St Lucia

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We spent a week in St Lucia during March of 2008. In recent years we had traveled to all inclusive resorts in Cuba and Mexico and had met up with Paul and Judy, my brother and his wife, who flew in from Halifax. This year they weren't keen or able to travel. So we went alone, to an island further south (hoping for even warmer waters) and stayed at a small hotel rather than an all inclusive.

The Inn on the Bay, on high land overlooking Marigot Bay, is on the west side of the island. They had a driver waiting for us at the airport when we arrived. The place was owned by some Norman and Louise from Montreal. We later discovered that it was listed for sale as the "Villa Margot". It wasn't very busy (perhaps that's why they were selling) but the rooms were comfortable, the views over the bay and out to sea were great and there was a pool as well. There was also a small lending library where I found "The Hardcore Troubadour: The Life and Near Death of Steve Earle". That was an interesting read!

There was a steep and rough trail directly down to the bay, alternatively you could walk down the road into the small village at the bay. In the village there's a short ferry service to get you to other side of the bay where there's a small beach and a hillside resort. At this narrow point you could almost throw a ball across the bay -- it's that narrow.

The picture above is Kate on board one of the water taxis. The roads in St Lucia are winding and very hilly. From our bay it was often easier to take a water taxi. Although one day we did take a local bus to Castries just north of us to explore the town and find a bank which would accept our bank card.

The large cruise ships would land at Castries or at Soufriere further south. Our bay was way too tiny for them.

We took the "Jean Water Taxi" south along the coast one day to the Ti Kaye Resort & Spa on Anse Cochon Beach. Over the course of our stay we dealt with Jean a lot, he was friendly and helpful ... very helpful. Several boat loads from cruise ships arrived during the day to enjoy the beach at Anse Cochon. We had heard there was good snorkeling there. It's a lovely beach, there's a restaurant open to visitors, and the water is warm. However, it's not a great place to snorkel. We never found any place for snorkeling on the island that we were really excited by. One day we took a very long snorkel/swim out of our bay and along the shore. The island is volcanic and the coast drops off quickly. There's some coral but nothing terribly exciting. Kate was pushing me out well beyond my comfort zone.

More about how helpful Jean of the "Jean Water Taxi" was. There was an ATM in Marigot Bay but it wouldn't work for us. We did get some money out of an ATM when we were in Castries. One day we were running low on cash and had Jean take us to Soufriere -- we were going to visit the Pitons, the Botanic Garden and the Volcanic area. Jean had arranged a guide for us (a cousin or some such family/friend). Soufriere is perhaps the largest city, bigger even than Castries, and we were going to hit an ATM to pay Jean and the local guide. When we got there the banks were closed and we couldn't get any cash! Jean's cousin, the local guide, said not to worry he would take us around and we could pay Jean later and Jean would pay him. And that's what we did. We ended up getting some cash from the Inn and had it added to our bill which we payed by our credit card. We were very grateful for the kindness and trust these locals had shown us.

Another interesting story along the same lines. Marigot Bay has sheltered area where small boats can safely dock. One day we were down by the water when this huge black private luxury cruiser came into the bay. It was the biggest ever and could barely navigate in the narrow confines of the bay but it got turned around and safely docked. At that time Prince Charles was visiting St Lucia so we thought this might be his ship but of course it wasn't. Anyway, the waiter at the restaurant where we were watching this unfold says to me, "Do you have a boat like that?". I said, "Oh no, I'm just an ordinary guy like you". He replies, "No you're not. You're a tourist from far away, I'm a poor server and he never left St Lucia".

We took a taxi one night to the Fish Fry at Anse la Raye a little south from us.

Here's a photo album of our adventures.