Part two of our journey was . . .  well, fine really.  After our last experience travelling with the little dude last year I was expecting the worst, and while he kept up a steady stream of questions which slowly drove us insane. . .  he wasn’t really all that bad.

Touching down in St. Lucia was pretty magical for all of us.  A hilly, jungle filled island surrounded by the Caribbean sea, steep cliffs and sandy beaches, it was a tropical dream come true.

It was strange to be arriving somewhere that we didn’t really feel prepared to be.  I mean, since we hadn’t booked the trip ourselves, we did far less research than normal, and I kind of felt like we had thrown some clothes in a bag and jumped on the plane on a whim.

Within two hours of being in the country we realized how unprepared we actually were:

Heat:  We were expecting tropical temperatures much like Hawaii in the winter, forgetting that we were just a dozen or so degrees from the equator. It was hot, really hot.  Like really, really hot and humid!  Our little dude ran around shirt-less from the moment we stepped off the plane and I unpacked my ‘evening sweater’ knowing that bad boy was never going to be used.

Money: We are used to travelling with our passport & visa card.  Not used to all inclusive resorts, not knowing what to expect and, well, just being plain unprepared, we had only about 50$ Canadian. We had no clue that while the island operated via a Eastern Caribbean dollar, most of the purchasing was done in US funds.  A few days into the trip we finally had the chance to hit a bank machine and pick up some cash. Our poor visa`s were harshly neglected during our stay.

Distance: When we received the info from TOMTOM we  saw the island was only 28 miles long . . . pretty small really. What we didn’t know that was due to the rural-ness, winding roads and hills the islands takes hours and hours to traverse.  After 24 hrs of transit to get here we had to put in another hour & a half (plus) to get to our hotel.

But we did get to our hotel. Finally, 24 hrs after leaving home, tired, exhausted and pretty stinky.  Minimal clothing was donned as we hit the beach for dinner, and what a beach it was. Smugglers Cove is a tidy spot with crystal clear water, drooping palms and clear blue ocean. The warm breeze stroked us as we dug our feet into the sand and the kids danced in the waves.

We stretched the kids out as long as we could and then took off back to the air conditioned room to rest up for our first day in St. Lucia . . .