Palm Fern Things, Beautiful Beaches, and Content Hearts.

Christa Unruh
Nov 6 · 6 min read

Day 4: November 3, 2019

This morning we decided to head south to a beach called Anse Chastenet. Anse Chastenet is only 17km away from our cottage but it takes well over an hour and a half to get there! The journey there was full of winding roads and I am so thankful that Rob doesn’t get car sick because I would have lost my cookies if I was the passenger. I highly recommend the drive, if your stomach can handle the twist and turns, because the scenery in incredible. You drive over and around mountainous jungle, with massive palm fern things, and vines dangling from the side of the road beckoning you to swing from them, and not to mention the view of the ocean is second to none!!

The “Palm Fern Things” lol. It’s not the greatest photo but we’re about to whip around the one of the many bends in the road.

While travelling south towards the town of Sufriere we drove through a tiny village called Anse la Raye which featured an extremely narrow Main Street. The street was lined with parked cars to the right side of us, the leaving only enough room for one car to travel the lane. There were tiny colourful shacks, stacked side by side, in blues and corals, looking exactly how I imagined a quintessential Caribbean town would look like. People gathered on their front steps starring at us as we drove by, looking like there wasn’t much else to do in the heat of the day other than drink a Coca Cola and people watch. There were dogs and roosters strutting down the road, and locals popping out from between the parked cars to cross the street.

To prevent drivers from flying down the congested roadway speed “humps” were placed strategically down the lane slowing the cars down and creating a bit of a traffic jamb in the process. As we approached the second last hump an angry drunk man came wandering out into the street and started yelling at us in Creole, pointing his finger as though we had offended him greatly in some way. He clearly wasn’t impressed with us and my heart started to race as he crossed in front of our car. We still had one more speed hump to cross over and the car in front of us was taking his sweet time moving along. This quaint town started to feel very threatening and I wanted out immediately! Finally the car in front of us moved on and we were able to make our escape back up into the mountains.

So far our day of delight had just been stressful! Driving somewhere new is always stressful especially when you’re doing it on the wrong side of the road, but then having an angry man walk in front of your car as you roll over a “speed hump” is just a wee bit too much lol.

After driving for over an hour we had finally arrived at Sufriere and by taking our first right of the main road we were locked in to the “horrible road conditions that should be avoided” according to one Trip Advisor critic. With what felt like an intense 45 degree angle incline, we drove cautiously up and onto the single lane patchwork concrete, with a cliff to our left and a wall of jungle to our right. Do not drive this road on a full bladder, it will hurt lol. Yes I’m speaking from experience.

A portion of the road to Anse Chastenet and Jade Mountain Resort.

I drove about 5 miles per hour or less the entire way to the parking lot, so yeah, the road wasn’t great lol, but don’t let the Jade Mountain Resort discourage you with their cunning technique of scaring off the riffraff by keeping their road unpleasant to travel because this place is MAGICAL!

All the beaches on St. Lucia are open to the public, much to the chagrin of the super hoity-toity hotels who will go to many lengths to make you feel unwelcome and like you’re not supposed to be there.

We are happy to say that this such hoity-toity beach welcomed us warmly and we were able to find a nice spot of sand to leave our bags as we waded into the clear waters. The Jade resort has a roped off area for non-resort goers and provides bathrooms to change in as well. When you arrive at the beach you’ll find, to your left, the visitor beach, in the middle a restaurant and place to buy souvenirs, and to your right more beach with loungers and shaded canopies for the guests.

The water was so clear and comfortable but it mostly consisted of sand and grass so there wasn’t much to see in the way of coral and sea life. It’s a perfect location families with kids, for swimming, playing, and building sandcastles. We found waters, on the visitor side of the beach, to be very busy with boat traffic as scuba divers would come and go on their paid tours. One time, while I was standing on the beach I looked up to see a boat parking itself a little too close to Rob, who was at that moment blissfully unaware that a boat was pulling in right beside him!

Rob and I spent most of our time on the right side of the beach where there were lots of huge boulders covered in orange coral, massive sea fans, and corals that looked like rusted out buckets. I imagine Ariel probably used one for her cereal in the morning. Swimming amongst the fish of the sea is akin to being in the Rocky Mountains. Every day is the same, but different. Everything is alive and moving, full of vibrance, with something new to see and notice and take in. I could stay here forever.

Anse Chastenet: You can see all the boats the park on the far side of the beach. There were quite a few more when we were swimming.

As lunch time rolled in we decided to head to a neighbouring beach, within walking distance, called Anse Mamin. It had fewer people, a beautiful beach, an outdoor restaurant that non-resort goers could partake in, and NO BOATS.

At the beach restaurant we enjoyed some delicious food with Banana ketchup. Who knew that was a thing! Right: Some more booty Rob found! Arrr

It was so nice to just relax, snorkel, and wander. We didn’t have to worry about pedlars which mean we could just relax. I confess the whole relaxation thing isn’t coming easily for me and I’m still struggling to feel safe but if there’s one place here to give it a go, it’s here.

Left and Centre: Views from Anse Mamin. Right: The peak in between us is the smaller of the two Pitons. We are planning on hiking the bigger one at some point this month.
As delightful as this scene looks that pirate ship had no sails, was motor powered, and blasted music so loud for its drunken passengers that you could hear it before you saw it. Lame lol.

Finally we decided it was time to mosey on back to the cottage. The drive back included passing many vans and having to backup once on the crazy road. Come to think of it I’m so thankful there weren’t any drainage ditches! Just cliffs haha! Passing back through Anse la Raye was completely uneventful and allowed us to take in its true beauty and discover that there’s a soccer field there! I would like to spend some time in this village because I think it has some beautiful stories to tell. It just goes to show that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

We enjoyed this place so much that we’re going to head back there again tomorrow to get in some better snorkelling and Rob wants another fish burger!

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