Guadeloupe: 2/3/20

It’s Iowa Caucus day and if I were at home I’d be glued to MSNBC to listen to the pundits project and pontificate until some actual results rolled in. But instead I was without any internet service for half the day so did my best to put it out of my mind and be present in the beautiful moments of life at sea.

I woke before 6, thinking I’d heard the anchor being raised and people on deck, so I dressed and went up, only to find myself alone with the one crew member on watch. A cup of tea and my journal and it was an opportunity to have my morning quiet time on a peaceful sea. Which was just wonderful. After a quick breakfast a small group of us went out to a nearby reef for a snorkel before we were due to set sail. The reef was a little deeper than some of the others that we’ve snorkeled, so the fish that we encountered were further away, but there were many of what some call “aquarium fish”. I watched as several zebra fish frantically protected their little section of a ledge in a rock. Other fish would swim to it, and the zebra fish would chase it away and then return to their spot to keep guard. I was unable to tell what was so special about that particular ledge (there were other zebra fish keeping their little homes private too), but each was dedicated to the job. It reminded me of how some birds chase away hawks as they approach a nest, so perhaps it was nest-related. At any rate it seemed like a regular soap opera in that one section of the reef. 

We made our way back to the dinghy, and saw that the Florette had decided to come pick us up. So we boarded the ship and almost immediately began the process of hoisting several sails. The trip to the main island of Guadeloupe was only 12 miles, so we got to the harbor, pulled down the sails, had lunch and then boarded one of two shuttles to the capital of the island, Basse Terre.

We anchored near the marina, just to the south of the town, and once on land walked about a mile and a half along the sea front towards the capital city of Basse Terre. We didn’t have a map and the tourism office had closed by the time we got there, so we simply strolled the streets, used our phone GPS and tried to figure out what there was to do!

It seemed to be a small city, rather poor, based on the condition of the buildings, yet some of the shops were the higher end French labels. But there were more that were geared to the locals. And there also appeared to be “districts”. On one block there were half a dozen pharmacies  and on another the same number of optical shops. What we couldn’t find were any bars or restaurants, open or closed. And no tourist shops. It was very much a working city, unless we simply weren’t in the right part of town. Finally we came across an open bar/restaurant and sat for a bit trying to figure out where to go next. I was with Bill, Elke and Bernd and the only other tourists we saw were people from our ship. All of whom seemed to be having the same experience we were having. 

So, we agreed to make our way back to the marina, where we knew there was a restaurant, and when we arrived we encountered all of our shipmates. One group had decided to call for an earlier dinghy, so we asked that group to send him right back for us. Each group had stopped along the way and picked up a baguette and tomatoes and cheese at local markets and were prepared to eat picnic style on board. Which we all did.

There was general agreement that this town was not a good stop on the itinerary. The sea is a bit rougher, and other than seeing an active volcano, which requires a tour, there isn’t much to do/see. (The fort, which seems to be the attraction and most islands) was closed on Mondays, so there literally were no activities or places to visit in the city that were appropriate for and of interest to a tourist. 

Back on the ship, I ate leftovers from the previous night with Lilly and Karin, and have called it a night. We sail north again tomorrow, along the western coast of Guadeloupe, enroute to Pigeon Island.  Another night sleeping to the sway of the ship.

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