***WARNING: signing up for Peace Corps may cause some seriously great friendship to form***
I just got back from a 10 day trip to sunny St. Lucia. Man was it a wawonderful vacation! Several volunteers and I went up a few days early before our close of service conference (cos) and got to be tourists for 5 days.We got a 6:30 am flight out of Grenada and were in St Lucia by 8:30 and checking in to our guest house by 10:30. Travels that day were perfect! Liat was on time! taxi ride to the bus terminal was entertaining and the bus ride to the hardware store in Soufriere was painless.
Clearly, the next step was to enjoy a Piton, the local beer in St. Lucia, named after two twin peaks located JUST south of us, there. We checked in and got settled. All of us were exhausted, BUT! the theme of this trip was, gotta push through, so, we pushed through.
Located just up the road about a 10 min walk from where we were staying was a botanical garden, mineral bath, and diamond waterfall. Apparently, a scene from superman 2 was filmed there... check it out!
We spent the afternoon walking around the botanical gardens which was... nice... but so many of the things said DO NOT TOUCH and that is just not my scene. Stupes. We found the waterfall and had a good laugh or two back there. Then, we got to enjoy about an hour long soak in the mineral baths. They were warm and soothing and kind of perfect after our crazy busy travel day. Pretty great way to start off a wonderful trip.
Day two we got up nice and early AGAIN to hitch a ride to the base of the Pitons. We hiked Gross Piton, the shorter but fatter of the two. Pitit Piton is said to be extremely challenging and you have to use ropes and such. Gross ended up kicking my arse so that was good enough for me.
We had a guide, even though the trail was clearly marked and we could have done without one. Our guide was female and that really impressed me. I feel that in Grenada women wouldn't have that job, or be allowed to have it? Either way, she was great... in that she didn't really talk at all and every once in a while she'd laugh at us for being us.
It only took us about and hour and a half to reach the top, where the view was just great. The sun was shining up there and we got to just sit and enjoy it all. Taking in the beauty down here is mind blowing.
I really love it. At the top we could see Martinique to the north, and St. Vincent to the south.
The way down was obviously easier... on my lungs, but I was experiencing shaky leg syndrome as a result to lack of oxygen in them on the way up. All in all, it was a great hike! Glad I got to experience it. :)
Day 3! Phew! Once again, got up hecka early to go ZIP LINING! We took a bus down the west coast to Fieux Fort, the southern tip and then a next bus up the east coast to Dennery, the town closest to the zip line location.
Now, keep in mind we are still pcvs, using our precious savings on this splurge of a vacation, so, where ever we could save a few bucks, we did. We packed our little PB&J sandwiches and
put them in black plastic "trash" bags to save a little cash.
Then, instead of hiring a taxi to take us from the main road to our destination, we decided to hitch. Boy did we get LUCKY! After walking for only about 5 min a garbage truck passed. Guess who flagged that big guy down! Yep, so, here we were rollin up to this fancy pants zip line place where bus loads of tourists were being shipped in on air conditioned tour buses from the ship and the resorts, and we jump out of the back of this big ol' truck. Shortly after we decide to eat our snack out of our trash bags while we waited.
Zip lining was great. Kinda scary at first, but once I felt more comfortable (around line 2, haha) it was really enjoyable. Another thing I'm just happy I got to experience.
We were really starting to feel totally exhausted! But, our theme kicked in and we pushed through. The next day, WE SLEPT IN! and had a beach day. Where we got to just relax at the beach, in the shade, and did some swimming and snorkeling. We had dinner at a place that LOOKED expensive, but because we are senior citizens, we got there for dinner when they were still serving lunch. Perf!
The next 4 days were spent reconnecting with EC-81 as a whole. All the volunteers from St. Lucia, Dominica, and Grenada came together one... last... time. It was really great to see everyone and hear their stories. Even though we all had very different experiences we were able to relate to each others stories and had many good laughs. Of the 25 people we started with, we have an amazing 23 that made it through the entire service! Congrats to us! This has been a kick! "I have to say that I'm proud to know you, and I'll never be the same because we met." Until next time, EC-81, cheers!
e. Saw tons of friends. Saw tons of family. Ate tons of food. Had tons of FUN. Then flew back to Grenada to be greeted with Camp Tufton. This year, me and another volunteer organized the came for the boys up in Victoria. It was a success and we all had a blast. It felt smoother this year but I feel that could just be because I knew what to expect. We ended the week long camp with an overnight camp out on Bathway beach. Exhausting? Yep. But completely worth it. Love those boys!
