PHOTOS link —>> Antigua to Isle Des Saintes

One of the joys of sea travel is seeing dolphins, which again from Barbuda to Antigua we were gifted with the company of dolphins.

Antigua was a stop for a few days to do laundry, get fresh produce and water. We visited the St John market for the fresh produce, took a hike around the peninsular in Jolly Harbour which was actually quite spectacular as the sea was way up and crashing on the shore with the blow hole working over time. We also met a Brazilian couple Sandra and Carlos and had a fun evening with them. Then it was off to

 

 

 

Iles Des Saintes.

The sail across was way rougher than expected with big seas and then wind shifts that caused a mess through out the inside. Never mind, goes with the territory, rough with the smooth as John says, we made anchor in Deshaies, Guadeloupe. There we checked in and left for the Saintes.

One of the first things John did in the Saintes was remove his hair – NO just the hair on his head. He was tired of seeing the gray and wanted to get “smart” for the up coming wedding. Well, he shaved it off and then sent a picture to the “kids”. The reaction he got was hilarious:

Chrissie email said: “Lmao…..are you guys cooking meth on that boat??…he looks a lot like Heisenburg,” (Breakin’ Bad).

Gavin’s email says: “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Kate’s says: “OMG!”

Wow and he only cut his hair off!! Well John is very happy and he tells me much cooler.

We have had a great hike everyday. These include: Fort Napoleon,

which is on top of a hill on the northeast of Terre De Haut. This fort was first erected in 1777 by Louis XV1, named Fort Louis, and then renamed in 1805. There is a museum in the main building, the grounds have a fabulous collection of cactus, there are “tame” iguanas in the brush and everything has been well maintained. The views from the top are spectacular. It was a fun hike and visit.

 

 

 

 

We climbed up the roadway/path leading to the highest point,

Le Chameau at 309m, just over 1000 feet. From the top we had an excellent view of the neighbouring islands and even Guadeloupe and Dominica in the distance. The path that led down the other side was too risky for us as there didn’t look like you could get away with mistakes on the trail, so we walked back the way we came, seeing a lovely hawk on the way.

A walk around the town of Bourg was very enjoyable as it is so quaint and with the gingerbread houses, bright colours, interesting characters and lovely flowers it’s quite a feast for the eyes. We continued this walk to the eastern shore and the wild beach of Grande Anse, which is also the end of the very small runway. The beach is wild, with large surf rolling ashore.

 

 

 

 

 

We followed the narrow lanes to the Pain de Sucre and the beach at Crawen. Another lovely, but hot walk with plenty of hill work.

Then another day we hiked the hiking trails around

 

Fort Caroline and Pompierre.

The views were awesome; the sun fierce, but the sea breeze was refreshing. The fort is all but gone; just a few crumbling walls remain. The slopes leading up and down tend to be challenging as the goats have cleared the land very effectively. John calls them the landscapers as that’s what they are doing, rearranging the land causing much erosion. The

beach at Pompierre is a very lovely bay, nearly enclosed and palm trees line the shore making it perfectly tropical.

 

Twice we visited Ilet a Cabrit, the neighbouring isle. On our first visit we hiked most the trails that lead to Fort Josephine and the prison. Again not much remains of the fort or prison, but there are wonderful views and the pathways were mostly under the trees making them shady. The goat population abounds there, many mama goats and their kids. On our second visit we hauled the dingy onto the beach and cleaned its bottom. It was a right mess, even had a few barnacles too. Afterwards we walked the on pathway we hadn’t taken which was past the ruins of the quarantine station where they used to put immigrant workers. This path took us out to another peninsular and more wonderful viewpoints.

When we first arrived we saw that our friend Les, off – Go Lightly was in the anchorage. He had Jeremonie with him again and we had an evening onboard Aeeshah catching up. Then as he left our friends Molly and Baxter with Kala on board – Terrapin arrived. Again we had another lovely evening, this time aboard Terrapin catching up.

 

There are wild dolphins that live in the bay. We have seen them several times. A one point John was cleaning the prop when I saw 2 swim right under him, not more than a few feet away. He never saw them. We are hoping to swim with them as we have seen others do.

We had a few more wonderful walks/hikes before we left. One was to the area near Grand Anse beach. There was an old road that we found on a steep hillside above Rodrigue beach. It goes pretty near straight up and ends at a cliff where at one time they must have been dumping bottles. There are hundreds of smashed bottles and all down the cliffs is broken glass. We climbed up the cliff face and onto a steep sided peninsular that was one of the only areas still not mown to rubble and sand by the numerous goats. It was a spectacular view from up there, but boy was it steep.

Another day we returned to Pompierre Beach and walked along the beach and rocks to the far end. There we waded out to the island we could see. At the island we rock climbed, scaled the sides, to reach the top and then the beaches below. At the top the views were stunning, the tropic birds were circling and the breeze was wonderful. Along the beach and rocks below were very cool rock pools, gullies and rock formations. Another great morning!

Tomorrow it’s off to

Guadeloupe.              PHOTO LINK —->> Guadeloupe

 

had been our choice of places to leave Aeeshah while we flew to the UK for Helen and Martin’s wedding. Reasons being: flying to Paris was ½ the price as it’s France to France, also a few days in Paris sounded great too. Now, this is the best part, the marina is the most amazing one that we have ever come across – Bas Du Fort. Free electric, water and wifi, plus the best laundry yet, amazing showers that come on automatically at the right temperature with excellent water pressure, great restaurants –even sushi and shopping.  Yes, we are very happy here in Guadeloupe.

Time has been spent:

Walking into Pointe Pitre checking out the street art, odd shops and market.

Another walk was to find the closest shopping center, which is just down the highway.  We had hoped to find an adapter but were not successful.

We took the dingy right the way up the ‘”river”, which is actually the waterway that separates the 2 islands of Guadeloupe. We were lucky as that particular morning was a very still one and the reflections were just amazing. We never saw anyone else on our journey of 4 miles up to the other end. On the way back we passed a few tour boats just starting out. It was very lovely and peaceful.

And several days we have spent cleaning and doing projects. I have laundered everything that will fit in the machines. At 2euro per wash it is a treat to get the washing done.

 

 

 

 

 

Over all we really like Guadeloupe and it’s 1^st class facilities. Plus we are taking an immersion course in French with relative ease by just living here.

“The more you are focused on time—past and future—the more you miss the Now, the most precious thing there is.”           Eckhart Tolle

 “The only courage you ever need is the courage to fulfill the dreams of your own life.”          Oprah