After an unsuccessful first attempt to get to the first of Carbet Falls, and despite poor climate conditions, we attempted the hike again today. As we did at La Soufrière, the hike was done at relatively high pace (1 h and 6 mn to get up the, compared to the 1h 45 mn advertised, and then 56 mn to get back).
The weather got worse when we were getting back to the booth of the forest services, they were starting to advise visitors to turn back and come another day.
Our day-trip to Marie-Galante started with a rainbow followed by one hour of ferry.
We started the visit (due to scheduling constraints) with the three rhum distilleries of the island: Père Labat (Poisson), Bielle and Bellevue. All three produce Rhum Agricole with 59% alcohol. The rest of the day was spent driving around this very rural island: sugar cane fields, old windmills, beaches, etc.
A good omen ?
The ferry that brought us to Marie-Galante and back
Distillerie Poisson (Rhum du Père Labat)
Distillerie Bielle
Distillerie Bellevue
Moulin de Bézard
Port de Capesterre
Beach in Capesterre
Gueule Grand Gouffre
Gueule Grand Gouffre
Moulin de Ménard
Habitation Murat: the sugar factory and its windmill
Habitation Murat: the main house (closed when we visited)
Habitation Murat: other angle on the factory and the impressive tree that grows inside.
We were supposed to go to Marie-Galante today, but the ferrys were full. La Soufrière is usually covered in clouds, but this morning there were almost none. So we decided to hike “athletically” to the summit (getting to the top is advertised to 1 hour 45 minutes). Armed with one of my latest toys (Garmin 310XT GPS watch), I registered the hike: 2 hours and 21 minutes (1 hour 10 mn to get to the top, 15 mn walking around the summit, 55 mn to get back), 7.2 km, 561 m of elevation. The highest point is called “La Découverte” and sits at 1467 m.
We were lucky to have the weather hold while hiking (it got much cloudier a few hours later) and that gave us some really nice pictures.
The Target
Eboulement Faujas
View of the crater
Plants at the top
Most active vent
View of Point-à-Pitre and Baie Mahault
View of Les Saintes from Fort Delgres.
View of Les Saintes from the southernmost point of Basse-Terre, the "Phare Blanc" firehouse
Allée Dumanoire
After La Soufrière, we went to Basse-Terre (the city) and Vieux-Fort.
We spent most of the day on a boat.
We did catch some Mahi-mahi. Aline caught the smaller one (5 kg, we brought home this one and ate it) and I the other one (8 kg). We also caught and released 2 barracudas.
We also went and did some snorkeling at Petite-Terre, close to the Terre-de-bas island. We saw many fishes (including an impressive 1.5 m barracuda) and turtles. The heavy current in the channel prevented us to swim to the other island, where baby sharks usually are.
We went to the Carbet Falls got there too late to start the hike to the first fall, so we took the short walk to the second one.
Located in St Anne, in front of the Club Med resort, it’s one of the nicest beach of Guadeloupe.
