As I said in my last blog, Lucians love Christmas. They love Christmas decorations, they are up everywhere, they love Christmas songs and carols, all with an upbeat reggae or calypso beat, they love to party and to laugh, and sometimes they love to be just a little crazy. There is even a Lucian Christmas song called, unsurprisingly, ‘A Lucian Christmas’, with the memorable lines, ..’have some fun, drink some rum, it’s a Lucian Christmas,’ I have always wanted to have one Christmas in my life in the heat and this year I had it. The evenings and nights are now less humid and a beautiful, balmy 24-26 c, but the days are around 30 c each and every glorious day, usually, now, with a beautiful easterly breeze to keep it comfortable. I am still not bored by the weather….I love it! I did wonder if I would feel ‘Christmassy’ in the heat, and the answer is that I do, mainly because the Lucians have so much Christmas fun and a wonderful Christmas spirit. The decorations all went up at the beginning of November, a tradition here. It is also a tradition to get new, Christmas curtains, cushion covers, bedding and sometimes even new Christmas sofas. Everything is cleaned and polished in time for Christmas, a sort of ‘Christmas clean’ similar to, but earlier than, our January spring clean. So everyone is busy, busy, busy with Christmas for a while before and all the radio stations, restaurants and shops have been playing said up beat festive songs for as long. How could you not feel Christmassy? To me it is also so much nicer to Christmas shop in the glorious sun than to be huddled up in coats and scarves, scurrying across puddles and through driving rain and wind. At work we even had an ‘ugly tee shirt’ competition on 16th December…..just an excuse to make a gaudy festive tee to wear for the day.
On 17th December we went to a Christmas concert at the home of John Bailey, where we had previously been to a concert in early September. It was an excellent evening of traditional carols, Lucian style, Caribbean Christmas songs and a stunning performance by a young local musician on the viola. Unlike our last visit, this evening had a warm breeze from the Atlantic blowing cool (26 degree) air through the house. We shared drinks and nibbles on the veranda overlooking the ocean before the performances began. Songs were performed by Justus, the 5 young singers we saw before, the Evergreen Singers, a local group of more mature singers two of whom we know, all accompanied by John on his baby grand piano. The highlight was young Caleb Georges playing ‘Romance in F major’ by Beethoven on his viola. It was exquisite and sent tingles down the spine. It took my breath away and held everyone spellbound, a magical moment of sheer musical beauty. This young man won a scholarship to a renowned American school of music and he recently came 3rd in a world wide young musician contest. He is forecast to become a famous performer and I certainly felt very privileged to have heard him play. I had a sense of experiencing something great and feel sure that I have previewed a talent that will in the near future be appreciated by thousands in settings like the Sydney Opera House. If you copy this link into google or your task bar you should be able to hear a short video of him playing https://photos.app.goo.gl/LLDo5LSiif1Gce4JA
We also learned and sang a local Christmas song, ‘Christmas and Love’, which had a lovely melody. By the end of the evening we felt that Christmas, Lucian style, had really arrived.
The following day, I went to work with Aretha in Vieux Fort as usual and when we finished we drove into the airport to scoop up Isaac and Sam, who had just arrived for Christmas. They were tired from their travels but were suitably captivated by St Lucia before we arrived back at the little house. I had to work on Thursday and Friday but the boys explored the bay, beaches, malls and the mountain and fish pedicure pond during the day. On Thursday evening we went to Razamataz, a Tandoori restaurant near the beach. Anthony and I hadn’t been to eat there yet, although we have had a couple of drinks in the jazzy bar, and the charity quiz night was held there recently. The food has a good reputation and we knew the boys would love the food so we had booked a table before they arrived. It didn’t disappoint, it was delicious and we had a fun evening as Sue, the owner, is a walking friend, and a couple of guys we had met the previous week in Amici, the local Italian, were also there. Dipendra, the chef, came to discuss his menu and after a lot of deliberating, and a few poppadoms, we chose a delicious assortment of Nepalese dishes.
The next night was Friday, which only means one thing to newly arrived visitors…..Jump Up! The four of us caught a bus round the bay to Gros Islet around 7pm and had a walk around, before deciding on fish at Dukes as the preferred culinary experience. Between us we had BBQ lobster, marlin, dorado and lambi (conch), with rice and beans and green fig salad, mouthwatering….mmmmmm. Christmas decorations, rocking Christmas songs and Santa hats abounded and everyone was in a festive mood for the last Jump Up before the big day. A few beers and a couple of rum punches later and we started the dancing, or I did, according to my sons. The whole point of the event is to rock your stuff in the street, so it seems silly to me to hold back. I tried to embarrass my offspring but they dealt with it well. We had fun and it rocked…..
Saturday began with our hire car arriving at 7.30am. After a bit of encouragement, the boys were ready to go out for a walk by about 9.30am and we headed to Cas en Bas to walk around the bay and the Arawak burial site. Everyone had fun, but as it was a bit later it was getting hot by 10.30am so we drove to the Landings beach to suss out a spot we had in mind for out Christmas day BBQ. We walked along the beach and the young swam. Everyone agreed that the spot, near the Landings itself (google it), was ideal, There was a picnic bench there that would be perfect for our meal, but would we be lucky enough to secure it?
Next, was a trip to Elaine and Tony’s to have a festive drink with them, their family and a few work colleagues who had been invited for Christmas biscuit baking. We were lucky enough and late enough to be able to taste the results and some of Elaine’s now famous bread and butter pudding slices. We were also there to pick up their BBQ for Christmas day. After a spot of lunch, the vote was to head to Windjammer resort (also to be googled) a few miles south. This is where I had been with Emilia a couple of weeks before and seen the dancing Santa. This time, we headed for the beach and the boys were delighted to see an inflatable ‘mountain’ and trampoline in the sea that had completely passed me by on my previous visit. The had a great time on this and we enjoyed drinks as the sun began to set. There had been a wedding on the beach just before we got there and not only did we get to listen to their steel band from the beach bar, but the bride and groom had their wedding photos right by us on the beach in the golden late afternoon sun, all adding to the fun.
Sunday is becoming a Pigeon Island day for us so, of course, we took Isaac and Sam too. We did the walk and mini ferry ride as usual but when we got to our usual spot, it was already almost full. Snuba man was there (google https://seaadventuresstlucia.com/ …..gosh I am turning into a regular Lonely Planet guide!) as well as a cruise ship coach load and the main beach was closed off as the cruise lot had it booked for their beach day. For the first time, we couldn’t get our favoured spot on the Jambe de Bois beach and had to sit on the path just behind it, a few yards from the good sand. Nevertheless, we had a great time. There were many fish to see and we all had a snorkel. Sam in particular swam down past the jetty and over the rocks there with a mask enjoying the multitude of striped, coloured and unusual fish, sea urchins and corals. The boys and I walked up to the fort and then they went on the signal point at the very top. Lunch at Jambe de Bois followed as usual which was good as ever. Isaac particularly enjoyed the grilled dorado. The boys also did the tour of the ruins and loved the police phone box as you can see from the photos.
Monday 23rd was my last day at work and after our meeting, and secret santa, we headed off for our Christmas lunch at the restaurant of Rendezvous, a smart resort on Vigie beach. We had a Caribbean buffet which was sumptuous! Feeling very full and very festive we all hugged and went off to celebrate Christmas.
Christmas eve was a fun day. I have wanted to go on the inflatable fun park at the far end of the beach at Rodney Bay, but it needs to be done with a group. I had it earmarked to do with my sons and what a laugh we had! With life jackets donned and the safety DVD dutifully watched we swam out to the first platform and managed to get up…..well after that it is a matter of ‘how long can I stay upright before I slip and fall in, again?’ The rubber is wet and very slippery and the angles the obstacles are set at, add to the degree of difficulty. There are slippery stepping stones, slippery monkey bars, slippery slopes to climb with slippery foot and hand holds, slippery slopes and bridges to run/scramble up, slippery ladders across the sea, slippery boulder and most fun, a slippery iceberg to scale and jump off and a slippery cushion that, if you can get to the right spot without falling off (I couldn’t after 2 attempts), someone jumps on to catapult you off into the sea, as if you hadn’t fallen in enough times by then!! And all of this ultra slippery stuff is moving up and down over the waves as you try to balance and move across it. It is hilarious fun and I haven’t screamed, laughed and swallowed as much sea water since I was a teenager. Of course, each time you fall off, you have to get back on. Not as simple as you might think. In a few places there are a couple of steps up with hand holds to get you back on but sometimes you fall in between equipment in a sort of enclosed pool, where there are no steps. If you are under 30 or so and fit, you can use your arms to haul yourself up, kicking with your legs for extra propulsion. If you are approaching 60 (God, that looks awful written down) and only moderately fit, but definitely not with a whole lot of upper body strength, you can only do this once, if you are lucky, and then there is not enough strength in the old arms and shoulders to get the body up and over. I was therefore heaved up each time by a nearby son and after half an hour or so of this every few minutes, my arms and shoulders were aching a lot. After we did a team dismount down a slide-thing, I swam ashore to watch the fitter members of the family go round again. Sam managed to do a face flop and hurt his head when trying to dismount from the iceberg in an elegant back flip when he ……you guessed it…..slipped on the slippery surface as he began the manoeuver. We all ached and had bruises to show for our efforts too, but agreed that it was well worth it. Our Christmas eve dinner was traditional glazed and cider baked ham with a Caribbean twist of plantains as well as roast potatoes, beans and broccoli and black cake, a Lucian run drenched Christmas cake, for dessert.
Christmas day was pretty much exactly the kind of day I had imagined it would be…..I love it when a plan comes together! We had a few little presents to open under the tree, Santa had found us in St Lucia! We had a breakfast of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon and then Isaac and I wanted a walk so we walked up the mountain for a Christmas pedicure at the fish pond. Very relaxing. We then loaded up the hire car with all essentials needed for Christmas day on the beach and we were off. Our first success was getting the picnic table we had set our sights on. It was free so the tablecloth went on, cutlery and crockery, glasses and condiments came out and we got the music blaring out of the car and the BBQ lit. Such an easy Christmas meal for me as with 3 men, I had little to do but sip my bubbly and swim in the warm sea 🙂 very happy Allie! We all swam while the surf and turf cooked and the breadfruit roasted in the coals. We started with king prawn skewers and salad, followed by beef rump steak and marlin steaks with my homemade Christmas loaf, salad and breadfruit. Totally delicious. We had a few other locals there too and a couple of local guys riding bareback on their horses. It was also topped off by seeing Santa, the real one I am sure, riding a horse down Landings beach waving at all the children. After another swim we went home to have mango & mango sorbet, St Agur and crackers and black cake for pud. I had very mild longings for a proper Christmas pudding with brandy butter, I must admit but that was all. As we had the car, we decided to drive down to Calabash Cove to watch the sun go down as it is such a beautiful spot. Isaac and I walked down to the beach and through the gardens and we had a cocktail as the sun set on Christmas day in St Lucia. In a bizarre example of how small a world it is, Anthony heard a voice he recognised and there was an old work colleague he hadn’t seen for nearly 20 years, on holiday there with his wife for Christmas!
Boxing day was Isaac and Sam’s last and we had planned a day in Soufriere. As you remember, this is a very spectacular place so we wanted to show it to the lads. We planned to leave early, but unfortunately, Sam had an ear infection from all his enthusiastic diving and swimming. He had had it for 2 or 3 days, but not too badly, and I had given him some ear drops that I had used when I had a similar thing earlier in my time here. On Boxing day morning he was in some considerable pain, and Sam has a high pain threshold. So we took him to the medical centre for 8am when it opened and were again thoroughly impressed with the service we got. By 9am he had antibiotics and some strong pain killers and we were heading south. He did gradually feel a bit better but we left out the snorkeling we had planned and took the day steadily but we had another brilliant day.
We started at the Diamond Botanical Gardens this time. The falls, the trees and plants, the lizards, birds and butterflies, were just as stunning as before. What had changed was the amount of tourists. This has been very apparent in Rodney Bay where everyday the beach is 2 or 3 rows deep with sun loungers and parasols, mostly for visitors from cruise lines. When we first got here, there would be one or two ships docking in Castries on a Thursday. Now, there are 2 or 3 a day, every day plus one dropping anchor in the bay also. This is a huge influx and it creates a lot of local issues. Those I speak to tell me that the number of ships has more than doubled in the last 3 or 4 years but also the size of the ships is increasing massively. They used to have 1-2 thousand passengers, but now have as many as 5,000. This does not bring much income for ordinary people as most of the trips they take are pre-paid through the cruise companies who take a big cut and don’t always pass on the full price to local attractions. Some sellers make cash and a few restaurants and the Yacht Club sell lunch time snacks but as passengers are now mostly on inclusive deals, they don’t eat as much while here. They head off to an attraction then back to the ship by 4pm and off to the next island overnight. The huge ships are having an environmental effect on the harbour too. So, all the beautiful Sourfrere attractions were very busy indeed and it did take away some of the charm for me, just a bit. Nevertheless, we all enjoyed sulphur baths (40 years younger now!!!) a walk up to the brigands’ lookout – no-one else there as this is not much publicised- and a delicious meal at the Bamboo restaurant at Fond Doux where Lucy and I had been. We had a delicious meal, buffet main course with most dishes using plants, veg and spices grown on the plantation. It is a beautiful setting and there were many small birds flying in and out of the restaurant after a few crumbs. We also got to see the coco beans drying in the hot sun and many coco trees on our way up to the lookout. The meal here has also changed in tourist season. Lucy and I had a buffet of local foods with about 20 or more dishes to choose from. This time we had 10 or 12. We have noticed this elsewhere too since mid November. Restaurants charge a bit more and give a bit less, therefore making more money. I understand that they have to do this to make their businesses viable, but it gives a 4**** experience rather than a 5***** one. I am glad to have been here in hurricane season and have the quiet and best that St Lucia has to offer. I would encourage anyone to do the same if you can.
Sadly, the end of the day drew closer and we had to drive round the south of the Island to Vieux Fort to take Sam & Isaac to Hewanorra airport for their flight home. Anthony had been to this part of St Lucia before, but it was my first time to see Labourie and the coastline there. We had some spectacular views of Grande Piton and drove through some cute villages with a different feel to the rest of the island. All too soon we arrived and after big hugs, and with a bit of a lump in my throat, I waved my sons off and Anthony and I drove the rest of the way round the Island to Vigie airport to drop the hire car off. The next morning we learned that the boys had been upgraded to business class as it was not a busy flight! They had a reasonable sleep although poor Sam did suffer pain with his ear…..all better now though. Both boys loved the animals and wildlife, especially Isaac, so I am sharing some of their photos of these to give you a flavour.
My reflections on Christmas this year are that it has been really special and as wonderful to be in a warm climate and on a beach, as I had hoped. I now know that you don’t need to be cold to feel festive and that other kinds of Christmas traditions are good to learn and just as much fun as ours. I have missed the big family Christmases that I usually do, not for the food but for the family and friends. I am very upbeat, and incredibly happy here, but I do miss my family, friends and the extended community of West Wight, like the candlelit carol service at St Agnes on Christmas eve. It is the people that are important and that are missed, not the paraphernalia. Of course we all know this is true, but to experience it is interesting and gives a powerful focus on the important things. Having Isaac and Sam made Christmas so so special and sharing the St Lucian traditions and experiences with them made it, thanks guys! It has been a restful Christmas for us too and I have realised how much work I usually put into Christmas. Of course, I love to do it but it is tiring and it has been lovely to have a year off. The amount of shopping and time the preparations take for us all when we do a British Christmas has become even more obvious to me. The Lucians do this every bit as much but because I am here without everyone, I have not joined in. I am already looking forward to doing all the traditional British things again next year with everyone, but maybe I will be able to simplify it a bit. Elaine gave me one great example. She did not get a tree, but sprayed and decorated branches which I think looked wonderful and very creative.
New Year was now in our sights! Anthony and I had a very relaxing few days after the boys left, quiet after our active time, with lots of beach time, swimming, walking and eating up left overs. I had to work on the 30th and we had a great day of spring cleaning and sorting toys. New Year’s Eve was supper at the yacht club and watching the fireworks around the bay from the beach. We had a lovely time meeting new friends, listening to the live music from Spinnakers, next door and the finale of the fireworks, from at least 5 resorts simultaneously, was stunning. We did pinch ourselves again, that on NYE 2019 we had the vaguest hope of travelling to St Lucia that seemed like a pipe dream, and that on NYE 2020, here we were living our dream! The following day we had planned to spend relaxing by the lovely pool at the Royal Mystique hotel. Emilia had ‘borrowed’ a couple of towels from them, so we had agreed to take them back and thought that a day on their luxurious loungers, a few rum punches and a refreshing dip now and again would be a suitable start to 2020….start as we mean to go on……having fun and being chilled! As we start a new decade and a new year, I feel mellow, satisfied, well, loved and happy. What more can you ask for in life? I look forward less and stay more in the now, thankful for each joy that comes my way and worrying less about the things I can’t control. Having said that, I do have an intention to continue the many things that breaking away from my former way of life and coming to the Caribbean have taught me. I like this me much more than the one I was last year! I intend to keep having adventures, stay chilled, remember that it is loved ones and people that matter & that’s the nearest you will get to a New Year’s resolution from me. Happy New Year all X
Allie's Caribbean Travel Blog 
Can ‘t wait to see it all!!! See you next week!!! xx
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