We decided to head next to Guadeloupe. Last year
we visited Deshaies, and this time we wanted to really explore the island. We chose Pointe-à-Pitre as our base, anchoring just outside the mega Marina Bas-du-Fort. We rented a car for two days, first driving across Route de la Traverse to the Crayfish Waterfalls and the Carbet Falls:
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| Crayfish Falls |
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| First and Second Falls |
The trail down to the Second Fall leads this close, but no further unless you duck under the rope:
We drove down to the southern coast of Basse Terre, passing large banana plantations left and right. We even passed a town translating to "Banana-ville," so when we got to a lovely ice cream bar and saw the list of sundaes, we jumped at the chance to experience some of the local product:
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| All set for deux Compos sundaes! |
Alas, just like the song, it was "Yes, we have no bananas" in Banana-ville. I tried to be helpful with my French, explaining that perhaps they could pick them right off the adjacent trees, but they wanted none of it, so we left. Needless to say, Susan thought this was all pretty amusing!
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| View towards La Soufriere |
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| Near to Capesterre, and "Banana-ville" |
We also drove to Grande Terre, the east half of Guadeloupe. (Still not sure why Basse-Terre is high, while Grande Terre is flat.) The road east leads to Gosier, St. Anne, and St. Francois:
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Fishing village in St. Francois
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Susan thought this red car would make a great circus clown-car:
When we looked west from St. Francois, we worried a bit when we saw what was brewing towards Pointe A Pitre:
And when we heard the words "rotation" and "Pointe A Pitre" together in one sentence, we figured it was time to high-tail it back to the boat before it dragged away. So we ran to I. Pates, a small Italian restaurant/deli and ordered some wonderful food to take away before we raced back to the city. Car look familiar?:
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| The little "clown-car" parked next to I. Pates. Great food here! |
By the time we drove back to the boat the weather was much more settled:
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| Business as usual back in Pointe A Pitre |
Next day we walked the city of Pointe A Pitre, Guadeloupe's busiest city:
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| KFC, with Norm Macdonald at right |
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| l'église Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul |
The highlight for us was that Guadeloupe's Carnaval was in full swing in Pointe a Pitre. Here is just a sampling:
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| Dude that's gotta hurt |
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| Miss Carnaval and associate |
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| Miss Guadeloupe World, with "Where's Waldo" in the background |
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| Forget the foreground. Can you find Waldo again? |
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| Future King of Carnaval |
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| Batala Gwada from Brazil |
Final parting shot from Guadeloupe:
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| Hitch hiker |
