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West Indies, St. Lucia - Jungle golf and snow-white beaches
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FACT ST LUCIA
Country: St. Lucia, West Indies
Population: 156 000
Island's size: 43.4 km long, 22.5 km wide.
Capital: Castries, 62 000 inhabitants
Currency: East Caribbean dollars
Time: Minus five hours
Climate: Subtropical
Traffic: Left-hand
Eating: Shellfish, fish, fruits
Drinking: Piton, excellent local beer, juices.
What to do: swimming, sunbathing, water sports, golf, excursions
GOLF COURSES
ST LUCIA GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB
Type: Park course
Number of holes: 18
Par: 71
Length, from the yellow tee: 5,819 metres
From red tee: 4,861 metres.
Handicap requirement: None.
www.stluciagolf.com
SANDALS GOLF CLUB, ST LUCIA GOLF, RESORT & SPA
Type: Park course
Number of holes: 9
Par: 33
Length, from the yellow tee: 2,414 metres
From red tee: 2110
Handicap requirement: None
www.sandals.com
St. Lucia in the Caribbean’s relaxed island world has of course snow-white beaches, 28 degrees in the water, swaying palm trees, golf courses, yes, everything you'd expect. In addition, St. Lucia has a hotel the likes of which you have probably never seen before. The hotel, Ladera Resort, is located a few kilometres outside the town of Soufrière on the southern part of the island…in the middle of the jungle.
But neither that nor that the manager’s name is Magnus Anebeck and is Swedish is strange. But the point is that the hotel rooms don’t have a fourth wall. Yes, you read right. Imagine a room and then take off a wall. That’s the way it is. From the wall-less rooms you can look out over one of the world's most beautiful views. To the left and right are two extinct volcanoes - The Pitons, approximately 800 feet high each - and in between the sea. It is stunningly beautiful.
It is not cheap, but for from EUR 223, the cheapest accommodation, you are guaranteed a memory for life - and your own swimming pool. You just have to jump off the living room.
On the northern part of the island there are the large resort and spa hotels along the long sandy beach. We lived comfortably at the five-star Royal St. Lucian Resort & Spa, including a very elegant restaurant, Chic.
On the northern side of the island there is also the 18-hole course, St. Lucia Golf & Country Club. It’s an intermediate course, just over 5,800 metres from the white tee (the equivalent of the yellow tee for us), just over 4,800 metres from the red tee.
St. Lucia – yes, they celebrate Lucia just as they do in Sweden – is a small island just over 40 kilometres long, over twenty kilometres wide. About 15, 000 people live here. The language is English; a relic of British rule is left-hand traffic. St. Lucia gained self-rule in 1979.
Another touch of Sweden in addition to Lucia celebration is that the island fostered two Nobel Prize winners: Derek Walcott received the literature prize in 1992, Sir Arthur Lewis the economics prize in 1979.
In the capital of Castries, 62 000 inhabitants, there are plenty of nice and good restaurants. Fish and shellfish of course, but also impressive steaks. Previously, the island's plantations were the principle industry; tourism has now become the main source of income.