The next day we went on to Soufriere. There I had booked a Padi Open Water diving course at Anse Chastanet. Before that, however, I needed a few days to learn the few hundred pages of diving theory and to take the online exams. (Side note: At first I thought "How bad can it be... a little bit of e-learning" - but then I was a bit surprised or shocked by the actual amount of the material.)
Besides the upcoming diving course I had another highlight waiting for me: Before I started my journey my plan was to give myself a treat every month or two. So I searched for great hotels in St Lucia and finally found the Crystals St. Lucia. On their website there was a note for last minute offers. So I made a reservation for 2 nights at a great rate and only paid a little more than half of the normal offers. On the way to the hotel I used my new super trick: I take the bus until the last bus stop and when everyone got off, I ask the driver where I can get a taxi to my destination (if there is no other bus going and if it is too far to walk (When walking with all my heavy luggage I defined 2km as a walking limit). Then usually the driver tells me that he could also take me there and so I get the ride for a fraction of the taxi price, and do not even have to change vehicles with all my luggage.
When I arrived at the Crystals Baumhaus luxury hotel, Monica the manager led me to (I thought) my room - but then it turned out that I didn't have a room, but a whole villa for myself! In front of the villa there was a pool and that was also for me and I had one of the most beautiful views of the whole island - directly overlooking the pitons, the "national mountains". I asked Monica in disbelief if all this was really for me. She smiled and said "Of course my dear, this is what you booked"
I just couldn't believe it. Just a week ago I shared a room with 7 others and now I have my own house??!!!! When Monica was gone, I was jumping around like crazy full of happiness 🙂
It was perfect timing to be at this great hotel just right before my diving course. So I could spend the whole day on my veranda studying for the diving course without having a bad conscience that I don't do any sightseeing and only stay at the hotel the whole day. In the evening I was invited to the national drink Rum punch at the hotel bar (one of them turned into 5 - which I regretted the next day). I ended the evening with reggae music. Also the second day went by the same principle, only that it started with an unbelievable breakfast, which lasted the whole day for me.
Once I was at Crystals I couldn't get around thinking that I'd love to extend one more day, because it was just too nice to leave right away. But unfortunately my house was already booked for the following night, so I had to move out, my two nights of paradise were over. I agreed with the owners that I could stay on their bar terrace during the day to study my diving material and to write a blog article. Talking to Monica, she told me that currently there's a lot of construction going on around the hotel and showed me the works. While showing me she mentioned that she couldn't rent one of her biggest villas because the noise was too loud and showed me the villa as none was in there. I couldn't believe my eyes. I was already of the opinion that the view of my villa was unbelievable. But the view from there was simply breathtaking. While we were standing in the villa we noticed that we didn't really hear anything of the construction site. She then said that the house was rented from the next day an and if I spontaneously wanted to stay, I could just move in there for the same reduced price as for my small villa. Awesome! Just take a look for yourself. So I was granted another day in paradise.
In the evening I had the brilliant idea to make a timelapse video of the sunset. Actually there's nothing wrong about it, only I was too lazy to set up the tripod, so I simply put the Gopro on the (roundish) wooden railing. Then I went to the bar. When I got back, I forgot the camera was still out. In the middle of the night I woke up from a storm and I remembered the GoPro again, so I went out in the rain and the camera was gone. Now this is a Treetop Hotel, meaning beyond the railing it is steeply going downhill. So I lit down with my headlamp and pushed the plants aside and at some point discovered the camera in the mud. Then I climbed over the railing and climbed down. Saved the camera and luckily got back up. All this in the pouring rain at 3 o'clock at night. That's what I call commitment - and learning. And here is the result of the effort:
(Well - I've seen more beautiful sunsets I know... - but trying counts...)
The next morning I really had to pack my things and move on to my little AirBnB room in the middle of Soufriere. Also on that day I started the practical part of my diving course in Anse Chastanet, a bay near Soufriere. Martin, Monica's husband, then drove me to the diving course. After a knowledge test and a few preparations we went directly into the water and before I realized it, I was already on my first small dive at 12 meters depth. The sun was burning and the water was crystal clear. And so I could see the beautiful reef with its corals and fishes on my first day of diving.
During the diving course it was always a bit funny, because people always wanted to book my course costs on a room number of the connected luxury hotel. I was the only one far and wide who didn't live in the hotel, but shuttled - with the water taxi that took me to the pier in Soufriere and thus right to the door step of my AirBnB.
The next two days my course continued and I dived to a depth of 18 meters. On my last dive on the third day I had my GoPro with me. Unfortunately it had rained a lot that early morning and you could only see 1/3 as far as on the two days before. But anyways that's complaining on a very high level, because the visibility was about 20 meters on the first day and 7 meters on the third day. The location of the last dive was awesome: the ship brought us to a reef with a lot of drift. There we dived down and in principle we only had to "stand" in the water because we were just drifting along the reef. And then I was already a certified diver.
I think the next time I'll go diving on one of the Grenadine Islands in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It would be nice if I could do that once or twice a month. But of course this is also a question of money...
The days in Soufriere were flying by while doing the diving course and within a blink of an eye it already was time I should take a bus to the north as I had already booked a room there. But then I realized that I would miss some highlights around Soufriere like the "Diamond Waterfalls", the volcano with its sulphur springs and mud baths etc... That's why I tried to reach the guest house in the north on all the channels. But no chance - no answer. So I had to calculate with the fact that I had to take the bus to Gros Ilets going north that evening. So I only took a short tour and a Rasta guide showed me the way and explained a bit about the trees, fruits etc.. The destination was the Piton mineral waterfall. It is located at the foot of the Piton Mountains and is a waterfall with warm water and warm swimming pools. I've never actually experienced such a thing... a waterfall with warm water. - Crazy.
