Thank you Janus for your wonderful hospitality and willingness to show us around your beautiful island. Youre a great guy and we feel blessed to have met you. We look forward to coming back to stay in ‘’THE CASTLE’’ Thanks again for everything

Mandy & Steve’s St. Lucia Honeymoon

Mandy & Steve’s Honeymoon

Day 1

our flight was delayed but someone from Islander Cars was there to greet us the ins/outs of the car, island and directions. We are here for 9 days and the rental is US$600.00. if you haven’t driven on the left side of the road before (like us) it is very different but steve got the hang of it pretty quick.

Tip – blinker are on the right.

We stopped at Massy’s supermarket as recommended by Janus.
It was busy! They do take usd & Card but takes a little longer to process cards. We were shocked at the prices at the store. We got break, milk, eggs, packable lunch and snack items water and beers and it was US$147.00. OMG!!

We were greeted by Janus upon our arrival to the villa, - 1 hour drive. Walked down for Ruby’s pizza but they are no longer in business. Walked back up and Janus greeted us he lives right next door and offered to drive us to town to show us a place to eat.

We ate at Pitit Peak- it was OK. Traditional St. Lucian Food/seasoning. 2 meals, 4 piton = US$70.00. Came home, sat on porch star gazing and went to bed.

Day 2

The forest was pretty cloudy with rain on/off throughout the day but we decided to take out changes and go to the beach. We went to Anse Chastanet and went snorkeling (said to be the best spot to snorkel) it was crystal clear and we saw tons of fish. We decided to walk to the smaller quieter beach which we’ve hear locals go and you can get a good burger. As we were walking a worker who worked at the resort showed us the way and we had a nice conversation with him. The smaller beach Anse Mamin is  amazing. We rented 2 chairs for US$12.00 each. Next time we’ll save the money and just lay on our towels. We also met another local Ronan who offered to get us a fresh mango and Coconut. Usually we say ‘’No Thanks’’ but he was very kind so we did. He also gave a bowl out of an indigenous fruit and a conch seashell. We went to the Burger hut (open 12-3pm) and split a burger & fries (us$25.00- it was good!!!) We drove back to the villa round 3:30pm and got ready for our evening at Jade Mountain

Tip- call and make reservation in advance (atleast 3 weeks). Our experience at Jade Mountain was second to None! We felt like celebrities and they all (staff) treated us so nicely. Our reservation was for 6 for a sunset sinner on a Sunday. We arrived at 5:45pm (HIGHLY RECOMMEND) We were the only ones there until about 6:00 which meant we had the entire place to ourselves. I am so serious when I say you have to do it. First we got a driver from the villa (best choice)- Ask Janus to  Set up (us$10.00 each way) they drop you to the bottom and the shuttle take you to the top. Orian was our driver – so sweet and told us about his time at Jade Mountain. When we got to the top, he walked us in to the resort/ restaurant. When we checked in we ordered our drinks and while they were being prepared we were escorted to the top where you have a 360 degree view of the island; the Pitons, Anse Chastanet beach, sunset, rain forest. They even offered to take our  picture. We enjoyed our drinks until dinner and went back downstairs and got to choose our own table. The service was second to none. I've never has this good of a service, the all worked together to ensure our night/experience was perfect. We each had 2 drinks, 3 course meal and shared a dessert. Our bill was U$215 – totally worth every penny. We told them it was our Honeymoon and they brought us another dessert tat said ‘’Congratulations’’ How  sweet. We had even read in this book Janus’ cousin works at Jade so we introduced ourselves to him and he even greeted us at dinner and treated us with dessert wine & chocolate. We even got entertainment of Steel pan. We called our driver (jamal) and he was here quick.
Tip- plan on being there about 3:30. ENJOY!!

Day 3 

We walked into town after having breakfast and coffee on the patio. We explored all over, some locals will def ask to ell you something but if you just say ‘ im good thanks’ they’re cool with it. We really wanted pizza- ruby’s closed and Puonty’s Piza only open wed-sat. We stopped at Cool Breeze got Ice-cream and ate it all home
P.S – we ended up having lunch at Hummingbird just down the road from Orlandos. Ambience was great. We ate by the pool. Staff was friendly. Food was good and decently priced. We split a burger and had 2 pitons for US$25.00. 
Tip – if youre in a hurry go with the flow. If you are on a time constraint give yourself extra extra time.

Day 4

Back to Hummingbird for lunch! Superb! Then took a water taxi to Sugar Beach for a couples massage. US$50.00 round-trip for water taxi. The rainforest spa is amazing! Staff was super friendly, service was good (7/10) could’ve used a moister under knees and a bit more pressure (us$50.00 for deep tissue) Ambience and atmosphere was phenomenal. There was a lady smoking a cigarette right next to our hut which was a bit disturbing. Boat Taxi back and shower up for dinner with chief Ramsey! Great food Great Experience, great person. What a fun experience we’ll always remember forever. The mango daquaries he made us was sooo yummy. We really loved talking to him and having him cook for us was an honor.

Day 5

Woke, ate breakfast and made the trek to go visit pigeon island and beach at Sandals Grande. Pigeon Island is cook and hike to top is easy. Beautiful beach out of the best on Island. The resort staff Is very quick to checking if youre a guest and make sure you don’t use any of the hotel amenities. Its about 1.5- 2 hours drive from Villa to Gros Islet. We made a couple stops along the way for pictures and has a couple pitons in Rodney Bay at a cute café called ‘Café ole’ ( smoothies, coffee, pastries, beers, wraps, sandwiches, salads) slow service. Good prices good food. Showered back at home and made our way to Pounty’s Pizza (Hawaiian for recommendations). So good. We’ll be back!!! Off to bed now!!

Day 6

Had coffee on the Patio this morning before going to town for more cash at the ATM.  Then went to a little place for breakfast on the bay- wont be back. Ordered a breakfast sandwich and the bacon was questionable. After walking a few doors down to Zakas- have heard quite a lot- theyre awesome. We got 2 smoothies at US$4.00 each. They sell coffee. We’ll probably go there again before we leave. We stopped at JC’s (liquor store_ for beer and water then changes and head ed back to Anse Mamin for a second time. If youre feeling adventurous simply walk further down the beach towards the rocks and take in the beauty and total peace.

Tip- wear sandals /shoes, the sand gets hot.
After a few hours at the beach we headed home, showered and has dinner at Orlandos. We didn’t have reservations but It wouldn’t hurt. Luckily we got right in. it was the first jazz night. Great entertainment & Atmosphere. Food was the best in Soufriere.

Day 7

Woke up and breakfast on the pation again. We opted to d the Soufriere tour though Janus. Went to Tet Paul Nature Trail. Really cool, amazing view, short & easy hike. Next we went to the Volcano and Sulphur Springs where we got a mud bath. That was fun. We then went to Diamond Falls & Botanical Gardens, also very pretty. Ended our tour with lunch at Fedos – local favorite and very reasonable prices. Came back and swam and layed out the rest of the afternoon then at Pounty’s pizza again. Hawaiian is the best. Bed early for Gros Piton Hike tomorrow 

Day 8 

Up early for the Gros Piton Hike. It took us 5 hours to complete. 1.5 hours to hike up and 1.5 to hike down. For level of difficulty it was probable 8/10. Challenging but able to take many stops. Nice view at the top but Tet Paul was better. It was agood challenge to see if we could do it. At the bottom There are Pitons and home-made ice-creams for sale (us$4.00 each) The mango ice-cream was so good. After we had lunch them back to pool and lounge and nap. Went to dinner at Pier 28…SCRATCH THAT- We tried to go there but aweful smell filled the place so we went to Pounty’s for the 3rd and last time. We walked in town a bit then got ice-cream from a small place opposite the gas station on the bay.

Day 9

Our last full day. We went to Zaka’s for smoothies and got their morning  fritata’s So good. Went to Anse Mamin for the last time. Had the place to ourselves. Shared a burger. Came home and off to bed. I will list our top recommendations on the next page

Thank you Janus for your wonderful hospitality and willingness to show us around your beautiful island. Youre a great guy and we feel blessed to have met you. We look forward to coming back to stay in ‘’THE CASTLE’’ Thanks again for everything 

Mandy & Steve ‘’Honeymooners 2019’’

Mandy & Steve’s Recommendation List

• Beaches:

Anse Mamin – Quiet, secluded and beautiful
Anse Chastanet & Sugar Beach – Snorkeling

• Places to Eat:

Pounty’s Pizza
Chef Ramsey- private chef (us$125.00)
Orlandos
Hummingbird resort
Zaka’s – coffee, smoothies fruitata’s
Jade Mountain – fancy, once in a lifetime opportunity.
Fedos – local, cheap

To DO:

Soufriere Tour via Janus – (us$60.00pp for 2 people)
Massage @ Rainforest Spa
Gros Piton CLim
Water Taxi to Sugar Beach
North of the Island – pigeon island 

Things we will try next time

Pirate cruise 
Sunset Cruise
Ziplining 
Rent dune buggy
Spent more time in Gros Islet
Buy all groceries needed at once at Massy’s
Come for 1 month vs 9 days

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