Jeff and Teresa's Trip Diaries

Guadeloupe, French West Indies

Overview

Guadeloupe is most remarkable for its contrasts. Though statistics and guide books state that Guadeloupe is NOT a tourist-centered island and most of the income comes from sugar cane and banana harvests, we also found excellent restaurants and luxury accommodations. Pointe-a-Pitre itself is an excellent example of the variety to be sampled. The open-air market where farmers bring fruits, spices, and handcrafts into town; the new commercial centers, such as the modern Centre Saint-John Perse complex at the harbor; and the quaint Place de la Victoire with it’s old world charm and architecture are all distinctly defined and different areas, yet within a few minutes walk downtown. A drive outside the city - around the agricultural areas with innumerable cows and donkeys tethered by the roadside, farmers at work and overloaded sugar cane trucks careening by on curvy, steep roads -- made us feel as though we had gone back in time to another century.

Like many Caribbean islands, however, Guadeloupe has its "slum" areas, complete with prostitutes in abundance. Unfortunately, to get to see many of the noteworthy sites in Pointe-a-Pitre, you must drive right through a really bad area. Ah well, just another interesting contrast …

In addition to sightseeing and shopping, we love outdoor activities as well. Guadeloupe is perfect for hiking, snorkeling, scuba diving, and biking. We fell in love with the National Park on the island of Basse-Terre, the side of Guadeloupe which boasts the active volcano and rain forests. It was wonderful walking through jungles with huge vegetation and beautiful flowers and birds like none we had seen before. It was equally delightful finding a cool waterfall to bathe in after a hot morning’s hike. See the link below for more info about hiking and motor excursions. We tried hiking up La Soufriere (the volcano), but could not make it to the top! Beware, tourist info suggests you wear rain gear, and they’re not kidding! We bravely started for the top in shorts and tee shirts and shortly ran into constant drizzle at best and a hard rain at the worst. It got VERY chilly as we neared mid-point. We had to turn around and head back to the warm beaches!

Most of the beaches are found on Grande-Terre, the flatter of the islands. The beaches around Bas-du-Fort are pretty crowded, with lots of vendors hawking everything from juices and pastries to tee-shirts, and swim suits. We stayed at the Hotel Viva at the marina at Bas-du-fort and preferred to drive each day to beaches further out.

Pointe Tarare was one of our favorite beaches, at the far end of the island. It offers a very beautiful, fairly isolated beach reachable only after a short hike down a well-marked and maintained trail. There is no shade here, however. To extend our sunbathing time, we enjoyed heading back up the trail to the Café de Michelle for a cool drink, delicious light lunch and a rest at midday before returning to the beach in the afternoon.

Just past Pointe Tarare is the Pte. Des Chateaux, awesome for its severe landscape with gorgeous sunset and sunrise vistas. A short but fairly tough hike is necessary to reach the summit.

The sun almost always shines on Grande-Terre. The one day it rained, we headed for the Musee de Rhum for a tour and exhibit of the history of rum production. We had a wonderful time, in large part because the $5 entrance fee entitles you to free "degustations" - samples of rum - in unlimited quantity! I tried blue rum, sweet rum, liqueurs, etc. (Of course, the hope is that you will buy a bottle of something before you leave.)

We hope we have relayed a little of the spirit and character of Guadeloupe on this page. Please see the other links below. There is no point in trying to duplicate all the info about the beaches, hotels, restaurants, sightseeing destinations, etc. here on this page when so many others have it available elsewhere on the web. We hope you may get to visit Guadeloupe one day, too. Enjoy your further exploration of Guadeloupe (even if only on the web)!

Try these links:

French Caribbean International - more info about Guadeloupe and the other French Caribbean islands

Info on guided excursions on Guadeloupe - access this site's home page for other activities, as well

Please MAIL US at munnjt@munnwerks.com

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