Blogs from Guadeloupe, Central America Caribbean - page 3

The principal marina of Guadeloupe is in Pointe-à-pitre. About a 3 minute walk down the road from the marina office is a small plaza with a fast food pizza eatery and many small stores. There are public phones, ATMs and an internet place. January 13, 2012. Once I checked into the country, the people in the marina office were really nice and let me leave my luggage there while I went to sort out where I was going to go in Guadeloupe. As I did not expect to land in Guadeloupe (the sailboat was aiming for Trinidad), I had no idea what I was going to do there and knew absolutely nothing about the island. I found the internet place and looked for couchsurfing (CS) hosts. I sent out many requests and also looked at bed ... read more

Oui, enfin la Guadeloupe! Depuis notre départ en 2008, nous n’avions fait que « passer » dans cette île. Une nuit à l’îlet Cabrit et trois autres à Deshaies ont été nos seuls contacts avec la Guadeloupe jusqu’à présent. Jamais nous n’avions mis le pied à terre sur ce territoire que tous nos amis navigateurs nous vantaient… Nous étions plus que dus pour un séjour plus long. Le samedi 16 mars, nous quittons Falmouth Harbour, Antigua, à 6h00. Notre traversée jusqu’à Deshaies est une très belle traversée : vent par le travers, mer du vent de 3-5pi. Nous sommes à la voile uniquement! Ce qui est plutôt rare. À 7h00, nous pouvons facilement utiliser la BLU et nous présenter au Réseau du Capitaine (quand le moteur fonctionne, le bruit à l’intérieur nous empêche de bien entendre ... read more

Español / Català The bottom of a small glass, as those made for a short coffee with some drops of any good spirit, covered with red sugar cane unrefined. No more than a teaspoon. Add a slice of lime, preferably of those wonderful, small, less bitter, that grows up in the Caribbean. Slowly stirred in order to mix gently. Pour two fingers of agricultural rum. Watching closely and carefully meanwhile, stirring softly in the hand, keeping always an eye on it. Basically the ti’punchis ready, ready to drink it. The ti’punch, the small punch in Creole language which comes from the French petit punch, is an institution in the Lesser Antilles, especially in the French ones, in ... read more

April 13 - April 24, 2012 - Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is another one of the French islands located in the Caribbean. This one definitely has a different feel from the others we have visited, at least as seen from Pointe a Pitre. It still is French, however, the look and the feel of the area has a mixture of French and Creole culture and architecture. One of the most noticeable is language. When on Martinique it was difficult to find any one that spoke any English. Here in Pointe-a-Pitre we expected the same, however, we found that many that we spoke to really wanted to practice their English and even apologized for not speaking better English. We told them that we were very impressed with their use of a foreign language and wished we could speak French ... read more

Our final ferry trip took us north from Dominica to Guadeloupe, another French department. Its two main islands are connected by short causeways over mangrove swamps. We head onto the westerly island of Basse Terre, to the village of Vieux Habitants. Once again we have a self-catering studio, this time with a view over palm trees to the Caribbean sea. With just 11 days left to eat, drink and be merry before Ash Wednesday, it is carnival time on Guadeloupe. Every night there are carnival parades featuring this year's entries from the local villages' and towns' carnival clubs. We went to our local carnival parade in Bouillante, where everyone was in party mood, wearing either their best clothes or something weird and wonderful. When the parade started, just two hours late, down the road came the ... read more