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y feet are throbbing and I’m as red as a tomato. I’ve been up since 4.30am and four
hours later, I’m scrambling on all fours over steep, scree-covered slopes. We’re nearing the top of La Soufrière, Saint Vincent’s active volcano, where the tropical flora thins out and the landscape becomes moon-like towards the summit. “On a clear day, you can see Saint Lucia,”
says our guide, Quency Lewis of Foreign Tours. Sadly, we can’t even see into the crater below us because of the mist, but the sense of achievement is well worth my aching muscles. By noon, we’re at Ferdie’s Footsteps restaurant
in Georgetown for a buffet of Caribbean favourites such as breadfruit, curried lentils and seafood. Then, we visit Saint Vincent’s Botanical Gardens, the oldest in the western hemisphere, where guide Cornelius points out the national flower, the endemic Soufrière tree, and the national bird, the yellow-and-blue Saint Vincent parrot.
DESTINATIONS SAINT VINCENT & THE GRENADINES | WINTER SUN
A new Sandals resort could see this lesser-known Caribbean archipelago shine, finds Samantha Mayling
BUTLER BENEFITS I’m still grimy from my trek as I return to my suite at the new Sandals Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, but one of my three butlers has drawn a petal-strewn bubble bath for me – more what I expected from a Sandals hotel than hiking boots, but this place is full of surprises. Sandals’ first resort in Saint Vincent opened
in March with 301 rooms and suites spanning 15 different categories. The island’s tourism minister, Carlos James, tells me the 50-acre site is ‘Sandals 2.0’, as it sets the benchmark for future hotel developments and will drive more visitors to the destination, which is focusing on developing luxury rather than mass-market properties. Rohan Louis, the hotel’s general manager, says:
“Vincy, as the locals call the island, is perfect for Sandals, offering unparalleled nature and rich local culture. The stunning location in Buccament Bay was handpicked for its west-facing valley, which showcases magical sunsets, plus nearby cays, cliffside caves and coves.” ²
29 AUGUST 2024
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