We had anchored last night in the bay at Deshairs, with a plan to explore the area today. There had been references to a good reef for snorkeling, and a sunken ship, but an early morning scouting group discovered that it didn’t have very good visibility, and so that plan was scrapped. Instead, we all had dinghy transports over to the cute little town, at the northern end of Guadeloupe. (As a side note, this is where the BBC series “Death in Paradise” is filmed, so perhaps there is some interest in the area for die hard fans).
We had read about a Botanical Garden just to the south of town, and a couple really good hikes, and a beautiful beach, so we had a plan for the day that would include many of those activities. The walk to the Gardens was about a mile, and pretty much all uphill, but it was well worth the walk and the admission fee. The gardens were beautifully laid out, and also featured a koi pond, a flock of very pink flamingos and most fun of all a whole area full of blue headed lorikeets that guests were invited to feed.
I’ve seen many types of lorikeets on my travels to Australia, but I’d never been able to have one land on my hand and eat the nectar provided by the little machine at the entrance. They are small, beautiful birds, with a lovely chirp. They were contained in a large cage (I had seeing birds in cages; might be why they call them aviaries), and there were as many as 20 people inside, all engaged in watching and photographing and feeding them. It’s really quite a joyous experience to be that close to beautiful wild birds.
The plants and trees were well labeled, and a few descriptive plaques explained how plants that were not native made their way to the islands of the Caribbean. They also housed half a dozen large parrots, one of which would respond when asked “Ca va, Roger?” I was exploring today with Bernd, Elke and Bill, and we all enjoyed the visit a great deal. After a quick bite in the restaurant there, we headed back towards town and the trail to the beach.
There were two ways to get to the Plage des Grand Anse: up the road about a mile, or over the hill through the woods on a hiking trail. Having read that the trail was wooded and shady, we opted for that and discovered that it wasn’t “facile” as the sign had indicated. While only 600 feet or so to go up and over, it was rocky, steep and full of roots. It was the kind of trail that demanded real hiking boots, and while our Keens had good lug soles, the terrain really suggested the need for ankle support. Nevertheless we persisted, but it was slow going. Only just over a mile, it seemed longer, especially when we began to hear the ocean waves on the shore and see occasional peeks of the blue expanse of the sea/beach below. It seemed an endless trail of switchbacks.
When we finally reached the bottom, the headlong dash into the waves was well deserved. These were the biggest waves we’d encountered at a beach, but they were gentle and so easy to float and enjoy the buoyancy. It was also the most beautiful and postcard-perfect Caribbean beach we had so far discovered. We stayed on the end where the trail let us out, and were the only people on the beach. A little further on the crescent we should see more people and several small cafes and shops.
When we’d had our fill, and truthfully I could’ve stayed all day on this beach, we walked down toward the cafes to get a beverage. We ran into several of the people from our ship and learned that the road back was easy and nearby. Not finding any of the food being offered there to our interest, we walked back on the road (which was MUCH easier than the hike over the mountain). After browsing in several shops, and the obligatory stop in the boulangerie (since we are leaving France, it might be the last change for a baguette or croissant), we found a restaurant that had a table available, which was lucky, since according to the waiter, we are entering high season and most people book ahead.
But it was early enough and I was interested in eating something other than bread and cheese for dinner which is what we had been eating when we brought dinner on board. So some wine and perfectly done tuna ended a pretty perfect day. The dinghy was at 8:30, and the wave action had picked up, so I took a quick shower and went to my cabin for an early night.
We had been warned about the sail tomorrow beginning at 5AM so some sleep was in order after a long day of walking, hiking and swimming.
