Our honeymoon was just a great as our wedding was, and we only have God and His kindness to thank for that. M & I headed off to St. Lucia bright and early Monday morning. Well, I don't know how "bright" it was (we got to the airport at 4:15am) but what soon followed made it all worthwhile. St. Lucia is an island in the British West Indies and possesses all the carribean island charm you would expect from an island so far south.
We spent our week at the
Anse Chastenet resort, which was a small resort (not touristy at all) on the more unpopulated side of the island. Our humble bungalow featured two solid walls and two completely screened walls, a blue sky mural on the ceiling, a canopy bed and no air conditioning. It was so perfect for us, though - just what we wanted. Our travel agent outdid himself in setting this up for us (and all for free, too! Anyone looking to book a honeymoon should
definitely give them a call!)
Anyway, the resort featured two restaurants which served the best food I have literally
ever tasted. Basic, but accented with multiple herbs, spices and coconut. I loved it. As you will see from the pictures, our bungalow set about 200 feet above sea level... that's 200 ft of stairs... above sea level, and possessed a fantastic view of the Piton volcanic mountains and the crystal Carribean sea. Breathtaking! Sometimes literally. :-)
The weather was sunny every day, with temps in the high 80s during the day. It was paradise. Enjoy the pictures. (To view larger images, click on the pictures themselves).
The entrance into our bungalow. 5C, the Cordia room.
Our room, in all it's glory, in the evening. Not fancy, but just the way we wanted it: authentic. Even the lighting is very dim there.
A sunset view from the balcony of our bungalow to the right.
Our view of the Pitons to the left.
Here's a view of the entire resort from the water. It's all tucked away in the mountainside under the palm trees.
Scuba diving is our new favorite thing. We went twice and absolutely loved it! The second time we went we dove beneath the waters at the base of the Petit Piton mountain. It was beyond amazing. While make our way through the reefs at 50 ft below, we encountered a even more magestic sight - a giant sea turtle, calming making his way through the 80F water. There are not words to describe how awesome it was.
But diving did have it's costs. Here you'll see my scuba diving boo boos. That's what you get when you run into a coral wall. Stupid.
One of the nearby, secluded beaches.
And this was a very pleasant surprise. We were on our way back from diving when our guide pulled us up to this ship. Turns out it's the "Black Pearl", the ship used in the filming of the movie Pirates of the Carribean. Sweet!
M loved the sailing we got to do. But I didn't feel so good. *Sheepish grin* But being out on the water for the sunset was great and we ended the evening on the boat with a toast of champagne.
During the day we spent our time lounging around under the cous cous hut, or...
On a hammock in the shade of a palm tree. Yes, life was rough. :-)
In the evenings the local fishermen brought in their catches of the day! Time to eat!
Our beach.
Our beach table. :-) Nothing like eating your dinner while the waves come up to you.
Two of the many friendly birds we encountered on our trip. In fact, M & I have a video of me feeding one of them by hand. The two friendliest birds were brown finches and bananaquats.
Needless to say, it was very difficult to leave such a beautiful island. It was the perfect getaway for a newly-married couple.
