The Saintes and Guadeloupe

Without checking out of the French Martinique (Caribbean), we vectored north to Guadeloupe, another French territory island. About halfway though, we dropped anchor for the night at the island nation of Dominica (aka Dominique) but did not go ashore. Which in hindsight, we learned, there were some great sights on the island.

Approaching Dominica

The next morning we continued to a tight cluster of small French islands referred to as The Saintes (Isle des Saintes). Here the bright and cheery colours of the buildings and boats gave the village an authentic Caribbean feeling.

Typical design of Caribbean homes

We hiked up to the Napoleon Fort that was rebuilt in 1844 after being pulverized in 1809 by the English. It follows the curves of the hill top in a parallelogram shape and is still in very good condition with views of the harbour below. The well preserved building within housed a museum with informative displays of history and relics.

Harbour view from Fort

View of colourful cottages and boats

From The Saintes islands, we continued to Guadeloupe with our first anchorage in a cove that looked out at the Pigeon Isles close by.

Sunset over Pigeon Isles

After Jacques Cousteau visited these little islands, he emphasized the pristine and abundant underwater life and hence it is designated Jacques Cousteau Underwater Park. With dive shops on shore, Jordan signed on for a dive that he said was definitely worth it for the variety of life and clarity of waters. Note that Caribbean lobsters have no claws.

Coral colours

Blue spiny lobster

Coral cauldron

A pleasant day was spent touring the Island in a rental. We climbed up and over the Island by way of a windy road through the dense jungle in the National Park. Visited the Rum Museum with displays of the industry's history of rum making, intricate models of naval ships, and a prodigious insect exhibit of over 5,000 specimens.

At one spot, we ventured down a desolate dirt road that brought us to a stunning shore setting that we had all to ourselves. We cracked open a bottle of red wine and some deli delights and had a tailgate picnic as we watched waves cross emerald green shallows to meet their crashing end on a sandy beach as the ocean breeze added a freshness to the setting.

As we relaxed back on board Sea Turtle, the late sky painted us a brilliant rainbow over the quiet village of Deshaies (pronounced Day-ay) that was the anchorage backdrop.

Deshaies drama

For a delightful final day on Guadeloupe, we visited the Botanical Gardens of Deshaies. We wandered the winding pathways where tropical scents wafted through a diverse and vivid flora that covered 7 ha (17 acres) displaying 1,000 species of stunning plants, varieties of bright colourful parrots, and graceful pink flamingos.

Garden tranquility

Parrot pose

Origami of the orchid

But our best sighting was a long and vivid green flash of the setting sun! But where's the camera??!!

Anchorages:
N15°34.988' W061°27.996' Jan 29 Dominica (Prince Rupert Bay)
N15°51.981' W061°35.450' Jan 30 Iles des Saintes (Terre de Haut)
N16°10.316' W061°46.827' Feb 01 Guadeloupe (bay across Pigeon Isles)
N16°18.364' W061°47.873' Feb 03 Guadeloupe (Deshaies)