Soufriere Saint Lucia

Once a year, I take a trip with one of my best friends, Michelle who also happens to be a professional photographer (see her work here). Last year, we visited Eleuthera Bahamas (see our best photos from that trip here).

This year, we decided to check out another Caribbean island.

Soufriere is a colorful rural city on the exotic island of Saint Lucia. The city embraced us with open arms and delighted us with friendly people, lush vegetation and delicious food. My friend Michelle and I decided to overlook the fact that Saint Lucia is known to be a “honey moon” destination. Instead we packed our professional cameras and decided to explore a part of this island on our own.

We had many adventures (including “almost dying” from ingesting improperly cooked -by us- cassava root) and filled 5 days with months worth of fun, leisure and beautiful photos. Below is a glimpse of our St. Lucia story in pictures (all photos here were taken either by me or Michelle).

Overall Impressions- Romance, generosity and abundance

St. Lucia is a sensory overload, in the best possible way. Scents, colors, tastes, views combine to offer a varied and intense experience for the senses. From mineral springs that make your skin feel like you’ve had a two hour facial to grey water falls and spectacular beaches, St. Lucia’s natural beauty is truly incomparable and unforgettable.

We arrived in the “off” season when it rains(more like sprinkles) 5 times a day. This also happens to be mango season. Now, when they say mango season this literally means there is so much mango fallen on the road that the streets turn yellow from the car squished fruit, filling the air with the delicious smell of ripe, sweet mango. And yes, I ate more mango in 5 days than the entire year and yes, it was the best mango I have ever had.

As a photographer and a strongly visual person, one of the highlights of the trip for me was the variety of landscapes, colors and vegetation. It was really hard to put the camera down. Two thousand photos later, I came home filled with awe and appreciation for the beauty of this world.

In all honesty, I totally get it why this is such a fabulous honey moon destination. There is peace, love and pleasure to be discovered and enjoyed at every corner. And while these things are waiting to be discovered no matter where you live, it just seems to me that they are a touch more readily accessible in Saint Lucia.

Transportation and Accomodations

Michelle and I aim to avoid all inclusive resorts. We love to explore on our own. It offers us organic, authentic experiences of the culture and people of that place.

We rented a car and Michelle drove the entire time, while I felt called to cook our meals (brilliant arrangement).

For accommodations, we chose an Air BnB with a spectacular view of the city. We had the whole place to ourselves. We spent less that $200 each for 5 nights which is incomparably cheaper that the $850/night Sandals resort a few miles down the road. Most of our resting time was spent on the balcony where we had our meals while watching over the gorgeous panorama of city and the pitons (the mountain like peaks that define St. Lucia).

We shopped at the local grocery store and aimed to eat breakfast and lunch at home, while seeking dinner at local restaurants. The food was some of the best I have ever had while travelling. Fresh cooked vegetables and seafood, bready fruits and incredibly flavored deserts made us look forward to every evening out.

The locals were incredibly generous, often offering us more than we had bargained for which touched me and inspired me every single time. I was reminded that a feeling of abundance does not come from how much you own but how much you celebrate and share what you already have. 

Super Man Falls

It took us about two hours to walk to Super Man Falls and back alongside our patient and knowledgeable guides. We didn’t know what to expect. Wayne and Justus kept the stroll interesting by offering us flowers or fruit they picked as we walked, or leaves that had therapeutic smells. They shared a lot of information about local natural remedies.

Once we arrived the view took my breath away. Because the waterfall is so close to the local mud baths, the water is colored grey by the surphuric mud. We spent quite a while taking photos and enjoying the water. I didn’t want to leave.

Mud Baths

This is where people come and pay to cover themselves in stinky mud. Yep, it’s all true. The sulphur springs come from the volcano on the island. They are believed to have healing properties (detoxify, reduce inflammation and heal the skin). The springs are hot so it’s not recommended you spend more than 20 minutes in the water (just like a sauna). I personally forgot to mind the time and was a bit light headed afterwards. Overall, the mud baths provided a fun experience (once you get over the smell) and our skin felt amazing for days afterwards.

Anse Chastanet Beach Soufriere Saint Lucia

This beach was out of a movie…Dark sand, still waters, interesting ruin looking like rocks, complete privacy…how is this place real?

 

Sugar Beach

In order to fully explain the magic of this beach I must share a bit about the two pitons. The pitons are mountainous rock formations formed by the volcano on the island. The locals call them “the breasts of the island”.

Well, sugar beach was located right in between them.  So imagine having solid beautiful mountains at your back while you’re on a white sand blue water luxury resort beach. The water was so clear I was finally able to successfully use my go pro under water. Yay! The white sand had been imported by the resort owners from Trinidad and Tobago. We came here twice, including on the last evening. We even met a young man who was willing to “hook us up” with whatever we needed. He gifted us animals he hand made from palm tree leaves.

If you choose to come here for your honey moon or with your best friend, you won’t be disappointed.

Tet Paul Nature Trail

Hello, gorgeous mother nature! Heaven is definitely a place on Earth and at least a portion of it is on this nature trail.

Brand Collaborations

Since Michelle has recently answered her calling towards the beautiful journey of becoming a professional photographer, we decided to spend part of this trip to develop our photography skills. For this reason we partnered up with a couple of brands to offer them beautiful product photography taken on a remote, tropical island. Here are some of our favorite results. Click on the photo to find out more about each product.