For Christmas, Samuel gave me an amazing gift – a trip to St Lucia. We were so excited to visit and explore the island but we couldn’t even imagine how gorgeous St Lucia is!
After a long flight, we got a rental SUV that got us through some crazy bumpy roads. The hotel we stayed at was only 20 miles away from the airport but it took us 1.5hrs to get there because of the funky windy roads. On top of it, in St Lucia you drive the car on the left! The island is really small so by the time we got to the hotel we literary saw almost all of it.
We made frequent stops to take in the views. The first sight of volcanos took my breath away.
Upon arrival and checking in to the hotel, we rushed to the beach. I couldn’t wait to run in the water and feel the sand under my feet.
When we got to the beach, we met local fishermen (all beaches on the island are public) and saw a table full of all kinds of fish. Now, a fun fact about me. I love fishing and cleaning fish! So, immediately, we ran up to the firshermen wondering what kind they caught. When i saw a pike on the table i got so excited because in Russian culture pike is present in folk tales as a fish that makes wishes come true and is used in the cuisine a lot as well. So, I taught them how to make fish soup with pike and vodka 😉 Let me know if you want a recipe! Then, they taught me to clean and degut the fish their way. Samuel asked them to grill us some of the fresh goodies and they quickly made a fire and cooked us a grouper, lobster and some other kind of fish. We had so much fun hanging out with the locals and the fish was absolutely delicious!
Afterwards, the guys asked if we could give them a ride to their town which was only 15 mins away. We were still hungry and wanted to get dinner at a local spot and were up for an adventure, so Samuel jumped behind the wheel. When we got to Anse La Raye, the fishermen asked to stop at one of the guys’ house to get a bigger bucket for their fish. Then we made our way to the local ‘restaurant’ which was already closed but the owner is their friend, so he made us food. While the food was prepping we all jumped back in the car and went to get ice to keep the fish fresh so the guys could sell it the next day. To round off this adventurous night, we finally all sat down to eat dinner with the owner of the restaurant, enjoy the meal and listened to some fun stories from the locals about their lives.
It was really one of the most awesome days ever! Full of laughter, adventure and local flavour.
Photography by Samuel Black
Look 1: Top via Pretty Little Thing | Shorts via Lovers & Friends | Sunglasses via Sunday Somewhere
Look 2: Shirt via The Jet Set Diaries | Bikini via Vix Swim | Sunglasses via Quay
