A Beach of a Weekend

Saturday we beached at Plage des Raisins Clairs. This beautiful white sand, swimming beach is just 5 minutes drive from us.  The boys love to kick the ball around in the wide expanse of sand. Floating in the water is so relaxing (check out Odin below), and many locals grab a tube and just hang out for hours in the water.  Young boys are also in to surfing the waves along the shore.  They run, drop the board on the sand and catch a wave. So fun to watch.


Sunday we went exploring and so glad we did. Past Saint Francois we followed the signs toward Pointe aux Châteaux and stopped along the side of the road. We followed a trail through the trees to the shore, and came across a beautiful protected cove.  The sand was nice, the waves were not overpowering and lots of room to play catch with Stanley.  Just up over the rocky cliffs we found a shallow pool, with waves crashing into a blowhole showering water upon us.  I felt like a mermaid! Such a delightful spot. We can't wait to share it with visitors.

La Désirade

Sunday was our first family boat trip. We piled on the ferry headed to La Desirade riding through the choppy waters with great speed. Some of us our more sea worthy than others :-)

Peter enjoyed navigating the dirt road through this arid land on our rented 4 x 4. We explored the eastern shore with it's abandoned buildings (very LOST like) and a significant amount of free range goats and chickens.

Here we are at the lookout on top of the island. La Desirade boasts untouched nature, but up here we are surrounded by modern windmills - a green energy source.

This stunning view is from the top of the island. Directly below you can see the beach we are headed to Plage du Souffleur. Again, palm trees shade the peaceful shores. We play in the white sand and swim in the clear warm, waters.

This is a picture of almost six month old Milo enjoying the beach. He's surprisingly sand free in this picture, because while waiting for the camera feature to load, just a few seconds ago, he got knocked down by a wave. All smiles, though, he loves the water too.

The eastern shore is home to the iguanas and crashing waves on a distinctive craggy shore. We stopped to admire the view and seek out the resting and moving iguanas. A full day of sun, sand and water. We loved travelling together and look forward to exploring the other islands in the Guadeloupe archipelago. See Quincy's post - Our Boat Ride to Desirade for related information.

Snorkeling in plage d'Anse à la gourde

I went snorkeling with my Dad at Plage d'Anse à la Gourde on the weekend. The sand was like couscous, and there was a big rock platform with a river running behind it.  On my first day in the ocean I went one way and saw new fish. I was over my head but it was really easy to float in the salt water. Then, we snorkeled the other way. I saw sea urchins, and a weird spiky fish called a Lionfish.  If you touch it, it can make you very sick. There were so many little fish around Mom's feet. Even Odin could see these fish with just his goggles. Then we went home.

The next day we went snorkeling again.  The waves were rougher this time. The first way we went super deep I couldn't even touch. Not even close. We saw big and little fish.  Then we walked down to another part of the beach past the big rocks and the river. We were gliding back and we saw humongous, big sea urchins. We saw the Lionfish again. Then Dad saw this little hole. Then we watched a little eel coming out of it.  It was so cool. Then there were just these big and little fish again. It was fun.

Quincy was digging lots of holes in the sand. Odin was swimming around with his goggles and Milo loved swimming with Mommy. Then we had to go home. It was fun. I can't wait to go back again.

Home for now

We are living in a two bedroom apartment in a villa in the town of Gosier, just outside of Pointe-a-Pitre. This is located at a dead-end street (good for ball playing) on top of the cliffs of Gosier with an epic view overlooking the ocean, the seaside communities across the bay and the mountains of Basse-Terre. On a clear day (which is almost every day) our vista includes the outer islands of Les Saintes and even Dominica in the background. Every morning as we dig into our cereal and fresh mangoes on the outside terrace we can watch the colourful sailboats bobbing in the water, and hear the waves crashing into the rocks. I look forward to drinking my coffee out here as I guide the kids through their morning school work.

Apartment living comes with it's expected challenges; walking our dog Stanley for washroom breaks instead of the in/out privileges he is accustomed to at our home, being vigilant with the kids behaviour and treatment of property (ie no scooters indoors and please stop yelling) and living on top of each other in a small space. The most onerous of all has to be washing the baby. No bathtub here, so I'm standing naked in the shower stall, holding a 25 lb slippery, wet Milo under the water spout with one hand, and using the other hand to stretch out his rolls to clear all of his nooks and crannies of accumulated salt, sand, dirt and dog hair. Did I mention we are usually joined by Odin - the very persistent 3 year old, demanding his turn under the water? Needless to say, I am hoping our next home has a bathtub.

We take daily excursions in our 9 seater Scudo around the islands of Basse-Terre and Grande-Terre. The purpose is to explore the seaside communities as we continue our househunting, however, the highlight of each trip is always the beach - long stretches of unspoiled landscape with the promise of a refreshing dip in the sea. We've been swimming at over ten different locations already, each a unique combination of sand, water, and idyllic nature.

My first comment on our Guadeloupe experience would not be complete without a mention of the most challenging aspect of all, and that is the heat. Intellectually I knew to expect hot, and people warned me of the sun's unrelenting shine, however I really did not understand how uncomfortable it is to feel that hot, wet, and sticky day in and day out. Even as I sit at the computer now rivulets of sweat are running down my back, and my eyebrows cannot keep the perspiration from dripping off my nose onto the keyboard. We were so relieved to experience overcast skies and even some rain with the threat of Tropical Storm Maria. Storms and sunshine aside, I'm going to continue sitting here on the terrace, with fresh passion fruit, bananas and limes within arms reach, and finish my rich coffee sweetened with some island sugar cane. Let the dog bark and the kids bicker, I'm going to savour this moment at our home for now, with a view!