Unconventional Caribbean Christmas

Being people that live in England, you automatically associate Christmas with long cold, dark nights spent surrounded by your family with the hope of snow. Snuggled on the sofa in your warm pyjamas that you got to open on Christmas Eve, and continuously stuffing your face on the food that has been sitting in the cupboards for the past few weeks, ready for this day.
However, as you can imagine our Christmas was the opposite in every aspect. Our Christmas Day was blissful filled with blue skies and the sun beating down on us. Soaking up the rays and lounging on the white sand beach blended with clear blue seas. Wearing our bikinis and dipping in the sea to cool off, sipping on an ice cold Carib beer, bliss. We spent the majority of the day at BBC beach, listening to the waves wash up on the shore with local music and laughter merging in the background.

Snorkelling in the clear Caribbean Sea led to seeing schools of colourful tropical fish in the seabed surrounded by seashells ranging in all colours and sizes; imagine that on Christmas Day! Something that you could only dream of, but we were lucky enough to have this as our reality. An unconventional Christmas to say the least… One that will never be forgotten.

Instead of a Christmas dinner filled with different meats, unlimited veggies and Yorkshire puddings engulfed with gravy, we had a simple burger and chips. It may not sound as appealing as your traditional Christmas dinner that everyone looks forward to, but the views, scenery and the all round atmosphere made up for what we were “missing”. The sun was setting as we ate, and the views were just breathtaking.

Our bellies full and ready to rest, we thought it a great time to head back to the hotel. But of course, the weather had different plans for us. The sky had been clear all day, no sign of rain. That’s where the Caribbean tricks you. Tropical rain comes out of nowhere, and you never know if it’s a passing cloud that’s going to last 5 minutes or 5 hours, nonetheless warm as ever. Either way, we had to brave it, so we begun to walk home. I mean, it couldn’t be any worse than when we were caught outside of the Movie Palace a week before mid thunderstorm, right? Luckily for us, it was a passing cloud… but that doesn’t mean we didn’t get soaked. I suppose you could say that we were “unlucky” as the rain didn’t give up until we were on the doorstep of our hotel. It’s all fun and games though. We made a joke of it, typical that only we would get caught in it and for the downpour to give way as we arrived!

Nonetheless, what an unforgettable and spectacular day. I wouldn’t have changed anything… Oh, other than the lack of presents from El! 😉

Elbitravels x

Reunited in Grenada

We’re in the Grenadian airport walking through customs, the nerves are kicking in, what is to come is beginning to feel real. My heart is beating fast, thoughts running through my mind, but no words come out.  My body is shaking, my legs feel like jelly, but somehow I’ve managed to keep walking. I’m walking out the sliding doors, outside the airport. Quickly I’m scanning the crowd for a familiar face. I take a few steps, and I see him. Before I know, I’m running, running towards him. Tears streaming, the biggest smile on my face. I wrap my arms around him and nothing else seems to matter, I’m fairly certain I blacked out momentarily, I can’t quite tell you how I was feeling. But then I hear his voice, and it brings me back to reality. I have just been reunited with my Dad after 8 long years. All the hard work and tears that Elle and I have been through this past year has all been worth it for this one moment. I don’t want to let go, but I know I have to. 

Rewind… back to the start. On Friday, the night before we fly we packed our suitcases ready to be picked up midday on Saturday. Somehow our suitcases are considerably heavier than they were when we arrived and they were over the weight limit. We had to leave a few items behind, but nothing that couldn’t be replaced. After we finished packing, we went down to the restaurant for our “last supper”. The staff were sad to see us go, as we had gotten along with them so well throughout the week. They even asked if we would get out camera to take a few pictures with them, which melted my heart. 

We were supposed to be going to the Friday night street party in Gros Islet, but we decided against it and thought that a chilled night was much needed as we knew tomorrow would be… eventful to say the least. 

Waking up bright and early on Saturday morning, we headed down for breakfast. Time to say goodbye to the beautiful views and the rest of the staff. Heading back up to the room, it was now time to play the waiting game. Every minute seemed to pass like an hour, time was dragging painfully slow. Elle thought it would be a good time to talk about the fact we were meeting my Dad in a few hours. But, no words came out. Instead, tears, and plenty of them, streaming down my face. I think the nerves had kicked in and I had realised exactly what was happening. I don’t know if they were happy tears or what, but I did feel relieved afterwards. 

11.50am, time to check out and Kevin was already waiting for us. Kevin was the guy dropping us at the airport, what a splendid guy he was. He took our minds off the fact we were meeting my Dad, we played a few games during the journey, to see how much we had learnt about Saint Lucia during our stay. We got into the topic of moving to St Lucia, and the ways in which you could make a living there. At the end of the journey, he gave us his business card and told us he would be in touch if he had any suggestions for work etc. 

Checking in was hassle and stress free, a small simple airport that you just flow through. After grabbing a bite to eat, the waiting game begins again… Only this time, the waiting game exceeded the time frame we had set as our flight was delayed. However, before long, our flight number was being called out and it was time to board the aircraft. 28 minutes in the air, and we had already landed in Grenada. We both agreed that was the shortest flight we had embarked to date, I didn’t even have time to get nervous or let it settle that it was under an hour until I see my Dad. As silly as it sounds, Elle and I got off the plane last, so we went through customs last.. anything to postpone the inevitable. The airport staff were so friendly and welcoming to us, proud Grenadians showing off their country. You know what happens next… 

A 10 minute drive, and we were already pulling into our the car park for the hotel, we had a friendly welcome to Siesta Hotel, and were given the keys. After dropping off our bags, we headed back out into the car so that my Dad could show us around the city. Although it was dark, it was great to see our surroundings and to see where my Dad grew up and now lives. During our drive, we made a few pit stops to get out and look around, we got to see both of my Dad’s business establishments. Which are hair and beauty spa’s called Spice Isle Retreat. Absolutely beautiful!

The great thing about my Dad living here, was that he provided us with advice about where to buy food, where the beach is and the best places to go whilst in the city. We were driving for a good few hours, but it was getting late. Time to get back to the hotel and catch up on some much needed Z’s after a long and overwhelming day. 

Our next post includes what it was like to wake up and see the beauty of Grenada in daylight, and exploring the city through the eyes of a local.

Stay tuned!

Elbitravels x

Island hopping in Decemeber; Grenada and St Lucia

At the end of February, Elle and I booked our flights to the Caribbean islands of St Lucia and Grenada. We fly from London Gatwick on the 10th December 2016 to St Lucia for 7 days, then on the 17th we fly over to Grenada; where we will be staying for 3 weeks. We fly back to Gatwick airport on the 11th January 2017.

In St Lucia we will be staying in an all inclusive hotel which is situated on the beach for 7 delightful nights. The hotel is called St Lucian by Rex Resorts. Rex Resorts is a well-known company with beautiful hotels in most of the Caribbean islands.

We have always loved travelling, as you can tell from our previous blog posts. So, although we were initially only going to Grenada, we decided it would be a great idea to travel to another country, and researched how much extra it would be and where we could stay etc. Spending time looking around, I figured that if we changed the hotel we originally booked for Grenada then it would only be around £500 extra for both the flights and hotel to St Lucia, you can’t go wrong with a bargain like that!!

7 days in, and it’ll be time to say farewell to St Lucia, but hello to the beautiful spice isle – otherwise known as Grenada! When we reach St George airport, my Dad will be waiting to pick us up. For the first 10 days in Grenada we will be staying with my dad at his apartment. I should probably mention that this will be the first time I’ve seen my Dad in almost 10 years! On the 27th December we will be staying at Radisson Grenada Beach Resort. We will be staying there for 15 nights until our return back to the UK on the 17th January.

We are lucky enough to be spending both Christmas and New Years in paradise! I guess we can say goodbye to the cold and potential snow and say hello to white sands, sea and sunshine. I don’t think we’ll be able to spend Christmas in a cold country after this!

We are currently in the middle of drafting an itinerary for our trip, when we have finalised it, I will make a blog post to keep everyone updated.

I would like to take a moment to promote my Dad’s business; which is called Vision Tours. The business includes personalised tours for people coming to visit Grenada, and their every need is attended to, airport transfers and in the near future you’ll even be able to book your flights and hotel through the app.

Click here to download for Google play.

Click here to download for Apple Store.