St. Lucia is an island country in the Eastern Caribbean with more history than meets the eye. She is the only country in the world named after a human woman for starters. Part of her beauty comes from the fact that she is a volcanic island, we will come back to that later.
One of the best ways to see the lush vegetation and the beauty of St. Lucia is to hike. So we booked two
excursions for our stay in St. Lucia. First off was a short hike of Tet Paul Nature Trail followed by bathing in the mud baths. We finished up with a guided tour through the bubbling volcanic crater, and a tour of the incredible Diamond Falls Botanical Gardens.
Our second excursion was the “moderately easy” hike of Gros Piton. Tet Paul is a little over half a mile of a fairly easy hike. Though it is not an extremely exciting hike at first, you will see some neat plants growing along the way and a goat or two. However, when you get to the point where the trees open up and you see the Pitons in front of you, it’ll take your breath away.
The Pitons are two peaks of St. Lucia set against the magnificent backdrop that is the Caribbean Sea. The Pitons were formed between 200,000 and 300,000 years ago and are considered volcanic plugs. This hike is a must do and will only take you about 45 minutes, this includes the many stops along the way to take pictures.
Included in our first tour we also got to visit the mud baths. I am pretty skeptical about natural remedies but bathing in the mud is most definitely a fantastic idea. Not only did it help relieve sun burn pain, but it also helped to relieve joint pain. I wish I could have brought the entire bath home with me; it was that luxurious. The only thing you will complain about is the rotten smell of hydrogen sulfide in the air, but not to worry, the baths do not contain enough hydrogen sulfide to cause any health issues.
After dunking in the bath, we had the opportunity to take a guided tour through the volcanic Caldera. A caldera is a volcanic crater, usually caused by a major volcanic eruption causing the collapse of the mouth of the volcano. This is why St. Lucia’s volcano is named “the only drive through volcano in the world” because it’s not your typical mountainous volcano. It was one of the most mesmerizing
experiences as we could not only see but also hear the earth boiling only feet from where we stood.
During our guided tour we noticed an interesting tree near the path that had unusual looking fruit on it. We learned the fruit was a cashew apple and attached was a cashew in its shell. We learned that the oil from the cashew shell can cause skin irritation and that they detach the shelled cashew from its fruit and leave it out to dry in the sun before removing the cashew from its shell. I have never seen a more interesting tree. That cashew tree reminded me that the simplest things that we see every day come from amazing places that we haven’t had the chance to experience yet.
After our tour through the Caldera, we went to the Diamond Falls Botanical Gardens which was unexpectedly one of the best tours we’ve done. We saw plants and trees that were unlike anything we had ever seen in The United States. The colors, shapes and textures of these flowers were so unusual that you would think they were fake.
Now the Botanical Garden is named after the Diamond Falls which is another absolutely breathtaking site. The falls have an unusual color to them that our guide informed us can change day-to-day. The falls are downstream from the Sulphur Springs which means the water has a mixture of different mineral deposits in it.
Depending on which mineral is heaviest in the water that day will give the rocks behind the falls a different shade. Check out the Diamond Falls Instagram @diamondstlucia to see some examples
of the changes in color of the falls and some incredible photos from the Botanical Gardens.
The next day we had the opportunity to hike Gros Piton. Gros Piton is what the locals call a “moderately
easy” hike that will take about three hours one way. The peak is a little over 2,600 feet above sea level which makes the views well worth the hike. However, the people telling you it is a moderately easy hike are the guides who are hiking it almost every day. I wouldn’t say that we are out of shape, but it was a little more difficult than we were expecting it to be.
The hike can be steep in some places, with around 2-foot-high gaps between one rock and the next. In other places, there are small stairs built into the side of the mountain. There are a few resting spots along the way with benches, when you get about halfway you will have incredible views of the water.
At the top of Gros Piton you will find rocks jutting out in all directions and a view as far as the eye can see. I was a little distracted and did not get the opportunity to take a bunch of pictures at the top, this is where the then boyfriend became my fiancé!
If you plan on hiking Gros Piton this is what you are
going to want to pack:
-Comfortable walking shoes, I would not recommend wearing sandals.
-Lots of water, I would suggest no less than 50 ounces of water per person. We did not take nearly enough water with us. I hiked the entire three hours down with about an ounce of water so that I could
save it for him as he had a harder time on the way down. I was running on pure adrenaline from getting
engaged.
-Sunscreen, you will probably start your hike early in the morning, but the sun is brutal, and you’ll need it by the time you get to the peak.
-A towel to wipe sweat, your hands, etc. I was putting my hands down on the rocks a lot to get myself up and down some of the steeper rocks and you’ll want to wipe your hands off.
-A camera to take pictures along the way.