Its amazing how having friends onboard makes you really step back and appreciate the good things about our lifestyle. In Guadeloupe, we had Sabina’s cousin – Ayesha – join us. Very much a first time sailor, Ayesha jumped headfirst in to sailing, fishing, paddleboarding, and snorkeling.
Our first port of call was Port-a-Pitre. It was more a working town without too much to see…but we did manage to get some very yummy (and strong) home made coconut rum punch at the local market. In the afternoon we sailed up to Saint Anne to anchor for the night inside a reef hoping to get in some snorkling the next day. Unfortunately the rain and wind set in overnight … so it was a bit of down below time for us, and a chance for Ayesha to get used to the confines of a small boat.
With bad weather and swells making Saint Anne not too attractive, we decided to set sail for Iles des Saints. It was the right call. We had a nice 10-15 knot wind the whole way, caught a nice tuna for lunch, and made it to the main port – Bourg des Saints – by sundown. After finding a nice secluded anchorage we headed in to town for dinner at a restaurant – Au Bon Vivre – Ayesha had read about in the NYT. The food was amazing – from profiteroles with crayfish to a foie gras salad 🙂
Iles des Saints really is a miniature paradise, with a little bit of everything. Just around from the main town we found a gorgeous little secluded bay and had one of those perfect days. The paddleboards and snorkling gear came out for some morning fun. Ayesha was a little ginger at first….but picked up both after a bit of practice. In the afternoon, we decided to go to shore and hike to the highest point of the mountain. While no summit, it was a nice 1-2 hour strenuous hike, rewarded with a nice view. That night we had a nice BBQ and some good debate on US politics. A perfect day! Bring on more like it 🙂
Our next port was Basse Terre, and it was time for some more hiking. We hired a car and drove inland to the main rainforest national park. After driving as far as we could, we hiked up to the summit of the Soufriere, a still smouldering volcano. The peak was actually 1490m above sea level, so the temperature dropped down to single digits, which felt quite cold, especially with the damp Atlantic trade winds racing by. I also had a little scare, when I washed my face in a hot spring pool, and then read that the pool sometimes has amoeba parasites, with potential death only a day or two away. Anyway, Im writing this, so I managed to survive 🙂
Guadeloupe has some excellent snorkling, with Pidgeon Island the real highlight for us. The place was ‘discovered’ by Jacques Costeau, and marine reserve has been created in his name. The marine life was amazing, with heaps of fish of all types and some colourful coral. I even managed to film a sea snake, and Sabina made friends with the local turtles.
We also experienced the other side of rich marine life – good food! We had lunch at this very nice French restaurant that Ayesha had read about in the NYT. Our star dish was a BBQ leather jacket cooked with the skin on so that it hardened like a armour plate that you could just chip off. BTW – looking back, I think Ayesha was secretely trying to re-create the NYT article on Guadeloupe. We somehow managed to eat at every amazing place the article mentioned! 🙂
Our final stop in Guadeloupe was Deshaies. The little town is set on this perfect horse shoe bay made for yachties. We got a nice anchorage close to shore and had some amazing sunset drinks at a little bar on the waterfront just after we arrived. The next day, Sabina and I left Ayesha at the bakery and hiked / bush bashed up a creek trail in the rainforest to try find a waterfall we had read about. After 3 hours of rock scrambling and bush bashing we eventually gave up when we came across a road that took us back to town. After another round of sunset drinks (our last of the coconut punch) it was time to say goodbye to Guadeloupe and give Ayesha a taste of our ocean life by doing a night passage to Antigua!
