Pointe-a-Pitre (part two), Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe continues to be amazing. We used the second half of our week with the rental car to climb a volcano, visit another waterfall, and then kayak out to a little island and go snorkeling.
Our trip up the volcano was misty and windy. Visibility was poor most of the time, but occasionally the clouds would roll back and we could see the villages and the sea down below. The top of the volcano was shrouded throughout the hike, but this was only a minor disappointment as the overall experience was so different from our other hikes. This one felt more like being in a King Kong remake with the mists alternately hiding or revealing the terrain around us.
We didn’t quite make it to the top. Once we broke out of the trees and scrub brush, the last ascent was unprotected from the wind and we did not have proper attire for this unexpected change. We still had a great hike and got to talk about igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rock types. The boys thought the sulfur smells coming from the mountain were a real treat. In other words, they made lots of fart jokes.
This waterfall was easily accessible from the main road (the Traversee) that bifurcates the west side of the island. It is only a short hike from the parking area, but the kids made up for that by crawling all over the boulders in the stream for a few hours and thoroughly wearing themselves out. I’d recommend going on a week day if possible or going very early on a weekend. Whenever we drove past in the afternoon, this place looked swamped. On the bright side, while the pool below the falls is small, the stream provides plenty of room to explore and get away from the crowd.
The highlight of our last week was snorkeling at Reserve Cousteau. The kids were enchanted. We rented a 4-person kayak on the beach, and kayaked out to a small set of islands about 15 minutes away. We hit 3 distinct snorkeling spots around the island and must have spent at least 3 hours in the water.
The first area we hit was called the nursery. It had a relatively small amount of coral, but lots of cool brightly colored fish. Unfortunately, it was a pretty cloudy day, so our ability to get pictures in focus was somewhat hampered. We also discovered that it is pretty hard to hold still when taking a photo underwater. This area was shallow, so it was a good spot to start. I’m not even sure the kids noticed when we got into deeper water because they were so busy looking at all of the cool stuff. This contrasted sharply with our beach snorkeling where they would get uncomfortable as soon as their feet couldn’t touch the bottom.
The second area had a variable depth between 5 and 15 feet with a large variety of coral accounting for most of the depth changes. We saw a bunch of sea urchins and larger fish. A good deal of time was spent following a rock sole around and watching as it would disappear when it stopped moving. That is some cool camouflage!
We had a snack and walked over to the other side of the island to check out the last snorkeling spot of the day. It was much more challenging getting in and out of the water here with the kids in tow. The beach was made up of large smooth rocks and even the relatively small waves rolling in made things tricky. After a few bumps and bruises we all got in and had a great time though. This side of the island featured less coral, but larger fish and schools.
Finally, we packed up and kayaked back to the beach. We had some tense moments on the ride back over the Traversee as we nearly ran out of gas and apparently most of the gas stations in Guadeloupe are closed on Sundays. We rolled out of the mountains on fumes and managed to find an open one as we got back into the more populated region. We also found a McDonald’s with an english speaking employee for the first time which was a real treat. There is a whole different lingo around ordering at McDonald’s here and so even with our rudimentary French, we’ve had some misfires while trying to get the kids their favorite treat. After snorkeling all day, we were so famished that we ate it too. Royal with cheese. Mmmm…