Tuesday, September 13, 2011

St. Lucian Honeymoon!!!!!!

When Matt asked where I would want to go for our honeymoon I told him my only request is that there is a beach. He is such an amazing overachiever! It was the perfect romantic getaway so I caution you not to read this post if you are easily overcome with jealously as my honeymoon in St. Lucia will make you positively green with envy.

I have to admit I had never heard of St. Lucia until Matt revealed our honeymoon destination so I did a little research. St Lucia is an island in the Caribbean Sea found between Martinique and St. Vincent. I can't think of a "bad" Caribbean island but  St. Lucia is unique in that it is very mountainous and is home to one of the world's only drive in volcanoes.  It is an English Commonwealth however they speak a creole version of French (similar to New Orleans) on a daily basis along with their official language: English. The island is 27 miles long with a population ~170,00 with 1/3 of that population residing in the Capital City, Castries.

August 3rd/4th we took a midnight flight to Atlanta, GA where we switched planes and continued on to the Hewanorra International Airport in Vieux Fort, St. Lucia.

Matt and I were so excited we quickly went through customs, found our driver, and headed to the resort. It was about an hour drive to Ladera but we were too preoccupied taking in the incredible views to even notice.

And then we arrived at Ladera!
(I will let the pictures speak for themselves)











The Pitons!






Ladera's staff gave us an upgrade since it was our honeymoon! The villa was amazing Matt loved swimming through the tunnel beneath the bridge connecting the pool. I admit, I was a little nervous about not having a fourth wall to keep the critters out but the occasional lizard was well worth waking up to that incredible view!

The food at Dasheene is hands down the best I have ever had. My favorite meal was the night we brought back one of the Mahi Mahi we had caught and one of the chefs created our dinner with it.
 Pool open to the resort


The view :)
I want to be there now.

During our 10 day stint in paradise we....

Lounged on Jalouise beach
Only white sand beach because the sand is imported. St. Lucia has natural black beaches due to the volcano.

We went deep sea fishing




Lounged on Anse Chastnate beach

We went on a Jeep safari

They don't keep their animals enclosed these cute lil moo moos roam free grazing along the roads. I asked how they keep them from being stolen and was informed that everyone knows who the cattle and goats belong and would never purchase them from anyone but the rightful owner. How nice it must be to live in a country where the honor system keeps others from committing crime.



We also went zip lining. Unfortunately the guide that offered to take pictures for us ended up accidentally snapping a bunch of himself :(
So there you have it, a small glimpse into our amazing honeymoon!