St. Lucia/Day #7 (Thurs; Feb 27)

This is one of the islands I was the most excited about. I found through my investigation online that St. Lucia had two Pitons we could go hike. There were options to hire a bus to come and pick us up from the pier. But once I found out the price I knew we could do it for cheaper. So after a lot of searching I was able to find us a rental car. I liked the idea of us getting there ourselves and not being stuck with other people. We like to do our own thing. Then we could go as fast or as slow as we wanted.

 

When we got off the ship we had a taxi drive us over to the nearby airport where the rental car was suppose to be. When we arrived we couldn't see the rental company "Thrifty" anywhere. I started to worry.

 

There were other rental car companies, just not Thrifty. So we talked to the lady at the information desk and she said she would call the number that was on our confirmation paper I had printed out and brought along with us. She tried several times, but it just kept ringing. The lady told us to just hang out and wait and see if they call back or she could try again.

 

GAAA, I was feeling frantic. I knew we had along drive ahead of us and a long hike. There wasn't time to just wait. But we did. 15 minutes goes by. Still nothing. They call again. Still nothing. 30 minutes goes by and we finally hear that they were on their way and they would be 20 minutes before they would be there. Ok, ok. At least we knew we had a car. So that was good. But HURRY UP!

 

We had on our confirmation that we would pick it up at 8am. Now we are picking it up by 9am. Not cool. Also, I think it's silly that they should tell us to pick the car up at the airport when they don't even have a desk there. Apparently it's else where on the island and they bring it to you. K, that can be great and all, but not when we are crunched for time.

 

She finally arrives and we are thrilled to be on our way.

Just to give you an idea of how far we had to drive. We started at the top green star (George Charles Airport) to the bottom star (Gros Piton). If the road would have been a straight shot there it would probably take 15 minutes to get there. But because it was such a windy road with several hairpin turns, it took us an hour and 45 minutes to get there.

Along the way we saw banana trees. I thought it was cool.

Driving on the left side of the road. If you'll also notice the picture of us in the car, Jesse is on the right side and I'm on the left. It felt strange having everything backwards. Every time Jesse went to turn on his blinker, he would turn on the windshield wipers instead. After awhile we would just laugh about it because without fail he would do it. Even right after we would talk about it. We are such creatures of habit.

We knew we were getting closer when the pitons were in the distance. Aren't they wonderful? So amazing. I couldn't wait to get to the top of it.

As we are getting closer we see this man in the middle of the road signaling for us to slow down but doesn't get out of the way, so Jesse has to come to a complete stop. This guy is an older guy and he comes to the window, so Jesse rolls his window down. From what I remember the guy asked us where we were going. So we told them we were driving to the Pitons. Before we know it he proceeds to open the back door and climb in all the while saying "I'll show you where to go" and "I don't want any money".

I'm thinking to myself "Oh what a nice man". During the drive he is asking us where we are from, telling us about his mom and grandma and his kids. Then he starts to tell us that he wants us to help out his kids with a cricket ball and that he'll go home and tell his kids that two Americans helped them out today.  Honestly the way he was talking I had no idea what he meant.

It wasn't until we get to the road that leads to Gros Piton that he starts telling us he wants us to help his kids out with 2 cricket balls that I realize he's trying to get money out of us. Jesse asks him "How much?" and he said "$40".

What? No freaking way am I paying this dude $40 for two cricket balls, even if he did drive five minutes with us to show us where to go. But he was being so sneaky about "not wanting any money". Paaa-lease!

I told him no. So then he's trying to talk me down to one ball for $20. Sheesh. Just imagine a man in your back seat pretty much not willing to get out of the car until you pay him. Gall. At this point I gave him the $20. Then he finally got out of the car, but as he was leaving he was saying "I don't want to cause no trouble".

You're joking right? You just caused a whole heap of trouble Mr. I totally got worked over for $20. It all happened so fast we almost didn't realize until after how sly he really was being right fro the beginning. I was so BUGGED! Taking advantage of tourists who would gladly take directions from a local.

Probably five minutes before that all happened, Jesse and I were commenting that all the people in St Lucia that we have encountered all seemed really helpful and nice. Haha. Then that man happened.

We finally arrive at the base of Gros Piton. Once we parked we were greeted with the workers from there. They showed us to the desk and we paid our fee to hike. Part of the fee included a guide. His name was Cameron and he was 20 years old. We told him that we had to be back to the cruise ship by 4:30.

So we go started right away. He told us that he was going to keep a stead pace for us so we could make it to the top in good time.

The trail started out like a normal trail you would see in Utah, just steeper. But the further we got to the top it become steeper and rockier. There were times when my short legs were extended fully to step up some of the rocks and steps.

As we are hiking with Cameron we got to know about him and what he does. I learned that he hikes Gros Piton 1-4 times a day because of his job, and that he lives at the base of the mountain. So this hike for him is nothing. The first half of it he had his hands in his pockets. I also learned that the record time to get to the top of the mountain was 38 minutes. I think he said his fastest was about 58 minutes and the slowest he had ever done it with a group was about 10 hours. So quite the drastic difference.

He typically just hikes at the speed of the people he's guiding up the mountain. But since we had a dead line to be back to the ship, he got to set the speed. I learned after awhile that he really enjoyed pushing us. And I loved the challenge. So we were a great fit. I was proud to see that my fitness came into play that day. I could keep up with Cameron not a problem. Granted I was breathing pretty hard while Cameron wasn't. Jesse and I were dripping in sweat while Cameron hardly had any. I couldn't believe it. This trail wasn't for beginners and he was climbing like it was nothing.

I love this picture of Jesse. This was at the half way mark with a great view of the other Piton. Petite Piton.

Just to give you an idea of the steepness of this trail. This is about 3/4 of the way up. The last 1/4 was all rocks and we were hawling butt on that section. Cameron had a time in his head that he wanted us to get to the top. So he pushed us hard through the last part. So no time for pictures. I loved how competitive he was. We passed several people on our way up and if they started to catch up when we were taking resting breaks he would say "Lets get going' or "They aren't going to pass us'. Haha this kid was a child after my own heart.

The beauty of a hard hike is the reward at the end. What a view. Looking out over the ocean and over the island. Just breath taking. Cameron got us to the top in an hour and 13 minutes. He was very pleased with us. And I was too.

Gros Piton is 2,619 feet tall and Petite Piton is 2,461 feet tall. We had hiked Gros Piton with 2200 vertical feet climb. Incredible. The whole time I was thinking how blessed I am to have a husband who is just as willing as I am to conquer this mountain. I love that we can go on vacation together and be adventurous and explore the island together. I'm so grateful to have him and our health/fitness to be able to experience things like this together!

Our decent was rough on the knees but we made it down in 40 minutes. It gave us plenty of time to get back to the ship. Cameron was such a great guide. By the end I felt like we were good friends. We told him if for some reason he finds himself in Utah he is welcome to come stay with us. We loved spending the day with him as our guide.

 We dropped our car off at the airport and had about an hour to walk back and do some slight shopping for our magnet.

That night for dinner we dressed up again. Maureen and Doug were happy to see we made it to dinner. The night before they asked us what we were doing in St Lucia, and when we told them I think they thought we were crazy. I guess we are a little bit, but it made for an amazing experience!

I truly hit the jack pot with this one. He is the greatest!