Grande Terre
The Saline River separates the two wings of the « butterfly » that form Guadeloupe between Grande-Terre and Basse-Terre.
We have only three days to discover Guadeloupe, so our program has been greatly modified. We cut off the beach days and dedicate our time to exploring the island.
Grande-Terre offers a postcard image with its white sandy beaches lined with coconut trees, seaside resorts, turquoise-water lagoons and stunning corners of wild nature
* La Pointe des Chateaux: it is situated on the eastern point, beaten by the winds and the sea. It is dominated by a huge cross. It shelters several coves and on the horizon you can see « La Désirade ».
* Le Moule: a small port that is still not very visited by tourists. There is a Creole authenticity with its typical wooden houses bordering the central square. Original church and town hall.
* Pointe de la Grande Vigie: The road leading to it is punctuated by superb viewpoints. At the end of the road, a fairly easy walk leads us to an impressive view which, according to some, looks a bit like « la Pointe du Raz » in Brittany
* Anse Bertrand: Formerly land of cotton and sugar cane, it shows magnificent landscapes: cliffs, coves and superb beaches.
* Port Louis: Baptized as a tribute to the "Roi Soleil", this small port suffered the hardships of history. It suffered from the English bombings in 1809. From the middle of the nineteenth century, as in the rest of the island, profitable sugar activity was in recession there and finally stopped in 1950.
* Le Gosier : Caressed by the waves of the Caribbean sea, the town is very touristic, but we did not like it.
* Sainte Anne: Founded in the 18th century, it is named after Anne of Austria (1601-1666), the mother of Louis XIV. Nice little seaside resort.
Basse Terre
"Basse-Terre" is much more hilly and greener than "Grande Terre"
The vegetation is lush due to higher rainfall levels and the clouds often linger on the "Soufrière".
Hiking trails in the middle of the rainforest, waterfalls, ponds, make the Guadeloupe National Park, classified by UNESCO as a world network of biosphere reserves.
* Deshaies: has some of the most beautiful beaches in Guadeloupe and views overlooking the sea.
* Black Point: owes its name to black volcanic rocks from an ancient volcano. Encased in the mountains, feet in the water, this small seaside resort is a haven of peace.
* La route de la traversée: This secondary road gives access to the most beautiful sites nestled in the heart of the National Park of Guadeloupe. It is also the starting point for many walks.
* Capesterre and Carbet Falls: Discovered by Christopher Columbus on November 4th 1493 because of his visible waterfalls from the sea. There are three Carbet Falls in the Guadeloupe National Park and they remain among the most beautiful and impressive of the Little West Indies.
During our stay we were able to appreciate the numerous traffic jams on the island. As an example to cover the 40 km from Saint François to Pointe à Pitre it took us 1h30....
Traffic jams have greatly reduced our visiting time. That was quite frustrating.
We will come back another time to discover the surrounding islands.
Saint François
Wake up at 5:00 to catch our 9:05 flight
We arrive at Pointe à Pitre under a beautiful sun after a stopover at "Port au Prince" in Haiti.
We reach our RCI residence at "Saint François" and then we walk around to discover this seaside resort.
The town is divided into two parts: the old fishing port with its wooden huts and « cases » and the marina with its luxury hotels, golf, casino and small airfield.
In the evening : Creole meal (cod accras, stuffed crabs, smoked fish with a ti'punch).
Miami
We are in the United States and we must arrive 3 hours before departure for an international flight.
So here we are on time....
Christophe enquires at the desk where our plane arrives from as no flight arrived yesterday and no flight is scheduled today.
Answer: It’s coming from the state of Georgia!!! What’s he doing next to Atlanta?
We go through security check .... the queue is long and time passes slowly.
We receive several SMS from air france... departure delayed 3 times and finally cancelled.... next departure on October 8th ...3 days later!!!
We have to pick up our luggage and go to the Air France counter.
The airline offers to accomodate and feed us until the departure of the plane in a hotel near the airport, but we prefer to take the option of reimbursement.
We choose a hotel in "Miami Beach" on "Ocean drive"
It is already 4 pm and we decide to stroll in the district "Art Deco". Today is saturday and in the evening a huge crowd invades the bars nd restaurants
Miami Beach is worldwide known for its enchanting palm-lined coastline and architecture.
The historic "Art Deco" district is full of small hotels and residences, built between 1920 and 1940. It is the world’s largest concentration of Art Deco architecture, characterized by the use of decorative elements to decorate simple and massive shapes of all colours.
The next day we move to a quieter hotel, a block away, and enjoy a room 3 times bigger and twice cheaper.
We walk along the landscaped promenade for 9 km under a radiant sun on the second day and 6 km on the third day but under a gloomy sky.
Small anecdote: we stop to buy half a bottle of water (we were charged 5 euros....we refused) King dollar is everywhere.
During our stay we will dine: Italian, Thai and Indian...original!!!
Miami
We leave our camper in the hands of Cristina who promises to keep a close eye on it.
Let’s go to the Caribbean via Miami !
We spend one night there, to catch the next day’s direct flight to Guadeloupe at 9:05 AM.
In the late afternoon we receive an email from Air France telling us that our flight is delayed and that the new departure is scheduled at 13:35.
Good for us : we won’t have to wake up at 5 am !
As we are used to air transport traffic, we check the arrival of our plane from "Pointe à Pitre " .... flight cancelled!!!!.... and no flight scheduled the next day.....oh ! oh !
No worry. We’ll see tomorrow. We enjoy our diner in a Cuban restaurant to make a change from our Mexican cuisine.
ROAD BOOK 063
MAVROS ODYSSEE