...St Lucia Photos...

We arrived in St Lucia on Sunday the 28th of November 2004 following a 10:30am Virgin flight from London Gatwick. We decided not to hire a rental car, which was probably for the best – the roads in St Lucia have pot-holes large enough to loose your car in and there is something to be said for the driving style of the locals!

An Arial View

A view of the Pitons (located on the South-West of the island) from the aircraft.

Sunset on Reduit Beach

We arrived at the hotel at around 17:00 and decided to watch the sunset from the beach. The waves crashed onto the very steep beach, creating a hollow thump which seemed to pass up through the sand.

Sunset on Reduit Beach

We decided to try one of the beach side restaurants for dinner but were not too impressed with the food at Spinnakers Restaurant. The following night we decided to try Buzz for a better (although more expensive) meal.

Reception at The Royal St Lucian

Our first three nights on the island were spend at The Royal St Lucian located right on Reduit Beach, Rodney Bay (North West side of the island). We would spend a further seven nights at The Ladera, which was a far less traditional hotel, as you will see below!

Our room at The Royal St Lucian

The room was great, although we didn't spend too much time there – during the evening turn-down service, our dressing gowns were layed on the bed with flower petals!

Our room at The Royal St Lucian

The Royal St Lucian

The Royal St Lucian pool bar

The pool bar with the restaurants in the background.

Relaxing on Reduit Beach

Reduit Beach is said to be the nicest beach on the island. We were certainly comfortable there! Holidays are about the only time I have to read - I finally managed to finish off Tom Clancy's "Balance of Power" and also Joe Simpson's "Touching the Void" and J. D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye"!

Relaxing on Reduit Beach

Sunset on Reduit Beach

Pigeon Island can be seen in the background.

Sunset on Reduit Beach

Clipper Ship

One of the may clipper ships that passed across Rodney Bay while were there.

Pigeon Island

Tammay and I decided to hire a water taxi and travel over to Pigeon Island. It's actually no longer an island – since the 1970s it has been connected to the main land by a strip of sand, however it was far less effort by boat!

Pigeon Island National Historic Park

As with all of our holidays, we felt the need to see as much as possible and climb to the highest points we can find! In the case of Pigeon Island this is Fort Rodney and Signal Hill.

Me at Fort Rodney

Pigeon Island was colonised by the British in 1778 and by 1782 a fort was established by Admiral George Rodney.

Long Grass in the Wind

Tammay likes her arty shots of grass!

Pigeon Island

We also visited The Museum & Interpretive Centre, however I can't say there was too much to see! This is a photo from the far side of Pigeon Island.

Me and my tripod!

Don't ask me why Tammay thought this would be a good idea.

Me

Leaving Pigeon Island

Amazing blue water, however the snorkelling was supposed to be better in the South, near The Ladera.

Leaving Pigeon Island

Castries

Tammay and I decided to take a trip to the Pointe Seraphine Shopping Complex, located on the opposite side of the port to "downtown" Castries (capital of St Lucia). The shops sold little more than Watches and Jewellary. The harbour can currently accommodate two large cruise ships, so the shopping centre is filled with Americans who have been let loose for a couple of hours. We travelled into Castries and came to Derek Walcott Square. This is a shot of the buildings around the square in the centre of Castries.

Castries

This is a shot of Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and a Saman tree in Derek Walcott Square thought to be more than 400 years old. While there, a Mad local (who introduced himself as the caretaker for the square/gardens) insisted on showing us the eggs layed by his chickens nesting in the tree. We also looked around Castries Central Market but didn't find anything of interest.

The Ladera

The Ladera was our second hotel, were we spent a week. The hotel was located right on the top of the ridge with a view over the rainforest that dropped down to a small bay (and imported sand beach) some distance below.

A Room with a View!

Our room (as with all rooms) only had three walls... and a pool! There was an amazing view of the rainforest and two volcanically formed peaks, The Pitons.

A video of our room.

Laugh and I'll kill you!

Our room at The Ladera

We had to get up at sunrise!

Our room at The Ladera

Our Open Shower at The Ladera!

Plunge Pool

Local Wildlife

Sunset Between The Pitons

Due to the Westerly aspect, we were able to see the sun setting between the Pitons.

Sunset Between The Pitons

The Dasheen Restaurant at The Ladera

The restaurant in our hotel was said to be the best on the island – as you might guess the food was excellent!

Petit Piton

A view of Petit Piton from the hotel restaurant.

Gros Piton

A view of Gros Piton from the hotel restaurant.

A Taxing afternoon!

The Ladera Pool

Used in the film Superman 2!

Tammay and the Petit Piton

Tammay

Me

Poolside Water Feature

Rainforest Tour

We booked onto a rainforest walk with a local guide - Ricky Alexander (a former senator no less!). We sat in the back of a 4X4 pick-up and the lack of any health & safety regulations scared the hell out of me – we had to hold on tight on the dirt tracks so we didn't get thrown out the back!

Tammay and myself

On the Hilton Beach after a spot of snorkelling. We went snorkelling four times in all – to make full use of our digital camera's underwater housing. There were plenty of fish however limited coral – we though that Thailand was better.

Gros Piton Hike

Our guide for the hike.

Gros Piton Hike

Unfortunately the top of Gros Piton was in the cloud when we got to the sumit.

Gros Piton Hike

Luckly the cloud did lift a little before we had to go and we did manage to take a few photos.

Gros Piton Hike

A view of Petit Piton and the surrounding region from the sumit of Gros Piton.

Gros Piton Hike

A view of Petit Piton from half way down Gros Piton.

Gros Piton Hike

Petit Piton and myself!

Anse Chastanet

We took advantage of a free shuttle service provided by the Ladera and travelled around the bay to Anse Chastanet, a volcanic beach (darker sand) with some decent snorkelling.