About two thirds of the way into the journey, our driver Super Dave pulled over to the left and pointed across the valley. The Pitons had come into view — and what a spectacle they were. Mountainous volcanic spires draped in lush emerald, the Gros and Petit Pitons soar up like rockets on St Lucia’s south-west coast. The symbol of the island and a UNESCO World Heritage site, their connecting ridge sits above a pretty, powder-soft bay that we were headed for.
Turning off just before Soufriere, the island’s old capital that takes its name from the French for ‘sulphur in the air’, we started our descent into Sugar beach and its 100 acres of former sugar and banana plantations. Winding through lush gardens and grounds where gingerbread trimmed white cottages perched in trees like eagle’s nests, we bypassed reception and came to a stop at 108, our spacious residence for the next few days.
