Guadeloupe - an island tour

The decision to stay awhile turned out to be a lucky one for us, as it was while we were here that we spotted a broken strand on one of the shrouds holding up the mast!. No sailing for us until it was fixed. Fortunately, we were prepared for this event and had kit on board to fix it. A morning’s work and we were back in business again. A massive thank you to Duncan at Fox’s Boatyard for giving us a training session on what to do while we were back in the UK!

Of course, it was not all work and we had chance to explore the area and the island too.

There are several rambles nearby and one took us through the town and up to the Botanical Gardens. We spent a pleasant few hours meandering through this tranquil, but beautifully maintained garden, admiring unusual plants and flowers. Many were native to Guadeloupe, but others were from similar climates around the world. Even the regular, and sometimes heavy, rain showers did not dampen the visit.

On another day, we walked up alongside the river. This started off as a gentle riverside walk, but very soon became a much more energetic scramble over large, and often slippery, boulders. It was interesting to see some of the plants that we had seen in the Botanical Gardens.

Keen to see further afield, we joined some friends of ours and hired a car. This gave us the chance to explore Guadeloupe.

Guadeloupe is butterfly shaped with two islands (Basse Terre and Grande Terre)  joined together in the centre. The islands names translate as ‘low land’ and ‘big land’. In reality, the names seem to be the wrong way round as Basse Terre is mountainous and covered in rainforest, while Grande Terre is flat with beautiful beaches at the south and acres of sugar cane fields.

Having the car gave us access to the rainforest interior. Our first stop was Les Chutes de Carbet – a set of three beautiful falls; some more accessible than others. A short trek into the rainforest and we were able to see the mighty second falls. The water falls from an impressive 110m, cascading into the river below.

While in the area, we also walked around Grand Etang – a naturally filled crater in one of Guadeloupe’s extinct volcanoes. This was supposedly an ‘easy’ track, but it quickly became muddy with slippery tree roots to navigate. We even had to wade across a river at one point.

An island of contrasting environments, Guadeloupe also has many beautiful beaches, especially along the south coast of Grande Terre. One of the most popular ones is St Anne’s beach – a perfect place for a quick swim.

Finally, no trip to Guadeloupe would be complete without sampling the local cuisine. On one of our excursions we stumbled on Chez Samy’s – literally a wooden hut on the edge of the beach. It was a simple menu – chicken, fish, rice and bread served with local beer or homemade rum punch. No fancy table decorations; only a simple palm leaf as a cloth and any leftovers were thrown into the undergrowth to feed the numerous cats and hens. Watching Samy cook was an interesting experience – no health and hygiene standards here!