Sun, sea, sand and... zip lining
The beach is beautiful, the sea is bliss and there’s hotpot for breakfast. Anna Friel and her daughter discover how to really relax in St Lucia
My 12-year-old daughter Gracie and I like to do one ‘big’ trip together every year: it’s a mother and daughter adventure thing.We went to Vietnam two years ago and we’ve also visited places in Africa.
For our most recent trip we narrowed our shortlist down to two places: St Lucia or the Maldives (both new destinations for us). Gracie was obsessed with what the weather would be like. We looked at the online reports every day and saw ‘storms’ in the Maldives – sometimes ‘storms with lightning’ – which we knew couldn’t be great.
I know that the tropical climate in the Caribbean can be stormy (you don’t get rainforests without rain), but it seemed that St Lucia might be the better bet.
For a relatively small island – about 25 miles long and 15 miles wide – it has more than 60 hotels. We researched online and noticed several large resort-type properties and lots of small boutique-y places.
During the flight, some of the other passengers assumed for some reason that we would be staying at TheBodyHoliday. We went for a look at it one evening, to see why they thought I’d stay there. It was one of the places Amy Winehouse stayed when she was on the island. It is very attractive and health-conscious but it was very big and not what we wanted.
We chose Cap Maison because it was a smaller, family-run hotel which I knew would suit us down to the ground. We were looking for peace and quiet rather than non-stop fun and games.
When we booked the hotel, we didn’t fully appreciate it was at the opposite end of the island to the airport. It’s a small island but it’s a slow drive – as we were reminded when we came to leave and suddenly began to worry, unnecessarily, that we hadn’t left enough time to reach the airport and go through check-in and security. But we made it.
Arriving at a hotel is always a thrill, with our expectations running high. Happily, we were not disappointed. It has a glorious location above an inlet called Smuggler’s Cove, the rooms were elegantly and comfortably furnished – and the gardens handsomely landscaped. It felt like a very special oasis of a place. We were cocooned in comfort, so there weren’t an awful lot of incentives to leave.
There was a famous street party at Gros Islet, just a mile or two from the resort, but we were happier sticking to our usual routine and dining in the hotel.
We were in St Lucia for nine days. Straight after the holiday I was due to travel to Los Angeles and Palm Springs before going to New York, which I worked out would involve 55 hours of travel. With this to come, and after having worked for four-and-a-half months, 16 hours a day, I said to Gracie: ‘I just want to have a really nice chilled time and not do very much.’
There was a gym, but there was no way I was going there when you can swim in the warm sea. Swimming is my favourite thing, I love it.
As an ambassador for the World Wildlife Fund, I’m going back to Borneo this year to spend three or four weeks in a rainforest, so while I was in St Lucia I decided to enjoy the sea and the sand, two things I don’t really get to see very often. The beach was beautiful and the warm sea was bliss.
Gracie, however, was ready for a little more action. She went zip-lining in the rainforest, which she really
THERE WAS A GYM, BUT THERE WAS NO WAY I WAS GOING THERE...’
liked. We both enjoyed going to th local supermarket. Our room at th hotel had its own kitchen – whil room service is all very well, I’m quite glad to have the chance t organise my own food now and then
Wandering around a local supe market, you get a good idea of ho life on the island is for the locals. was interested to see lots of Waitros labels everywhere: almost every thing has to be imported, of cours
All the ‘airmiles’ for goods means prices can be expensive. Quinoa, for example, was about €10 a bag. If you’re shopping for food, the best advice is to eat what the locals have and buy things in season.
I looked for St Lucia’s famous green parrot but didn’t see it. I did, however, see many hummingbirds all around the hotel gardens: they’re so beautiful, I loved them.
It was also nice to see aloe vera growing everywhere: if you want some, you can just cut off a stem, you can use it for all sorts of things.
One of the great delights of Cap Maison was the spa. I’m a big fan of massages and Julian the masseur was sensational.
Gracie found the food to her taste. At breakfast she would exclaim: ‘What, I can have bangers and mash for breakfast?’ ‘Well, yeah, you’re on holiday, you can have what you want.’
In fact, breakfast was quite an event. There were little hotpots – the sort of thing you’d normally eat for lunch or dinner, or you could have traditional egg and bacon and all the cereals. The fresh juices were epic – the choice seemed limitless: we often went for papaya and starfruit, which was lovely.
In the expectation of a little nightlife, I brought three pairs of heels with me just in case: I wore one pair once.
I also brought a few sexy cocktail dresses but they stayed in the wardrobe too.
It was a holiday of simple pleasures. Gracie and I loved it. We can’t wait for our next trip…