Matt & Erin's Vacation in Guadeloupe
Friday February 2, 2001
Although I had confirmed our pickup at the airport the driver was a few minutes late and we were a bit worried, since it was late at night and we were a long way from anywhere we knew. At last the cheerful and charming driver, Jean-Phillipe arrived and drove us to our hotel, Habitation Grande Anse. Along the way he attempted to show us the sites (jail, military base, mangrove, banana and sugar cane plantations, and the local Kmart equivalent, 'Mr. Bricolage'. However, it was nighttime and was quite dark, so we couldn't see a thing he was pointing out! Erin did manage, in the light of a few streetlights, to see five cows along the road. Animals of all sorts seem to wander free in Guadeloupe. When we arrived at the hotel, Fulvio Panero, with whom I had been corresponding via email, met us and took us to our room, which explained was an apartment under his parents' house. He told us it was a special room, but that we would have to wait for morning to see. Being still wired from our trip, the loud peeping from the tree frogs outside kept us awake for most of the night. We finally got up after being assured by some very insistent roosters that it was morning. It was still quite dark out, but we sat on our porch and, as the sky lightened over the landscape, we discovered why this was a special place. We sat overlooking a small yard resplendent with red ginger plants. We were situated on a steep hilltop. Over the little white fence enclosing the yard, the blue Caribbean was framed by unspoiled hillsides. We could see a little band of golden beach far below.
When it had gotten light enough we decided to take a walk, since breakfast would not be served until after 7 o'clock. We went down to the beach, Plage Grande Anse. Along the steep driveway, Erin noticed all the beautiful plants and pointed them out to me. We passed by a field of little goats and skinny cows and turned off the main road toward the beach, accompanied by wandering chickens. The beach was empty of people and all the food stands and vendor shacks were still closed. Since we had not had anything to eat the night before, we were very hungry and headed back up to the hotel restaurant for a breakfast of croissants, bread and butter, tropical preserves and fresh fruit, fruit juice and thick and flavorful coffee. After breakfast we went back to our porch to site and enjoy the view. I watched the sea for a long time while Erin read. At that time the phone rang. It was Fulvio, telling us that the car was ready. We were taken to the nearby town of Deshaies, where we rented a Renault Twingo, a surprisingly ugly greenish mustard color car. Before taking the car, we wandered around Deshaies, exploring the shops looking for groceries, which we purchased along with some local rum. We found it amusing that every culture seems to have a version of canned franks and beans - in this case 'Lentils and Sausages'. After a detour to the south and having discovered that we could not put the car in reverse we made it back to the hotel where the lady at the desk, after we explained our plight, showed us how to put that kind of car in reverse, pulling up on part of the stick shift while moving it into position. We thanked her sheepishly. After a quick stop back at the room, we decided to go down to the beach for lunch. There were more people there, but the long wide beach was not crowded at all. We stopped at a shack-like Creole restaurant made of wood with a tin roof and birds flying in and out of the kitchen. There we had ti (rum) punch, conch fritters with a spicy salad, grilled chicken with Creole rice and more salad and a flambéed banana for dessert. It had been raining on and off a bit during lunch, as sometimes it does in the tropics, and it was amusing to watch the sunbathers sprint back to the shelter of the trees along the beach. We also watched three chickens and a beautiful rooster wander fearlessly close to the restaurant. After all that relaxing and food it was hard to make it up the seemingly ever more mountainous hill to our room. We celebrated our ascent with a traditional and civilized nap. Awakening much refreshed we lay around for several hours on the porch, watching the clouds move over the sea. Then we headed back to the beach to observe the sunset. I had never much understood the romantic appeal of the seemingly cliché stroll along a sunset beach, but both Erin and I were enlightened by this perfect specimen of beach, surf and sunset. We ate dinner at the hotel, enjoying the brochette special, which started with a marinated raw fish salad that reminded us somehow of the octopus salad we get at a local sushi restaurant, Saji-Ya. Then came the main course, which included potatoes au gratin, an unidentified but tasty white vegetable, baked stuffed tomato and a shish-kebob of beef, onion, pineapple and red pepper in a sauce of fresh peppercorns, the likes of which we had never tasted. We finished with some melon and mango ice cream, which in the French custom was icy rather than creamy - very refreshing. Although the moon was only half-full, it lit the landscape as brightly as any full moon we had seen. We watched the stars for a while. They seemed so much closer and brighter and the southern constellations were unfamiliar. Then we said, "Hey, we'd better write all this down!" - and we did so, before ending our first day in the paradise of Guadeloupe. Saturday February 3, 2001 We began our second day on the Guadeloupe with another wonderful breakfast at the hotel. Then we got in our car and headed north on the main road, passing by many a cane field valley until we got to Ste. Rose. Seeing a small open-air market we stopped to stroll. Erin bought some oranges and we headed toward the water. Like much of Guadeloupe, Ste Rose is perpetually under construction. Many buildings seem to be on the rise, while other seemed to be sinking into decay or have burnt long ago, yet to be reconstructed. Unlike our home town, where a single broken window would seem to indicate the demise of an entire neighborhood, in Guadeloupe it seemed quite natural for there to be these contrasts in quality and upkeep from house to house. While in Ste Rose we saw some pelicans down by the water and some people unloading fish, one a very bright pink, from their boats. Then, we were caught in a sudden downpour that lasted only a few minutes. Everyone in the area, tourists and fishermen alike took shelter in a small bar by the waterfront. Once the rain had ended we walked back to the car and headed east along the northern coast. Although we had intended to go directly to the National Park that makes up much of the island of Basse-Terre we took a few wrong turns, though none were regretted. The first turn took us into a farming community on the northern edge of the National Park, near Severin, where we went later in the trip. It was there we took a picture of one of the many cows by the side of the road. The other turn took us to Pointe a Pitre, where we parked at the harbor and enjoyed the open-air market. We saw many unusual fruits and vegetables and purchased some spices as souvenirs. After wandering the streets of Pointe a Pitre we grabbed a quick sandwich and got back on the road to the National Park.
Driving up into the mountains in the National Park required Erin's concentration but was a relief after the traffic of the main port. We walked to a beautiful waterfall and drove up a very steep and twisty road to a very scenic point where we could overlook most of Grande-Terre and in the other direction, look out over the Caribbean and part of Basse-Terre with a small red-roofed coastal town far below. After that we headed up the western coast of Guadeloupe, making our way down the mountains many switchbacks and threading our way up the mountainous coast back to our hotel. After a brief rest back at the room we headed to the beach where I waded in the surf and relaxed on the beach while boys played at soccer and Erin swam in the sea, bobbing up and down in the peaceful blue waters. We then returned to our room for another rest. On the way we tried taking a picture of some animals that lived by the main sign for the hotel, a bull and its bird. The bulls that seemed to be everywhere along the roads of the island always seemed to have at least one small egret nearby, which Erin remembers from a nature show as having a natural function, keeping flies from the bull and retrieving the bounty of its droppings.
We rested at our room for a while, watching the sunset from our porch and then went to dinner down at the hotel restaurant. Before dinner we sat at the bar for a few and drank some Planters' punch. Then we started dinner with a salad with shredded, cooked fish, then had some curried squid and fish - all very tender - and finished with some Fondant, a rich chocolate cake with puffs of whipped cream. During dinner I fed the orange tabby that always seemed to be hanging out at the restaurant some of the shredded fish from the appetizer. Although he gave neither that cat nor the female white and gray cat that accompanied him any more to eat, the dining room was full of good hearted folks and the cats definitely were not going hungry. After dinner sleep overtook us quickly. Sunday February 4, 2001 Sunday was mostly a day of rest. We spent some quality time swimming at the beach. On the way to the beach we met three little boys requesting coins in their rubber masks, obviously trying to make some pre-festival cash. Erin gave them a few. After swimming we ate a wonderful grilled fish lunch, then got some groceries and more rum and went back to our room, where we sat reading, drinking ti punch and admiring the view. We did this till dinnertime where we ate the Formule Brochette at the hotel restaurant again, this time with one appetizer of bruschetta and another of sausage and a main course of fish brochette. We then retired for the evening after having a very restful day. Monday February 5, 2001 Today we wanted to see more of the island and we definitely accomplished our goal. Our first stop, heading north and east along the coast from our hotel, was the rum distillery at Severin. At the distillery we took a tour of their operations, which included far more than rum production. The distillery also turned out to be a working farm, producing much of the sugar cane from which they make the rum and hot peppers from which they make and bottle Creole hot sauce. They also grow pineapple and have a large crayfish aquaculture operation. However, their primary fame comes from their rum, for which they have won several gold medals from the department of agriculture of France. They explained that industrial rums, such as Bacardi, are made using a quick distillation process of sugar cane by-products, unlike the rum that we have been enjoying in Guadeloupe, which involves fermenting the sugar cane juice and distilling that. To produce the top-notch old (vieux) rum, they then age the rum in oak barrels for at least four years. One can definitely taste the difference between industrial rum and the island rum, which tastes of the plants and land on which it is grown, much like wine. Rather than join the large tour group clustered around the tasting table, we went up the road to the distillery's restaurant where we ate a sumptuous lunch in a beautiful outdoor seating area. Our meal started with flakey pastries shaped like small fish, filled with a delicate flavored mousse. Erin had passion-fruit juice, which she loves, while I had mango juice, one of my favorites. Then we had a turmeric flavored molded fish appetizer in a delicate cream sauce. The main course was a curried pork dish and included several wonderfully different cuts of the meat. This was accompanied by a dish of string beans sautéed with bacon and some squash as well. Bread was served in a cute oyster shell shaped basket. We shared an amount of our bread with a bird that waited upon us, jumping back and forth between our table and neighboring tables. It was quite the gourmet feast.
The owners of the park were evidently quite fond of birds, as enclosures full of budgies, doves, chickens, cockatiels, etc. took up quite a bit of space in the park. There were also small monkeys, rabbits and raccoon, as well as pheasants and wild turkeys. We decided to forego the trip up the mountain to the other floral park and the Chutes de Carbet, a trio of waterfalls. Calculating that we had enough sunlight left, Erin decided instead to return home the long way around the island so we could get more of a feel for the place. Heading south again, we passed by a commemorative statue of Christopher Columbus at the place he had come to shore in the new world. We also passed a Hindu temple that was lacking in signage, though not in decoration. In the second we could see it before we were swept along by traffic, we could see a pale blue terraced stucco structure with what looked like the entire pantheon crowded colorfully onto each ledge. We continued around the southern point of the island and north through the outskirts of the capital, Basse-Terre. We felt as if we were on a 2-lane roller coaster as we hurtled along the unpredictably hilly and curvy roads through the setting sun. We were surprised along the way by the only non-picturesque sight we'd seen so far - an enormous dump along the cliffs by the water. Along the way to Pointe-Noire, we looked for a sign we'd seen the other day - an ad for "Skouby Pneus" with a picture of Scooby-Doo (Pneu is French for tire - there are an awful lot of tire repair shops on Guadeloupe) - but we couldn't find the sign again so we could take a picture. We arrived at the hotel just after sunset and decided to eat in, since it had been a long day, circling the entire island of Basse-Terre. The bottle of butane for the stove ran empty just as the macaroni made it to the 'al dente' stage, but thankfully was edible. We also had some coconut yogurt and a kind of sophisticated Oreo-style cookie for dessert. Thus ended another day in paradise. Tuesday February 6, 2001 We decided not to be so ambitious today, and our only goal was to go on a glass bottomed boat tour of the Cousteau Reserve near Pigeon, on the western coast. After a quick hotel breakfast we started down the coast. We arrived there a bit early for the tour, so we shopped for souvenirs and got some sandwiches from a cart. It rained quite hard while we were waiting for the tour to start, and at one point an ambulance pulled up to pick up a scuba diver who had lost it off the coast. One of the divers hanging out on the beach surmised that the other scuba diver had been drinking a bit too much the night before. The rain continued on and off, and at a paint when it was mostly off, our boat arrived at the dock. Once everyone was aboard, the ship headed out toward some small islands off the coast. When we were partway there, the crew had us go below to where the hull had large glass windows. For a few minutes all we could see was blue bubbly water rushing by but then we arrived at the reef. We saw on one side a school of blue fish with yellow tails, and as the captain directed our attention to the other side, we saw the coral reef with lots of different corals, sponges, small striped fish, bright blue fish, long skinny fish, and very shiny dark blue fish with black fins. We saw one large puffer fish and a couple of queen parrotfish - very colorful. There were also black sea urchins with incredibly long thin spines. As the boat slowly circled the island, we came to a point where the fish started following the boat. The engines stopped, and we could see pieces of baguettes splash into the water, where all the fish converged to feed. We took lots of photos, and after a while the crew invited people to come up top to snorkel and swim. I remained on board to take photos while Erin donned fins and took to the sea. Most of the other tourists clung close to the boat but Erin swam around and down, trying to get a closer look at the fish and reef. I snapped a few pictures of Erin from the deck and also some of her swimming underwater, taking those from inside the glass-bottom boat.
Soon it was time for everyone to get back on board so we could return to shore. When the engines came back on, the rum drinks were served and the French karaoke began, headed by one of the crewmembers. Thankfully, it was a quick trip back to shore. After purchasing a tacky souvenir plate to add to our collection, we decided to press on to La Soufriere rather than return to the hotel right away, even though the weather in the mountain range looked to be less than perfect. Going through the capital, Basse-Terre, we wound our way up the road into the mountains toward the volcano. It was slow going and got even slower as we fell into a line of cars behind a huge electrical utility truck. also going up the volcano. Now, the road was barely wide enough for two tiny French cars to pass side by side, and this was a two-way road. So, when a car came the other direction, the giant truck would have to edge as far over as it could and stop as the other car would have to drive part way off the road to drive around it. Quite the trick on a curvy, steeply graded road with little in the way of a shoulder and huge drips down the volcano's side if there was a mistake. A number of times, the truck had to stop entirely and back up to maneuver itself into a switchback. Passing this huge vehicle with its cable laying equipment and cherry picker was never an option as we slowly worked our way up the mountain. Finally, we reached the parking lot near the top of the volcano, and although one could only see a few meters through the cold mist and rain of the cloudbank, We donned our hiking boots and went a ways up one of the trails, not the one that led to the summit, as it was a two hour trek and sunset was fast approaching. The trail was surely just a stream with cascades during the rainy season, and consisted of very uneven, mossy rocks with several spots that involved extensive clambering. Eventually, we decided that it wasn't a distinct enough trail to continue in such poor visibility, so we galumphed and skidded back down to the car. The ground adjacent to the parking lot is distinctly warm from the volcanic activity.
Our descent was not much faster than our ascent, since it had started raining and the road was slick. We broke through the cloud cover on our way down, and soon the cold spray and drizzle of the higher reaches was replaced by the tropical sun and humidity to which we had become accustomed. Back in Basse-Terre, we took some side roads while trying to get back to the highway, passing by a number of fashionable shoe stores each blaring French pop music. Our only stop up the coast was in Pointe Noire, where we stopped to buy some madras fabric for a souvenir. The shopkeeper was very personable and patient with Erin's limited French. Her guess was that we were from Germany. We had parked at the church parking lot, around which many well-dressed townspeople gathered, there having apparently just been a funeral. Old women in hats and flowered dresses sang inside the church as another service took place, the music floating out the large open windows. On our way back up the coast, we picked up a hitchhiker outside of Ferry. There seemed to be a large number of hitchhikers along the roads in Guadeloupe, and Erin felt badly that we never stopped, so we pulled over. Though we couldn't understand a word that he said, he seemed to be satisfied that we were going in the right direction when Erin told him we were going to Deshaies, just a town or so to the north. We let him out when we got to the hotel and worried a little that he wouldn't get where he was going since it was getting dark, but later we noticed that Guadeloupeans hitchhike after dark just as readily as in the day. It beats the buses, apparently, which seem to barely make it up the hills, belching black diesel smoke all the way. We then went back to the room, put away the day's bounty, showered and headed down to dinner. We'd intended to check out another beach restaurant, Le Karacoli, but it wasn't open, so we purchased some groceries at the corner gas station/grocery/bar and went to the hotel restaurant again after dropping off the groceries at the room. I reprised my beef brochette with green pepper sauce and Erin got the Isles pizza, with ham, pineapple and heavy cream. After dinner, tired out by our long ocean and volcano sightseeing, we retired for the evening. Wednesday February 7, 2001 Our penultimate day we woke and breakfasted at our room, then went down to the beach. The surf was pretty flat, although every 10 minutes or so, a series of larger waves would come in and sweep any unsuspecting waders off their feet. There was a large, spiffy catamaran anchored just offshore, and the people aboard were swinging from a rope attached to the mast into the water. I got a couple of photos of the boat and we sat imagining being able to spend winters yachting instead of shoveling and shivering.
For lunch, we went to a strangely named beachside place, Le Fromager 2000. We had their menu du jour, fricassee of ouassous (river crayfish), accras (fritters) of some sort of seafood, and bananas flambé, which arrived in a dish in a flaming puddle of white rum. Erin had a Punch Maison, which is traditionally a mix of fruit, sugar and rum let to steep in a glass jar for some time. There were a wide variety of these big jars on a side table, labeled with their contents: tamarind, sugar cane, banana, guava, acerola, etc. Erin chose guava, which was surprisingly excellent - a thick, sweet liqueur with a complex flavor. As Erin had been pretty well done in by the one-two punch of the bananas and, well, punch, we headed back to the room, where Erin had a good long snooze and I watched the clouds and got a little more sun. We found it amazing, really, that given how much time we'd spent out in the sun and how intense it is here, we're not burnt to a crisp. In fact, we'd seen very few sunburnt people here. Thursday February 8, 2001 On our last day we had breakfast at the hotel, revisited the nearby beaches, returned the car, and were driven to the airport by Jean-Phillipe for our long trip home. Our vacation in Guadeloupe was very restful. The service and facilities of the hotel, Habitation Grande Anse, were excellent. Booking the car as part of the hotel package helped make this a worry-free vacation, and the hotel restaurant was wonderful too. The island itself is a marvel, with perfect weather, picturesque views, a variety of flora and fauna, and fine beaches. The size of the island and the diversity of experiences available there, along with the combination of French and Caribbean cultures and friendly people elevated this vacation above a typical 'beach and hotel' experience to make it truly a paradise.
|
Erin and I arrived in Guadeloupe last night, flying into Pointe a Pitre after a long
but fairly pleasant plane ride (Minneapolis to Chicago to San Juan to Pointe a
Pitre). We were tired but wired, and we made it through customs with a minimum
of confusion.
When we went back to the distillery gift shop and main reception center it
was closed for mid-day and so we continued east along the northern coast of
Basse-Terre, now looking for a botanic garden. After several scenic wrong turns
we found the road to the botanical garden, which is also a working flower farm
specializing in tropical blooms such as ginger, heliconia and anthurium. The
self guided tour path wound at first past some slightly tawdry exhibits of
little dolls in native dress, weather-beaten botanical specimens under glass
and a kind of small petting zoo of goats, guinea fowl and donkeys, but the
grounds of the park turned out to be quite spacious and well-planted. We were
reminded of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum back home. Erin took a lot of
photos including some of the elusive 'colibri', or hummingbirds, which were
everywhere.
