St. Lucia, Caribbean

And so the great plane trek... Cartegena, Colombia to Panama City, Panama. Panama City to Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Long taxi ride to the Hilton. Room service and a bed. Long taxi ride back. Port of Spain to Castries, St.Lucia. 

What a delight to finally check into The Bay Gardens Resort for a whole week. Our first floor apartment had a balcony with sea views, literally a few metres from the beach, with a calm swimmable sea and lots of sunshine everyday. We just felt relaxed and happy. Unpack those cases for a whole week. Get your laundry done. Make your own coffee and breakfast in your own kitchen.

Rodney Bay is a very touristy cluster of resorts, a handful of restaurants and bars and a marina. Manufactured Caribbean like the package tourists from North America and Europe like it. Not to say it isn't very, very pleasant. And it's all within walking distance of our hotel. 

Most of the family is here to celebrate Neil's mom's 80th birthday.  Mom from Johannesburg. Sandra, Rob, Lisa and Dylan from New Jersey. Charles, Leonie, James and William from London. Joan and Raymund from North Carolina. Ashley from Dallas. Gail and Neil from Anywhere and Everywhere. 

There are a few excursions on offer. Neil and  I hired a car one day with Mom to tour the island; to see the real St.Lucia. We also did a birdwatching tour one morning. We all went to Pigeon Island one day - a mediocre and touristy experience at best. The family did a catamaran trip. You can use the sailing boats and kayaks from the hotel free of charge.

On the first evening we got together for dinner at Spinnakers, which has a great setting on the beach with sunset views. Our rule that the food is usually pretty mudane if patrons are coming for the view definitely applies here. And our group did go back quite a few times which just goes to prove the point.

For Sunday brunch and to celebrate Mom's birthday we had a great time at Jacques, with it's waterside setting on the marina. Here our rule doesn't apply at all and we did come back too.

Buzz is the other restaurant worth mentioning in the area. 

This package-type of travel is not our thing but we did have a good time with the family.