Tag Archives: Guadeloupe

The Death March – Les Saintes, Guadeloupe, May 2, 2023

Posted on by
Reply

The Death March – Les Saintes, Guadeloupe, May 2, 2023

Terre-de-Haute is a lovely little seaside community in a terrific anchorage.  It is definitely the touristy part of Guadeloupe but very safe and nice to walk around.  On day one here we decided to do a hike marked “moderate to hard” on the all trails map, which what we have used to guide us on all our hikes so far.  Note to self, their scale of moderate to hard is different than the “Campbell Scale” (our ability rating scale).  The hike was named “Le Pain” and it definitely was!  It was 5.5 miles with final elevation of 1,210 feet straight up!  Basically, we spent the next 2.5 hours hiking up a steep rocky off-road path up to a little set of ruins.  Apparently, this little set of islands has changed hands many times between France, Spain, and Britain due to its strategic location but in the end landed with the French.  It was by far the most challenging hike we have done this season and brought both of us to our limits.  At least when we got to the top, the views were worth it!

Le pain? Sure seems easy.
This is steeper then it appears.
Almost to top
He said we would die.
Notice to two younger people exhausted.
The views incredible.
On top of the world.
Paved road down thankfully!

Funny story on the way to the trail we passed a little house with about a dozen bird cages one of which was home to a parrot.  The only word the parrot knew was “asshole.”  Pretty funny as we walk by, he calls Ron an “asshole.”  We got a good laugh our of that one.

After that we took a couple days to snorkel which was fun since Guadeloupe is a volcanic mountainous island and the coral against the black sand was really pretty.  I haven’t seen this since Hawaii many years ago.  The amazing thing here is how big some of the sponges are.  They are as big as me!  It was kind of nuts but the water is clear and warm as bath water.

Huge sponges

On our next hike we ended up going to Fort Napolean which was a nice little history lesson.  It was not nearly as difficult but still a nice little uphill walk.  The fort was cool but sadly all the explanations were in French so I ended up doing a little reading when we got home to interpret what I had just seen.  The fort itself was huge and the first moat I have seen.  Pretty cool overall with a brick oven, cistern, and slits in the stone for gun protection.

Very well preserved
Fort offered great views
So many slaves on board. Humans suck

We had intended to head over to Dominica the next day but not realizing it was a holiday, we did not get to check out.  Who know the French Labor Day was on May 1st.  We waited and headed to Dominica the following day.  The nature island is awaiting.

Guadeloupe – Deshaies, Guadeloupe, April 27, 2023

Posted on by
Reply

Guadeloupe – Deshaies, Guadeloupe, April 27, 2023

Our weather window was holding so after some good Mexican and snorkeling, we took the chance to make our hop over to Guadeloupe.  It was a nice sail with a bit of rain at the end.  The harbor itself was very crowded so we anchored in the bay next door and wanted to get ourselves checked in.  This is one of only two places that have customs in Guadeloupe and it was one computer at the back of a gift shop.  She never checked our passports, and it was all very informal unlike places like BVI.  Deshaies is a gritty little town, and it was one of the first times we have felt a bit unsafe.  The people here have not been as friendly as they have been in other places.  I’m not sure if this is the French influence or they are just tired of all the tourists.

We took our chance early the next morning to go to the botanical garden and it was amazing!  It was a one mile walk straight uphill buy hey – not so bad.  They had flamingos that were so close to them I could have reached out and pet one.  So cool!  They also had goats, parrots, Koi fish, and flora and fauna from all over the world and it was 700 acres.  It puts the Franklin Park Conservatory to shame in Columbus since it was 3 times the size and half the price.  We saw everything from a banana tree to mango, avocado, banyan, you name it!

So close you could touch it
Breakfast time
Stunning
Jacko
Wow

Since our anchorage was very rolly due to the unusual southwest winds, the next morning we decided to snorkel at Jacque Cousteau National Reserve before heading out to someplace calmer.  It turned out to be one of our more interesting snorkeling trips.  First off we saw the underwater statue which we have not seen since the Bahamas last year.

Gigantic sponges
Incredible plate for coral.

The water around the island had quite a bit of current so we thought we would swim halfway then just cut through the two small islands and head back to the boat.  Well, it wasn’t two islands so we ended up climbing out over extremely slippery boulders and walking across the island to then swim to our boat.  It was a bit sketchy but the coral was still pretty cool and I saw a puffer fish.  It still doesn’t hold a candle to the Blue Tang Reef in Puerto Rico which was the best we have seen but still lovely.

Better then swimming back.

As the day was young and our anchorage sucked, we popped anchor and headed south.  The only place we would be able to find shelter from the west swell was going to be Terr-De-Haut, a small group of islands just south and still part of Guadeloupe.  It was a short 4-hour sail to Le Saintes Harbor, and we were nicely settled into a calm anchorage by 2:30 which was so much better!  It is a touristy little town much nicer than Guadeloupe proper.  Lots of restaurants, shops, snorkeling, and hiking.  It will be a fun few days discovering what is here.