Previously on To Saint Lucia …
Part One – We get stuck in Miami.
Part Two – The Fond Doux Holiday Plantation.
Part Three – The beach.
Part Four – Castries.
Welcome to the final chapter in the To Saint Lucia series. We have covered the vast majority of the holiday, leaving just one major event.
On the first morning of our holiday, I proposed. Karen laughed.
Then she said yes.
Previously on To Saint Lucia: Our intrepid couple attempted to make it all the way to St Lucia, but were instead stranded in Miami. Later, in part two, they arrive in Saint Lucia and explore the Fond Doux vacation plantation. Part three brought us to the beach.
And now for the exciting penultimate episode of To Saint Lucia …
The highlights of a Caribbean holiday are evident, and already visited. We stayed at a resort and we visited the beach. But Karen and I refused to visit a country and never visit a city in that country. So we decided to take a taxi across the country one day and visit the capital city Castries.
NOT Castries
As Castries is on the north part of the island, and Fond Doux in the south, it meant crossing the country completely. When we arrived, Castries was not what we expected.
There were — as we had been told to expect — three cruise ships in port. If you have never seen a cruise ship, it might be impossible to properly relate the size of the things. They are, quite literally, giant hotels that float. Thousands of passengers had flooded out of them, and were eagerly buying things in the nearby duty free shops and marketplace.
Karen and I wandered around these, and through the small town — less than half the size of Kingston, Ontario, where I grew up. There was little of note outside the area that catered to tourists who visited on the cruise ships, and when they began to move out of the harbour just after four in the afternoon, the entire city shut down. The shops and restaurants closed, and we were forced to find a local bar and drink rum until our taxi arrived to bring us back to the resort.
Yes. Forced to drink rum. Life is hard.
Forced! Look:
Previously on To St Lucia: In part one, our vacationers get stuck in Miami en route to their final destination. In part two they make it to their resort.
Although our resort was inland, it did not deprive us of a beach. Instead, it offered a free shuttle to the beach of a nearby resort. While the shuttle was actually a taxi, and only free until four in the afternoon (thus either requiring us to pay, or miss the sunset), it was a holiday in the sun, so Karen and I took advantage several times.
The beach itself was absolutely gorgeous. Between the two Pitons on the Caribbean coast, it was an idyllic location, with an uncrowded beach — which might have had something to do with Karen and I having beat the tourist season by appearing a few weeks early.
Previously, on To Saint Lucia: Stephen and Karen are trapped in Miami for a night before they can finally arrive at their destination.
A day late, we finally made it to St Lucia.
We landed, stood in a giant queue to have our passports stamped, argued with the local bank representatives, and finally jumped in a taxi to have an hour-long ride through beautiful St Lucia to our resort: The Fond Doux Holiday Plantation.
Rather than stay at a beachside resort, we had decided to spend our time further inland. We thought — correctly — that this would give us a more unique experience than a beach-side resort. However, after a two day travel ordeal, all we wanted was our bed.
We were not disappointed:
The Fond Doux plantation was fantastic — surrounded by the forest, the night was filled with sounds of insects being active just outside our cottage. Fond Doux is actually an active plantation — almost all the food they serve is grown (or raised) on the plantation itself. Our first night there, a small argument broke out at the bar — they had run out of limes, and were trying to decide whether or not someone should climb a tree in the dark to get some more.
The only drawback for Fond Doux was one that seemed to be consistent everywhere we went on the island: the completely relaxed atmosphere extends to the service provided to guests. If you order a drink, it may come immediately. It may come in 45 minutes. They might get distracted and forget to bring it at all. One never can be sure. We noticed it most at Fond Doux, but only because we spent the most time there. It extended to every place we visited.
A final word on Fond Doux: The restaurant is simply amazing. If you ever find yourself in St Lucia, and decide to stay elsewhere — make a reservation for dinner one evening, and sample the cuisine at Fond Doux. Order something with fish in it. You will not regret it.
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