It has been a week of Guadeloupe discoveries as well as self-discoveries! Join us as we jaunt to waterfalls, explore gardens and attempt to figure out French schedules during a holiday week. I will start this week’s blog with our new found self-discovery based on our explorations of Martinique and Guadeloupe. We like to walk. We do not like to hike. We wish we were the type of people who like to hike. We are not. Our new definition of an acceptable walk is the following: less than 30 minutes one way; a clear path (a few rocks and roots are acceptable); gradual incline is fine, steeper incline must be short in duration; bar and snacks within 10 minute drive from walk. Our definition of hike is the following: more than 30 minutes one way; path full of rocks and mud; root systems that consist of root ladders for climbing as well as ‘oh shit’ root handles; slippery rocks; steep hills with nonstop steps; no bar or snacks in sight, only trees. You will need to remember these definitions for the remainder of the blog.
We began our explorations on Grand Terre which is the wing of the island with no rainforest. The terrain reminded us a lot of central Florida. We stopped by Fort Fleur d’ Epee for some good pictures of the nearby beaches. The fort itself was small and sat adjacent to the parking lot so it definitely met the definition of a nice walk. Our next destination should be no surprise for you…Distillerie Damoiseau…more rum! Damoiseau’s unique offering was a direct view of the sugarcane machinery which was running and we were able to stand above it on a catwalk to view. Very cool! From the distillery, we headed out to the furthest point on the east end of the island, Pointe des Chateaux. The point had huge rock formations and the waves would slam ashore making quite the show. I took pictures from the parking lot and then told Bill we needed to get closer to the action. We surveyed the situation. Well-marked path, sand, a few bushes, less than 15 minutes, snacks well within sight…good to go! By this time, we were ready for our Airbnb which ended up being a really nice resort with an amazing pool! We enjoyed our night minus the 700 children that were in the pool with us. The French definitely do not average 2.5 children like the States! They are baby making machines! We headed out the next day to the north side of Grand Terre to Lagon de la Porte d’Enfer. This area was also high on the cliffs overlooking the ocean and the water below churned roughly forming caves over thousands of years. After a quick perusal of the walk versus hike checklist, we agreed it was a good walk and we made our way out to the point for some spectacular views. Having completed our rum distillery obligation the previous day, it was now time for the cemetery obligation. Not just any cemetery. The cemetery Morne-A-L’Eau was touted as the Caribbean’s best cemetery. Considering how many cemeteries we have visited in the Caribbean, we had our doubts. Pulling into the small town of Morne-A-L’Eau, we made our way down the main street searching for the supposed best cemetery ever. We rounded a corner and sat stunned. Blinking to clear our eyes, we set our gaze upon the most unique cemetery we had ever seen. There were hundreds of mausoleums that were in perfect alignment. Tiled from top to bottom, most with black and white tiles, they had porches and windows and benches. Some of the mausoleums were two and three stories high. The entire cemetery looked like a small neighborhood and you expected someone to come out and invite you into dinner. Thank goodness no one appeared to invite us to dinner or we would have had a heart attack. Of all the wonders we had experienced over the past two days, this manmade wonder was one that I will never forget. Our exploration of Basse Terre (the rainforest wing) began with a rough start. It was Good Friday but we had checked online ahead of time and the national Easter holiday on Guadeloupe was Monday so we figured everything would be open as usual. Our first attempt was the Distillerie du Domaine de Severin. Not only was it closed, it appeared to be closed permanently. We made our over to Reimonenq Distillery….closed. Fearing the worst, we headed over to Deshaies Gardens. Not only were the gardens opened, they were packed! We waited patiently for a parking spot and then enjoyed a beautiful walk through the gardens. The funniest part of the garden was the trained koi fish in the pond. The pond was at the entrance of the gardens and as soon as someone purchased a ticket, the fish would rush to the side of the pond waiting to be fed. From the gardens we headed to the Guadeloupe Zoo and were pleasantly surprised it was open as well. The zoo had a good variety of animals including lemurs and a red panda that I wanted to steal as a pet. The zoo was beautifully designed and we meandered our way through the forest on well built boardwalks enjoying a lovely day. As we finished our visit, we were surprised by how many people were eating at the snack bar. Not wanting to wait in line, we left….a decision that would definitely come back to haunt us. For our last visit of the day, we drove to Cascade Ecrevisses which was a waterfall that was reportedly so easy to reach that you could go in a wheelchair. Definitely met the Sally and Bill walk definition! It also met everyone else’s definition of a good walk because it was packed! It was at this time we realized that our Covid plus days were over…everyone else in the world was travelling again and we would have to learn to share. Leaving without a swim, we drove into town to get something for dinner prior to checking into our Airbnb. We soon discovered why everyone had been eating at the zoo’s snack bar. Nothing was open. No restaurants, no grocery stores. No food. Poor preparation made for a dinner of salami, bread, cheese and watermelon that we had leftover from earlier in the day but we survived. Saturday morning, we began with a trip to Saut d’ Acomat which was another waterfall. We approached the entrance and found a semi-rocky path with a few roots. It was a short walk so it made the list. What everyone had failed to mention was that ‘saut’ in French means to jump. If we had that information prior to beginning our ‘walk’, we would have aborted the mission. Our easy walk soon turned into a root infested path. As we neared the end, we had to turn around backwards and climb down the roots like a ladder. Once we reached the bottom of the path, the rocks by the river were very slippery and each step I took felt like a broken bone waiting to happen. I finally sat down on one of the rocks and Bill patiently stopped to wait on me. Overtaken by a panic attack, I announced that I was not moving from where I sat. Bill nodded, took the camera and made his way over to the waterfall to get a picture for me. After watching several seven year old children bounce across the rocks, fall, get up, fall again, I decided my panic attack was warranted and waited for Bill to return. From the death falls, we went to Fort Louis. On the way, we searched for food but found nothing open. We finally found a grocery store and grabbed some quick snacks. By the time we arrived, the fort was closing so we took a few pictures and made our way to the Vieux-Fort lighthouse. You would think a lighthouse would be easy to find but it was not. We found one trailhead that led to the lighthouse but the trail did not meet the Sally and Bill walk guidelines so we hopped back in the car. Bill finally found a road that took us directly to the lighthouse with no walk or hike involved! What a good man! The final adventure for the night was the usual hunt for the Airbnb. Once again, no address. By luck and one well written review that gave some landmarks, we found the Airbnb. The hosts spoke no English but through our translate app, we were thrilled to find that the host would cook us dinner for an additional charge. Since we had lived on bread and cheese for two days, an actual meal sounded amazing. It was amazing. We had fish, shrimp, salad and enough rice to feed all of China. It was a feast and we enjoyed every bite! Final day of touring. Easter morning. We had little to no hope that anything would be open. Bill studied the map and we found a trail that led to the Cascade de Carbet. Carbet was three falls but we knew we would only want to do one fall (due to the walk vs hike rules). We arrived at the parking lot and were met with a long road. The walk was reportedly 20 minutes one way so off we went. The path became very rocky but still manageable. We met some people returning down the path and a man spewed off a sentence in French which we met with a blank stare. He then said in English, “Path no good. No good. Turn around.” Seeing much younger and healthier people turning around, we quickly followed and made our way back to the car. Bill pulled out the map and found another possible route to the falls as well as to a lake. We drove up the mountain and as we passed a lot of cars parked on side of the road, we determined it must be the hike to the lake. If the words, “Where is the trailhead?” comes out of either of our mouths, we automatically get back in the car because we know that will be a hike, not a walk. We continued up the mountain and came upon a glorious sight. An official entrance to the Carbet Falls! The guard directed us to the ticket office and we gladly paid our entrance fee which had obviously been put to good use. Concrete paths, followed by laid rock paths, followed by boardwalks, followed by an observation deck. Twenty minutes later we arrived at the Falls and happily walked our way back to the car. Not one ‘oh shit’ root needed on the entire path! We have extended our stay in Guadeloupe for an extra week so we can finish our sight seeing as well as a few chores. Until next week, I hope you had a wonderful Easter or Passover! I miss my chocolate Easter bunny so bite an ear off for me! **Look for more pics on the Pictures tab later this week
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AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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