Monday afternoon we had walked the town and gotten the lay of the land and the local customs. It is a cute and clean little town with shore-side restaurants, grocery stores, and souvenir shops. We learned that few places were open for breakfast, some were open for large “complete” lunches, but that these closed after lunch to open only around 7 pm – and they didn’t want to see anyone til 8 pm. The gift stores, pharmacy, and grocery stores were closed sometime during the lunch hour, but opened around 3:30 in the afternoon. Some places were called cafes or resto/bars. You could get a coffee or a drink if you found one opened, but their hours were very irregular. As in most French islands, there are government-run buses but the bus schedule is a secret known only to the locals.
Tuesday morning, we chose a hike from the sailors’ guidebook suggested we hop the rocks for two hours up the Deshaies River. We did just that. It was an absolutely beautiful river, about 20 feet wide, strewn with boulders from start to finish, except for numerous small pools of cool, clear, fresh water. The guide said that there was a nice falls just where the stream becomes impassable. We ended up considering that “impassable” is a subjective term. We looked well beyond the expected location, where the going was getting quite rough, but found no falls. We did find a soft-rock gorge with giant boulders, some of which were made of the same soft rock. The rock is known to us, and indeed much of these islands is made from it. It is rough rock and volcanic clay that can be gouged at with a spoon or knife. We came to the conclusion that the waterfalls was eroded through, and the resulting precipice was all around us in rounded pieces. We backtracked to a road, and walked on a very steep road back to the village. Only when the road exited from the gorge did we realize that we had rock-hopped vertically around 900 feet. Even the road coming back stressed our footwear as a result of the slope. We’ve been sore ever since.
After an hour, rock jumping got pretty old. After 2 more hours, it was MILLER TIME!
Wednesday, taking an easy day, we hiked to the north, with very little vertical change, to Grande Anse Beach. It is a beautiful white beach with steep sand and large waves, everything needed to get your nose, ears and swimsuit full of sand. The usual tourist traps are available at each end. It was very pretty, but we stayed dry for the walk back. Nothing like sand in your suit to ruin a long, hot walk!
Grand Anse in northern Guadeloupe.
Look at the swimmers getting tangled up in this wave!
Thursday, we hiked up a hill for about a mile to a major botanical garden, and it was the prettiest garden we’ve seen so far. It had parrots and parakeets, coyfish ponds, waterfalls of different sorts, and all kinds of Caribbean and tropical flowers, orchids, bushes and trees. Throughout the area were benches and shady spots. It incorporated a high-end restaurant as well as a snack bar. It really was a wonderful spot, as Dawn’s pictures will attest.
Here are some pictures from the Botanical Garden here in Deshaies. The parrots were a real treat! Lolly, if you want any of these pictures in full size for painting, just let me know!
Today, we’re cooling our heels, doing boat maintenance and mending, and running for provisions. We have just met a couple from Toronto on a boat called Trade Wind, and will be joining them for sundowners in a couple of hours.
