A wonderful vacation in St.Lucia


View from our balcony LeSport

Did you ever just want to get away, go somewhere that had no phones, news, or hustle bustle? Did you ever want to be pampered from head to toe - a completely relaxing vacation? Well I found that vacation at the Le Sport Resort in St. Lucia!

I needed to get away and contacted my travel agent saying "get me out of here"! We talked about a number of vacation options, but when I heard about the Le Sport in St. Lucia … I knew that this was where I wanted to be!

I told Pat that I was going to St. Lucia and asked if he would like to join me. He needed some rest too - so I called the travel agent and I booked the vacation without much time to prepare or think about it…. We were just going and that was that!

St. Lucia is in the West Indies about 1300 miles south of San Juan heading towards Venezuela. The island is adorned with tropical growth, secluded coves, mountains, volcanic peaks [The Pitons], botanical gardens, rain forest, waterfalls, black & golden sand beaches … truly an island paradise!

The Le Sport hotel is located on the northwest tip of this island, rated as one of the finest all-inclusive resorts in the world. There are 102 air condition rooms, Restaurant, 3 bars, live entertainment, 3 outdoor pools, tennis, sailing, windsurfing, water skiing, snorkeling, scuba diving and a full fitness & relaxation program. What more could you ask for?

I grabbed my 48 {sun block that is} and packed the suitcases and was ready to leave in a blink of an eye! We arrived at the Philadelphia airport at 6 AM and took off at 7:25 for San Juan. We boarded the plane and lucky me -- got the middle seat between a mother and her 1 ½ year old daughter and Pat. It was a 3 ½ hour flight and all went well for the first hour - then Pat fell asleep and snored [loudly], the little girl got restless and ended up hitting everything [including me] with a pillow. I think there should be a section on all airplanes for children and people that snore! Maybe I will start a petition - I wonder how many others feel the same way!

We arrived at San Juan around 11:20 and found the gate for the flight to St. Lucia. This flight would last 2 hours - the plane held about 60 people. I kept having thoughts of a small plane that we would be cramped into, but it was actually very comfortable, with 2 seats on each side of the plane. So now I only had Pat - who continued to snore next to me! [He didn't get much sleep the night before - so I forgive him for the snoring.] The St. Lucia airport was very small compared to the Philadelphia or even San Juan airports. It is one building [very large room] that has everything included - arrivals, departures and baggage pickup and customs.

From what I was told the baggage carrousel use to be hand-cranked to make the luggage go around on the conveyor belt - but they are now motorized! My travel agent said his plane had to circle the airport because there was a cow lose on the runway - but there was no cow sightings that day.

We had to walk from the plane into the airport and went through the typical procedures when entering a foreign country. A van was waiting to take us to the hotel [which was about 20 minutes away]. There were 6 passengers on the van, 4 of us were going to the Le Sport, the other couple going to another hotel near by. Virginia [a government official of New York] and her sister were traveling on the van to the Le Sport Resort. Virginia had been to the Le Sport before and decided to bring her sister for this visit. She told us how wonderful her previous visit had been and made us very excited to begin our vacation.



view of hills in St. Lucia" The roads are narrow and hilly and of course everyone drives [on what we consider] the wrong side of the road. The driver was excellent and we made it safely to the hotel [my eyes were closed and I think I prayed a few times during our short trip]. The Le Sport gazebo is where everyone is picked-up, let off or meets for "outings". A hotel representative came and took us to the hotel lobby immediately. The first thing I noticed was that the lobby was open - having no front wall - I could not imagine what they do when it rains!

We were given the keys to our room and immediately the bell captain came with our luggage that was sitting in the gazebo. We walked a short distance and took an elevator to our room. I was very confused about how the rooms are numbered. Our room number was 312, however we were on the 6th floor, there was no 1st floor - the 1st floor was the actually 2nd floor and the room numbers did not follow any logic that I am use to here in the US.

giant bedThe room was breathtaking … a large king size bed with canopy overhead and robes for our personal use [which were decorated with a tropical flower on each robe] - the bed was very high off the floor [my feet would not touch the floor when sitting on it].

marble bathThere was a marble bathroom with real tropical flowers behind the double sinks. The balcony had a table with 2 chairs and our view was spectacular! We were above the pool and ocean with a mountain off to our left, palm trees plus a beautiful landscape everywhere below us.


view of Oasis & poolAt 3:30, after unpacking, we decided to do some exploring on our own [we were scheduled for an orientation tour around 5:00]. Our first stop was the bar for some drinks to help us cool off. It was very warm and humid and after traveling since 7:00 AM - we needed some refreshments! Everything is included at Le Sport, so there are no charges for food, drinks, massages, sports and no tipping is allowed - what a concept! Today is was my pina colada day! I have decided to make each day a different drink day! As we walked through the buildings to get to the bar, we noticed there are no walls in any of the rooms except for our hotel rooms - what do they do when it rains???

After sitting at the bar for a short time we decided to visit the Oasis - which is a facility of incomparable beauty and tranquility [to quote the brochure]. The Oasis sits on a hill [79 steps up to reach the top] - yes I counted them! It took me about 8 tries and 2 days to come up with an approximate number of steps! Every time I tried to count the steps, someone would pass by, stop and talk or say hello and I would lose track of how many steps I had already counted!

The 79 steps part 1There steps and landings which wind up/down this hill and not are easy to count while trying to walk - believe me - so I cheated and asked one of the bodyguards. [I will explain what a bodyguard is shortly]. The brochure's description of the Oasis did not cover how magnificent this area really is! The 79 steps part 2

Pat and I went back to the lobby to meet with Vincent our bodyguard and the orientation tour. Vincent explained that a bodyguard will not put their life on the line or take a bullet on our behalf - but are there to help us with any needs or requests. Since this is a vacation for the mind & body - they have designated a group of "bodyguards" to help us during our stay - whether it be jogging, walking, any sports, entertainment or activities - a bodyguard is there to help or guide us!

The language of St. Lucia is Patios [pronounced Pah-twah] I don't understand a word of what is said, but could listen to anyone speaking this language all day … it was very soothing. Everyone at Le Sport could speak both Patios and English … and a number of other languages. Most of the guests were from England, but there seemed to be many nationalities at the resort. The Americans were out numbered for sure!

The Hotel & Dining RoomVincent took another couple and us on the tour - the other couple was at the bar and missed part of the tour. Vincent had us laughing and enjoying this orientation so much we hated to see it end! We went through all of the facilities and another climb to the Oasis. The other couple [Gerry & Nadine] had not been to the Oasis yet [they seem to have been "stuck" in the bar area for some reason - ha ha - they blamed it on "tea time" - at least Pat and I made it out of the bar before the official tour!]. Everywhere we went the staff said hello and welcomed us to their resort. The other guests were also very friendly and during our entire visit - everyone was extremely pleasant!

So we made our way back up the 79 steps to the Oasis, this time there were many geckos on the steps trying to run and hide from us. I don't think Nadine was too thrilled to see these tiny little lizards, but I use to live in Miami and got use to seeing them everywhere [we call them chameleons in the US].

Statue at the OasisThere was some great excitement about a large sea turtle that came to the beach last night to lay 144 eggs. The hotel staff called the wild life officials to secure the area and I guess count the eggs. I am sorry we missed this event, apparently this happens during the season and the guests of the hotel get an extra-added bonus if they are lucky enough to be on the beach during the turtle's trek to the beach.

After the tour we discovered we were "hotel next door neighbors" of Gerry & Nadine - they had room #311! We decided to have dinner together and ended up with a friendship that will last a long time! Gerry & Nadine are from New York and were on their honeymoon - the nicest people anyone could hope to meet while on vacation! [They did not pay me to say this!!]

Dinner is "country club" casual - no shorts allowed, but what ever is comfortable is acceptable attire. The dinner was an elegant sit down affair, wonderful appetizers and entrees - fish, pork, lamb or pasta. And the desserts were out of this world! Dinner lasted at least 2 hours I think while we laughed and drank wine in a glass that just did not get empty! I believe Nadine kept saying "we will have more" and they kept filling our glasses [I could not count how many I had and don't remember leaving the restaurant area - but I must have since I woke up in our room the next morning]. I also believe we visited the bar and I had some more pina coladas [since this was my pina colada day … at least I found evidence of this by the empty glass in the room.

View of Ocean from the Oasis

This is the marvelous view from the Oasis - from the top of the 79 Steps!



Oasis viewSt. Lucia Part 2




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