{"id":996,"date":"2009-03-07T16:41:26","date_gmt":"2009-03-08T00:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.regnordman.com\/?p=996"},"modified":"2009-03-07T16:42:28","modified_gmt":"2009-03-08T00:42:28","slug":"st-lucia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnordman.com\/2009\/03\/07\/st-lucia\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel_log_St Lucia_feb 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"st-lucia-soufriere-petit-piton12\"Castries<\/a> – St. Lucia<\/a><\/p>\n

We fell in love with this Jewel in the Caribbean<\/a>. After we waited fruitlessly for the scooter guy who was operating on island time, we lucked out with Guys Car Rental (guysltd@hotmail.com). Elvis (not Presley) came up with a little Mitsubishi car. After a few quick tips, we headed off to Gros Islet<\/a> at the very tip of the island, where we set eyes on the first stunning views of St. Lucia.<\/p>\n

You see the Atlantic crashing on the west side and balmy Caribbean gently caressing the eastern shores. This is just past Raffles Golf and Country club – immaculate greens and obviously no waiting at $285 a round.<\/p>\n

We turned around and threaded our Mitsubishi through the grid lock of Castries, the capital and headed south to Soufriere (Sulphur in French) home of the twin Pitons, Petit and Gros – the twin peaks made famous in Romancing the Stone. We wound up and down this hilly trek, it took all of 90 minutes to cover 37 km. A paved road all the way but enough pot holes to lose one’s car in. A real driving challenge. In this part of the world you don’t pave unnecessarily – roads are narrow, ditches are open and deep, and drivers become very cautious. The scenery on this hilly west coast was stunning- you had to stop so often just to capture another once in a lifetime shot.<\/p>\n

We got in beach time and met up with another Canadian, Chester (from Chatham, Ont.) who has been spending 6 months every year for the last 30 years in this little paradise. He let us in on the local highlights – terrific scuba dive sites, a good scuba shop, good sailing, great fresh food. We were convinced just with the swim we had – warmest water yet, refreshing and cleansing too. We decided to check out the Caribbean’s only (famous) drive-in volcano and sulphur hot springs. Bad mistake! It was inundated with tour groups. We turned turtle and headed back to Castries.<\/p>\n

Dropped off the car at the airport, spotted a little Caribbean snack shack on the beach across the road and zeroed in on their local menu. With a nice cold Piton beer in hand, fresh rotis, chicken curry & hot sauce on our plates we watched the Barbados\/British cricket match with a group of islanders.<\/p>\n

St. Lucia, a definite destination for island lovers!<\/p>\n

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\"Romancing<\/a><\/dt>\n
Image via Wikipedia<\/a><\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Pigeon<\/a><\/dt>\n
Image via Wikipedia<\/a><\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Related articles by Zemanta<\/h6>\n