Guadeloupe

French Townhall in Basse-Terre Îles Saintes, Gouadeloupe

On a map, Guadeloupe resembles à butterfly which overflies the other much smaller islands, mere beetles that lie helplessly on their back scattered around the blue.

However, arriving from the south by the sea, the first impression of the island is quite different: a very solid rock grown directly from the ocean a million years ago from a volcanic eruption of which only the towering 1462m high Grande Soufriere is still visible today and she looks nothing like a butterfly. The small clouds floating out of the crater might seem peaceful on a different mountain but with this volcano, they are a gentle reminder of all the dangers that have been belched out of the bottom of the earth.

No matter from which side you view Guadeloupe, its gently sloping hills are a stark contrast to the crater towering above the lush green.

As we reach our first mooring at the “Îles Saintes” a brown pelican-like birds greet us in the little bay we have picked for the night and as research later showed they are just that: brown pelicans.  

The mooring – l’Anse de Fideling is windy, but peaceful and we saw our first sea turtles moving gently around the ships and miraculously avoiding the few day boats that sped through the little bay. A strange cry startled me as the sun was just setting, sounding like an abandoned by but it turned out to be goats roaming the shores.

Deshaies

Deshaies

When we returned to Guadeloupe from the north a few weeks later, it was as windy as the first time (a good 25/30 knots). Sailing down from Antigua we arrived in Deshaies, providing a wonderful shelter from wind and waves. The peaceful little village with a pretty church in the middle is immediately recognizable as French, as are the delicious bakery and the small and efficient customs office located in a simple container. As charming as Deshaies is, after two nights we were ready to move on.

Expecting another day of strong winds, we were surprised by a relatively calm, sometimes gusty, descent down the western coast of Guadeloupe until we reached l’Anse de la Barque – a beautiful bay with a very tropical feel (except for the nearby road).

La Marina Bas-du-Fort

From there we headed to Point-à-Pitre, a long and slightly tiresome trip around the south-western tip of the butterfly and then against the wind towards the capital, which lies at the very centre, between the two “wings”.

We moored on a mooring ball behind the “îlet à Cochons” a great spot as it enabled us to go swimming (weather permitting), only a short dinghy ride from the marina and with a nice view of the Memorial ACTe.

Capitainerie Marina Bas-du-Fort

The Marina Bas-du-Fort hosts a ton of services: easy access to smaller and bigger supermarkets, hairdressers, and many restaurants. Our dinner at Quai-Ouest was amazing: the grilled squid and homemade French Fries were to die for and the Margret de Canard (standard fare in the French Antilles as it is easy to freeze and transport) one of the bests we have had.

We had planned to visit Point-à-Pitre and the museum, but the weather was rainy, the girls had to catch up on some schoolwork and we had a few errands to run so we ended up staying around the marina before heading back south, back to Les Îles Saintes.

Les Îles Saintes

Les Balançoires Restaurant

The main village or small town on this group of islands is Basse-Terre which, despite the bad weather is a lovely place and somewhat reminded us of Porquerolles, our “homebase” in the south of France. We were soaked by the time we got to the lovely little restaurant « Les Balançoires » where they do the best homemade French fries imaginable (but had run out by the time we were ready to order 😥) and have huge portions.

The French townhall or “Mairie” with the national dictum “liberté, égalité, fraternité” emblazoned in Caribbean colours is a amusing sight and we were surprised how much this place still somehow feels like France notwithstanding the enormous Atlantic Ocean separating it from the hexagon.

We tasted some of the delicious Tourments d’Amour - the local coconut speciality and posted some first post cards in the beautiful post-box.

If we hadn’t booked out hotel in Dominica, (you can read the blogpost on our amazing stay at the Jungle Bay Resort here) we could have easily spent another (sunnier) day here, strolling around the main street, eating ice-cream and enjoying the laidback vibes once the ferries have emptied the streets of the many day-tourists.