Day 14 -- Les Saintes
Friday 3/5/2004
Today our plan was to visit Les Saintes, the islands just outside of the southern tip of Basse Terre. We ate breakfast at the bungalows and had decided to leave 1:30h before the boat left. The information we had suggested the boat would leave Trois Riviers at around 9AM, so we decided to leave at 7:45AM. We actually managed to leave a bit before that. The first part of the drive is quick, as the road is fast, mainly four lanes. After that, we got into slow traffic, morning rush and behind school buses, etc. Because there are so many hills around, getting behind a slow truck on a long hill takes a while. Never mind smelling half-burnt diesel. We got down into the parking area by Trois Riviers at around 8:43AM, only to find out that the boat would leave at 8:45AM. We asked everyone to rush over to the boat while I tried to get us tickets. I had their brochure with me, with a hand-written note from the Tourist Office in Bouillante. They ended up charging me only 15€ per adult and nothing for the kids. This was considerably better than I had hoped for.
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| A view of Les Saintes from La Soufriere (volcano) |
The boat was completely different from tree years ago. We ended up riding with a new boat called Miss Guadeloupe. The sea had bigger waves. Some of us decided to sit on upper deck. But we were warned by boat staff that we would get wet. And we would not be allowed back into the cabin again. Me and the boys still decided to go for it. And, indeed, it was wet up there. But it was fun. The ride took less than 20 minutes this time. The water was very rough. The boat tossed back and forth. Louise threw up. It was a very fast boat. We made a small stop at Terre-de-Bas first, something the old boat did not do (as I recall). We then headed over to the little port in Terre-de-Haut. There was a very nice looking four masted cruise ship in the bay as we moved in. Its name was Sea Cloud and it operates from November to January in the Carribean and from May to October in the Mediterranean. You can board this ship for $6,000-$9,000 depending on what type of cabin you want.
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| The "Sea Cloud" resting in the bay of Terre-de-Haute |
Once we were on shore we talked about how we wanted to get around on the island. We have already done one year where we walked around, and that can be tiring. Last time we were over, three years ago, we rented scooters. This was fun, but was rather expensive, especially after I had to pay for an expensive repair of a side-blinker. We decided we probably wanted to rent at least two scooters. Bengt and I walked up to the rental place. It looked like the same guy, renting the same orange scooters as last time. But the scooters looked more pale this time. He wanted 25€ for a scooter. Bengt really wanted to rent one, but I had second thoughts. In the end, I got us a bus tour instead. Incredible as it may sound, they do ride little vans on the streets there even though there is virtually no clearance. Perhaps because all other boat tourists had already left the harbor, he gave us a good deal: 25€ for 7 of us. Bengt took two kids with him on the scooter and we took the bus. The first stop was up on the hill, at Fort Napoleon. This fort dates back to the French-English colonial wars.
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| Fort Napoleon, a historic landmark with a beautiful cactus garden |
This place offers a magnificent view of the bay and also a rather extraordinary cactus garden. Perhaps the most interesting thing, at least to the kids, is that the bushes up at the top are full of large iguanas. They are about 3ft long (1m). They bob their heads up and down when you get a bit too close.
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| Isabella, looking at one of many wild iguanas |
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| The same iguana, a bit closer up |
They view from up here is quite spectacular, too.
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| A view of Terre de Haute from Fort Napoleon |
After the fort, the bus took us on a little tour of the island, which is not very big. He mentioned that there are only two sources of income on the island: fishing and tourism. About 1,800 people live on the island. Virtually no land is for sale, as families pass it down to their own kids. He eventually let us of at the beach, where we stayed until two o'clock.
We bought some sandwiches from a local lady at the beach. It took forever to get the sandwiches, because she (and a friend of hers) were talking to people waiting in line about all sorts of things, including how her husband told her what she liked (like not salmon), what other bands were around when Bob Marley played, why her husband did not want her to work, how their house was stalled in an incomplete construction state for four years, why she was too old to have a third child, why it was not possible to give everyone salad on the ham sandwich, etc, etc. {Lillli> We had 4 sandwiches and it was more than enought for us 10! Besouce we had already snacked on chips and cookies. We also had cold beer with it. The kids later had lots of fun playing with the bottles.}
We were facing the wind at the beach, so it was not very pleasant to be out swimming. But the kids still went out. Isabella looked for lizards and other things, but I do not think she found anything interesting. Towards the end of the stay at the beach, Lilli and I decided to walk around the bay. We discovered that we should have moved everyone over there when we got into the bay. This is where the water was nice and clear, unlike the rest of the bay where things were filled with silt due to the rough waters.
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| Lilli taking a dip at the right edge of the bay |
After the beach, the bus took us back into town. The boat was leaving at 3:45PM, so it left us with about 1 1/2 hour of strolling around. Bengt took the kids out for rides with the scooter while some of us walked about. Lotta got the kids some ice-creams. Towards the end, we wanted to take a picture by a bench but Lucas ended up falling behind the bench, with his fruit punch colored ice-cream in hand. It obviously got out of his hand as he fell with a big cry. It stained at least one white T-shirt. I think Bengt and Lotta tried to make it up to the lady in the store by buying a few things from her.
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| Bengt runs scooter taxi for the kids |
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| Lotta getting the kids some slurpy-like ice cream |
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| Karl, Louise and Lucas waiting for the boat home |
On the way back many of us sat back up on the deck again, ready to get soaked. This boat is really powerful. It really plows ahead. And soaked we got! Lilli and the kids were completely drenched. Lucas had a big smile and did not get motion sick (to my great surprise). But he did get wet! Lotta and Louise got completely wet, too. Lotta tried to wipe off her face, a few times, during the ride. But she did not have a try spot left on her clothes to wipe off with. Bengt had to take the stairs back down to the lower rear deck, where he sat with Adam. When we arrived in port, Bengt was wet everywhere except in the spot where he had held Adam.
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| Taking the "quick shower" back to Trois Riviers. Miss Guadeloupe was mega powerful |
It was much quicker back to the bungalows because there was no traffic. For dinner we ate some Fois Gras and then Spaghetti Carbonara. It tasted real great!