One of St Lucia’s least known tourist attractions the Tet Paul Trail is perhaps one of the best for those who want to see the real St Lucia away from the beach resorts.
Located just 10 minutes from Soufriere in the southwest of St. Lucia and close by the luxury Resorts of Jade Mountain, Sugar Beach and Ladera, it is a short easy to complete hike that will reconnect you with nature.
Stunning views and an insight into the ways of local island life are just two of the highlights this attraction has to offer.
The hike itself is of easy to moderate difficulty and is great for families and groups. There will be many stunning photo opportunities so don’t forget to bring along a camera!
There’s something for everyone, culture, history, exotic horticulture and spectacular landscapes.
The views are absolutely spectacular and you can quite understand why viewing points have been named as Paradise Valley and Heaven.
From the majestic Pitons to the far away islands of Martinique and St. Vincent, you can see it all from points along the trail. The gorgeous southern side of St. Lucia including Jalousie Bay is easily visible along the way. You can even see the local villages of Fond Gens Libre, Choiseul, Maria Island, and Vieux Fort from the vantage points .
Among the exotic horticulture and native species, you can also find traditional medicinal plants and trees growing all along the trail while you hike. Guava, avocado, passion fruit and soursop trees are just some of the fruit that grow here,
Kaye Kassav, known in English as the Cassava House, is where you can learn about the Amerindian art of Cassava production. You will even get the opportunity to try some hands on practice if you time it right.
The Traditional House built of wooden shingles gives visitors the chance to learn how the ancestors of the residents of St Lucia lived.
Visitors hike through what is in fact a working organic farm ponds here are used as a water catchment area in the same way that they were once used by all of the farming communities surrounding Soufriere.
There is an entrance fee and the hike can take about 45 minutes to complete. Tours said to be included with the entrance ticket are guided by friendly and knowledgeable locals who can answer your questions and provide insights about the attractions you will see along the way. But be warned they do go into great detail explaining how they are all volunteers and that the 26 EC dollar entrance fee you paid to get in goes solely towards the up keep of the trail and paying the landowners for access across it.
Having said that our guide was so knowledgeable and friendly and definitely merited a tip.