once you are cleared you will receive a travel authorization confirmation and a quarantine order form. Print out both along with your covid results and bring it with you.  Also you must stay at a covid certified property. There is still a curfew in St. Lucia which is 9pm.

Fun facts:

• St. Lucia relies heavily on tourism.
• The British and French fought 14 times. The British won. 
• Their main language is Creole. They also speak English and French.
• Their currency is East Caribbean dollars. They do accept USD. 
• Choiseul village is one of the largest villages.

Day 1: June 17. I arrived in St. Lucia at 240pm. Once you land you’re directed to this makeshift tent where you stand in line with no ac (they have a few ducts that blow cold air) and wait to show your proper requirements. I waited about 40 minutes before being seen. If you are vaccinated, you will get a white band which means you are free to roam the island alone. If you’re not vaccinated, you get a bright pink band and you’re not allowed to roam the island as you will unless you have tours, and the tours must be covid certified. Well, I received a pink band and took it off once I got in the taxi. I didn’t have a problem getting around (taxis are also allowed to ride out at night, but they must be covid certified). I used a taxi service from Mario at Sugar boat charters. Their IG is @sugar_boat_charters and Mario’s number is 758-518-7629. Very good service. It may take him awhile to answer your text, but I promise you he’ll gets back to you as soon as possible. When leaving the airport, the taxi service you’re using sends you a qr code to scan when you’re outside to let the driver know you have arrived. A personnel at the airport will call the driver to ask their location and walk you to the car. Talk about organization. 

Hotel Chocolat is a 40-minute ride from the airport. The cost is $70 USD one way (so $140 in total). Mario and I spent the car ride discussing what St. Lucia has to offer, covid cases (wasn’t too many), and my travel adventures. When I arrived, I was greeted by a young man named Connell. He was so funny and sweet. He gave me a tour around the premises and then walked me to my room. I received a complimentary room upgrade. That was nice of them to do. I loved my room, especially the shower. The only thing it didn’t have was an iron and tv. (A lot of places don’t have tv in the rooms I’m starting to notice). The view I had was amazing! I could see the piton from my bed. It was lovely waking up to such a wonderful view. I get dressed and head to the pool and take pics. There is a bar by the pool that is opened from 10a-6pm (the dining room is open from 7a-10p). Later on this evening Mario picked me and took me to a bar called the Blue Room. It was fun. I had rock fish stuffed with potatoes. I met another solo traveler named Mariah. Her driver also drove her here to have a few drinks. It was her birthday, so we indulged in some shots of bounty (dark liquor not my fav). All four of us go to another small little bar and had more drinks. I can’t remember the name of the bar. 

Day 2: June 18. I woke up very late due to being hung over. I started my day with lunch because I missed breakfast. I had some fruits and ordered fish and chips. It was ok. The fish was too oily for me. I wanted to do the piton trial, but I arrived at 1p and that was too late. All the guides were already on the trial, and they are only allowed to do one a day. I was told to come back the next day in the am. So, I just switched things up a bit. I just made today a relaxing day instead of day 3 being a relaxing day. 

Let me add here that Hotel Chocolat offers tours (like most hotels do). I didn’t book any tours through them. I booked my tours through Mario and his company. The cost for a taxi from the hotel to the trial is $60 USD. I wonder how much the hotel charged (they give you a packed lunch and a 1.25L of water). I head back to my hotel and changed into my bathing suit and take some pics. I booked a massage (they offered 25% off if you book a hr long session). The massage was ok, I’ve had better ones.

I met Mariah again and we had dinner. I had a glass of sauvignon blanc, and my meal was tuna. Prior to the meal we received some soup that was served in a miniature teacup. It was ok. I was still hungry afterwards, so I had to order dessert (chocolate lava cake and it came with a scoop of ice cream) to try and fill me up, which didn’t really work. Hotel food can be a hit or miss. This was a miss! Afterwards Mariah and I drank almost a whole bottle of bounty mixed with coke, still celebrating her birthday and her last day in St. Lucia. I couldn’t get too messed up being I was doing the trial the next day. I need to be up early and energized to conquer that trail. 

Day 3: June 19. Hike day. Before going on my hike, I woke up extra early so that I could capture the dining room empty with the piton view. There are two pitons: Gross piton (bigger one) and Petit piton (baby one). I hiked Gross piton (you can also hike up Petit piton). The entrance fee is $50 USD. Please bring a liter bottle of water and some snacks to indulged in when you reach the top. I didn’t have any water, but you can buy water there. Its $4 USD. A walking stick is also provided which I highly recommend purchasing. It is $5 USD. They say it takes about 4 hours to complete the hike depending on your speed. Before starting the hike you have to sign a wavier which basically says they are not responsible if anything should happen to you. My tour guide name was Kayla. God bless her heart. I know she was annoyed with me taking my time lol. I mean she does this on a daily basis, so this is nothing to her! Glad she was patient with me. I tipped her very well (I asked her does she get paid well for this because this isn’t an easy job and she said honestly no, and for some reason I believed her. They rely on tips. I couldn’t even imagine putting my life on the line on an everyday basis and you want to pay me chump change!) It took me approximately 6 hrs. This day it rained pretty much the whole time I was hiking. I really wished I did this hike yesterday. Like it was just too much. The rocks were just slippery, I kept slipping and sliding, it just wasn’t safe. 

This is not for everyone. If you have bad knees, I don’t advise doing this. If you have a heart condition don’t even think or try it! I do not know what possessed me to do this hike. There are three stops before getting to the top which are called quarters. To get to 1^st quarter, it is about 25 minutes from the start, then second quarter from there is about 35 minutes, and from 2^nd quarter to 3^rd quarter (aka point of no return) is 45 minutes. From here to the top is about 20 minutes. After the 2^nd quarter I was OVER IT!!! But I was determined to finish. Whew I made it to the top 2.5hrs later. I felt like throwing up my guts. There were other people who also reached the top all laughing and happy, I was just a grump lol. Eventually I did warm up. I just didn’t understand how everyone was eating food. I think I was the only one who felt sick. At this point I wanted to shower and relax my legs (which I had booked the massage this day). I was hoping the sun would come out and it sure did! Thankful this hike didn’t go to waste. The views were amazing. I take a bunch of photos, and then it’s time to head back down. Cries! Kayla tells me how I need to really pay attention because it gets harder. She said, “get muddy not bloody”. Ok sis heard you. She offered to carry my bag because the bag would just be dragging me down. I didn’t have a bookbag, I forgot to buy one. I was rocking a shoulder bag. Going down was harder to me. I was wondering how this hike would be if it wasn’t a wet nasty day. I will never know. I started the hike around 830a and was done by 215p. 

Later that evening I had dinner at the Dasheene located at Ladera Resort. It is literally a two-minute walk from Hotel Chocolat. Someone from the hotel on both ends will escort you to and from the hotels. I loved that. The views you get from here are amazing. You get to see both Pitons. I heard the sunset is nice from up there. The service was great. They served white bread, wheat bread, and cheese bread; I had all three. I had the curry banana balls for my appetizer and for my meal I had the mahi-mahi. It was delicious. After my appetizer they served me lentil soup in a miniature teacup (I guess that’s their thing). Before my meal I was also given something to wash down the after taste of the foods I just had. It looked like ice cream, but it wasn’t ice cream. I forgot the name. It was yummy and I liked that they offered such. The mahi-mahi was cooked to perfection. I indulged in one scoop of chocolate ice cream for dessert. My bill came up to $88 USD, service fee included in the price. 

Day 4: Land and sea tour. This day was just too much fun! I start of the day with some breakfast, and shortly after I do my covid test. The hotel sets up the appointment which I was thankful for. The cost was $50 USD. I get picked up by Alton (he works for Mario as a driver) around 945a and the adventure begins. I packed up 3 swimsuits because I knew for each spot I wanted a different look. First stop was the Sulphur springs also known as the mud bath. It was pretty cool. I’m not a fan of the texture of mud, but my skin was feeling very soft after. There are 3 pool baths that are very warm. You can pick which ever bath to enter. They have a few showers stalls as well. First you get in the bath then come out and put the mud on yourself. The batch of mud I had was very watery, so I had to stand in the sun for a couple of minutes for it to harden. Next Alton helped make some designs on me with some black mud. Then I entered the bath again to wash of the mud.

Now it is time to move on to the next adventure which was Toraille waterfall. I changed my bathing suit in the car. As soon I get to the waterfall, I tell Alton this isn’t the waterfall I wanted to see. I wanted to go to Diamond botanical garden waterfall. He was patient with me at Toraille. He took all my pics and told me Diamond waterfall isn’t too far and we can make a stop to see it, but he will have to check with Ted (the driver of the boat) to see if he has any other tours lined up after mine. He doesn’t. Good.

As we head to Diamond botanical garden I changed my swimsuit yet again. This time for the last time. Alton probably thought I was nuts with all the swimsuit changes lol. Anything for content. The entrance fee is $7 USD. They have a hot springs bath and a different fee for it. Here is the link for Diamond Botanical garden https://www.diamondstlucia.com. This is such a beautiful place. All the beautiful plants and greenery is so welcoming. You must wear your mask here. I love it here. I love plants and nature. I took so much pics and smelled so many beautiful flowers. Finally, we arrived at the waterfall. Such a beauty. It reminds me of rainbow for some strange reason. There is a sign that says “dangerous do not cross” but guess what I did, cross. I needed to get closer to get a nice picture. Thank God I arrived early and there was nowhere there. Alton helped me cross over. It was a little slippery and the grass was wet. I took about 20 photos and hopped right back over as if nothing happened. As we were leaving people started to arrive. Funny.

Next on the agenda is lunch. Thankful because I love to eat! We went to Fedo’s restaurant bar. I had to get the food to go because of time. Let me tell you that lunch was the best food I had so far. Hotel food is just so bland.

I arrived at the docks and meet Ted and Graham (boat attendants. Is that the proper term?). We get on the boat and start sailing. I was advised to eat my food because the tides would be a little rough for me to eat later on. The boat is stocked up with piton beer, water and rum punch. I of course chose rum punch as my choice of beverage. We visit the bat cave first. Yuck bats. Just making these weird noises looking all creepy. They come out at night, and I did see a few flying around the hotel dining room. Ted tells me that one of the ingredients in mascara is bat poop. I don’t know if that’s true, but I’m still going to use my mascara. Next there is an option to snorkel which I decline because I do not swim. But guess what I did at Sugar beach, I put on a life vest and get in the water and immediately start to freak out. I tell Graham to bring the back boat quickly. I then learned I really need to learn how to swim. How I have a life vest on and still freak out the way I did? Moving along we sail past the coast. There is something about being in the ocean, it’s so calming and soothing. Just makes you forget all your troubles. The town of Soufriere is very colorful I should add. I then passed the tunnel of love. How cute. Funny how she’s royal by Tarrus Riley played in the background and I sang along to the lyrics. There were so many boats out that day. Even saw two boats racing one another. The tides were a little rough, but I still enjoyed every bumpy bump. We passed by a fishing village and the dock area where cruise ships dock. I also saw these big oil tanks that gets imported from Venezuela. US and Venezuela do not get along so a company from Texas gets the oil then brings it to St. Lucia and then disrupt it all over US. Interesting. We sail all the way up north to Marigot Bay and Rodney Bay. I get off the boat at Rodney Bay and take pictures. The water was waist high. We get back on the boat and sail back to the docks. The whole tour is about 5hrs. Overall, I had a good day with Ted and Graham from Sugar Boat Charters. I loved the fact that it is only a private tour. The cost was $500 USD.

Day 5: Head back home day. Check out is at 12pm and my flight back home was 251p. I decided to wake up early and have breakfast at the Mango Tree Restaurant located at the Stonefield Villa Resort. Alton picked me up around 8a. The view of the Piton and ocean is marvelous. I had the pleasure of having the vegetable omelet and a smoothie bowl that consisted of vanilla yogurt, banana slices, dates, and grated coconut. You also have the choice of coffee, tea, or juice of the day which was starfruit juice. I was given sugar syrup to sweeten my juice. They also serve you a basket of bagels and muffins. What a lovely breakfast. I head back to my hotel to finish packing and looking at the piton view one last time. Alton picks me back up around 1130a and we head to the airport. I realized I was a little too early and asked if we can stop for some real food before I leave. We stopped at Josies restaurant. Whew. The food was slamming. I washed it down with a ting. I should’ve been eating local food since I arrived lol. 

PS: I felt like St. Lucia was a lovers island. Everyone seemed to be with their loved one. It is known for a honeymoon/anniversary destination.