MY ST LUCIA DREAM

My St Lucia dream came to life. Earlier on in the year, I got asked if I’d love to go on a trip to The Caribbean and my response was a quick yes. Without even knowing where exactly I was headed, I was excited to go as I’ve always dreamt of visiting but somehow never managed to plan a trip around it. It would seem this was the perfect opportunity to see The Caribbean for the first time. When I eventually found out it was St Lucia, I was all the more intrigued as it didn’t seem to be a place that got a lot of coverage on social media as a travel destination.

I was going on this new adventure without Craig who usually works with me in shooting travel content, so I had to come prepared to capture self portraits and St Lucia the way I experienced it. Bags packed and all my gear in hand, I headed to St Lucia with St Lucia Tourism Authority alongside other UK content creators.

The first thing that hit me was how hot St Lucia was. A hand fan is definitely a must. On the drive to our hotel, I couldn’t help but notice how some of the roads and structures reminded me of my village back home in Nigeria which also shares a similarly warm weather to that of St Lucia.

I stayed at Coco Palm Hotel in Rodney Bay which is very close to Reduit beach and one of St Lucia’s most notable fine dining restaurant, Orlando’s, where I got to experience the flavours of St Lucia in a five course taster meal which was out of this world. It’s safe to say my new favourite thing is fried bakes. We got to meet Orlando himself who talked us through the history of the food which inspired the menu. It was a rich and personalised experience. A place I’d highly recommend if you want to experience the essence of St Lucia through food. Orlando’s is currently only open in the evenings and reservations are highly encouraged.

After spending a couple of days in St Lucia, I was genuinely amazed at how beautiful it was. Picturesque is the word that comes to mind. Every scenery felt like a painting frozen in time. It was hard not to be inspired by the colours and it’s natural beauty. Speaking of beauty, St Lucia has the most wonderful people I’ve ever come across in all my travels. They are genuinely the nicest humans I’ve ever encountered. Everyone was willing and happy to help out without expectation. The care for one another just seems to be a natural part of their culture. It was very refreshing to see. This would be my top reason to recommend St Lucia; visit for the people alone as they’ll make you feel very much welcomed. It’s a good place to explore as a solo traveller.

The itinerary was very well thought out as I got to see some lovely places on the Island. Starting off with The Pink Plantation House which holds a lot of history. We got to see one of the rooms which is available to rent. It was a dream house to shoot in and I couldn’t resist taking a self portrait there. We also got to enjoy lunch with some local content creators who told us more about St Lucia.

We took a tour of Pigeon Island National Park which also had a beach next to it. The park holds remnants of historical structures which we got to see.

When we asked where the beach was, a local said to us, in St Lucia, you’re never too far from the beach and he was right. Reduit beach was located less than 10 minutes walk from our hotel. It was nice and quiet with a view I wouldn’t mind waking up to everyday.

One of my highlights of this trip was visiting the south of St Lucia. We went to Soufriere. Took a hike up Tet Paul Nature Trail where we got a view of the mountains. I’m pretty sure we caught a glimpse of St Martinique, another beautiful Caribbean island as I’ve been told. We saw an antique house on our way down which still holds a lot of its original features.

The Sulphur Springs was something I was looking forward to experiencing. We were told by locals it was good for the skin and you would feel refreshed after a spring bath. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to go in as I didn’t bring the appropriate swimwear to brave the muddy springs. But the other content creators got in and they appeared to enjoy it. So I’ll have to do this when next I find myself in this beautiful island.

Ladera Resort was kind enough to host us for lunch. They gave us a tour of the grounds which is huge. If you’re looking to get a great view of the island during your stay then this is the resort to check into. We saw an open door suite which overlooked the mountains. It felt like something out of a magnificent dream. There was an in house restaurant with an infinity pool that also overlooked the mountains allowing you to get a scenic view over a nice meal.

We also visited Toraille waterfall which was very calming as no one was there except us. It’s a nice place to go to and listen to nature while taking all of it in.

All in all, St Lucia was an absolute dream and I’m glad it was the first place I got to visit in The Caribbean. I’ve already told Craig we’ll be visiting together because I know he’ll love it as much as I did. It was lovely to experience a place that not only took me back home but inspired my creativity to tell a story.

Thanks for reading “My St Lucia Dream”. See this beautiful island for yourself in the YouTube video below. A special thank you to St Lucia Tourism Authority for having me.

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