The good life
bathing here aids rheumatism, respiratory complaints and ulcers.
Volcanic soil is the key to the lushness of this Caribbean island, situated between
Martinique and St Vincent and to the north west of Barbados, its richness and tropical rains encouraging even the most difficult of plants to thrive.
Around 300,000 years ago, volcanic activity created a legacy of beauty in the famous Pitons
– Gros Piton and Petit Piton – majestic mini mountainous lava globes rising from the Caribbean
Sea, and now covered with vegetation and trees. They’ve become prime hiking trails accessible to tourists wanting to get a better view.
Nestled between those Pitons is the luxurious Sugar Beach resort, itself a botanical paradise spread across more than 100 acres of tropical forest with enough planting to mimic Diamond Botanical Gardens’ flora and fauna.
Formerly a sugar plantation, the property has a long history of owners including Lord Glenconner, famously known for his friendship with Princess Margaret, and is now owned by the Green family, owners of The Connaught and Claridge’s in London, and managed by Viceroy.
It’s super-luxe with white-on-white interiors, a plungepool in each accommodation and butler service. But its stand-out beauty lies in the majestic scenery. From one end of the large swimming pool near the beach, it feels like you could touch Petit Piton’s almost vertical rockface.
Following a steep, meandering road down from the barriered entrance, there’s no indication that Sugar Beach houses 105 resort accommodations and 25 residences, because they are all so subtly positioned, from the beachfront bungalows which overlook the shimmering white sand imported from Guyana, to luxurious, vast villas secreted among the plantings of palms, flamboyant trees and other tropical gems.
An enviable collection of modern art ranging from the likes of Andy Warhol to Damien Hirst provides a contemporary twist, adorning walls throughout.
A major refurbishment – the resort closed for five months last year – has produced nine new luxury accommodations, upgraded culinary outlets, a beachside fitness facility, a refreshed spa and a new main pool area, as Sugar Beach celebrates its 30th anniversary.
You can dine on oysters and tomahawk steak in the grand colonial splendour of The Great Room or go to the beach for more informal pizza, pasta and tacos at the Bayside Restaurant.
Edibles including bananas, mangoes, coconuts and avocados are pointed out in the regular garden tours, which are conducted by the horticulturalists on site.
Wellbeing is big here – from yoga to Piton hikes, rainforest spa treatments featuring natural products and gentle walking trails.
Venturing out, I dunk myself in toe-curlingly hot muddy water at Sulphur Springs – Soufriere gets its name from the French meaning sulphur mine – slathering myself in sand-coloured volcanic mud, known for its exfoliating and skin-enhancing properties. The site is a short walk from the edge of the crater which is known as La Caldera (the cauldron), described as the Caribbean’s only ‘walk-in’ volcano.
While waiting for the mud to dry on my skin, an artistic aide warpaints me with a necklace of charcoal-coloured mud for fun, before I wash the whole lot off in another slightly less scalding pool.
The healing mud is said to relieve sunburn and ease sore joints and arthritis. My skin feels smooth, soft and refreshed. But it is the sight of the crater nearby, a rocky landscape dotted with mud pits of scalding water throwing up clouds of vapour, which sets my skin tingling.
Here, the pungent, rotten-egg stench of sulphur billowing from the cracks in the earth catches your throat, and the stark landscape is far removed from the lush oasis its volcanic nutrients have served in the nearby botanical garden. At least the smell keeps the snakes and spiders away, our guide John says, grinning.
While the volcano hasn’t erupted in thousands of years, it is still active
and the crater around which we stand is now cordoned off. Yet John recalls that as a child, he and his friends would picnic and play on the hot sulphur-infused terrain, dodging deadly bubbling pools as they went.
All that changed 33 years ago, he recalls, when a tour guide jumped too hard on the surface and the earth gave way, resulting in second-degree burns. That’s why we are now only allowed to observe it from a distance.
In the heat of the day, the lush forested oasis of Sugar Beach is beckoning, as we wend our way down to the beach, past deep red crotons, phoenix and areca palms, coral hibiscus and sizzling scarlet flamboyant trees. Hanging crab claws and dragon’s blood never
felt so inviting.
An aide war-paints me with a necklace of charcoalcoloured mud
Hannah Stephenson is literally immersed in
the culture of St Lucia