On the way to Antigua we stopped back in Iles des Saintes. This time we picked up a mooring in Bourg des Saintes. The main island Terre-de-Haut is perfectly sized for a golf cart tour.
Wonderful views can be had when visiting Fort Napoleon, and the museum and the gardens are also great.
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| View from Fort Napoleon |
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| Pratique off the port bow of the big ship |
We also realized we were low on gasoline for the dingy engine, so we figured we'd bring the gas canister with us in the golf cart. First chance we would get, we'd fill her up for the rides to come. So for future generations of visitors we are, like others before us, presenting our albeit belated "Words to the Wise." Fill up before you get to Les Saintes.
We quickly learned that the only fuel available is on the east side of the Baie de Marigot, on the north end of the island. So we took the golf cart to the small village at the head of the bay, and started asking questions of the locals. My French did not fail me, and it wasn't long before I was able to ascertain that there was a trail through the woods that led to the Marina. "Great, let's go," I told Susan. The local suggested that I wait for a scheduled boat to arrive around noon that would shuttle my tank to the marina for me and then return it same time the next day. But I had a "better plan" which was to walk the trail to the pumps and then take the fore-mentioned boat as a ride back. So off we went.
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| "Don't follow us to the gas station. We don't know where it is" |
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| "Ou se trouve l'essence?" |
Half hour or so in to the hike, with the steep slope of the trail going down to the water to the left, I was happy to be carrying an empty tank, and excited to know that I'd be avoiding the hike back with a full tank in tow by getting a boat ride back.
Then we hit a dead end:
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| "OK, who put the chicken coop here?" |
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| Dead End |
So we turned around and hiked back down the trail and found it again. Time to get moving, since I didn't want to miss the boat ride back, or have to wait for a two hour "closed for dejourner" to end.
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| Almost there! Hope that isn't the ride back! |
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| Ha! Made it! |
Indeed, I was able to fill up as advertised! And our ride back was right on schedule, so we did manage to avoid the hike back with a full tank!
On the ride back I mentioned to Susan that this experience was reminiscent of a blog I thought I had read a long time ago. So later that afternoon I Googled it, and sure enough Skip and Maddie had published one of the more descriptive posts of a similar (but less productive) experience on
their blog. Fortunately for us, notice the pump on the left is, at least in 2015, standing!!
