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Larry's LogA little later, Diane was doing her spreadsheet and excitedly yelled to me that she heard English voices in the marina. Since all we had heard was French, except from Rose, she was anxious to see who this was. Another boat was pulling into a spot just across from us. They were from the USVI, really Florida as we later learned. After they had gotten situated in the slip, Diane called across to say that we also spoke English and if they needed any information, please stop by. A little while later, Tom and Stephanie, from Mima, came over and we had a nice conversation. We told them about the bakery (boulangerie) the little chandlery, customs, the marina showers etc. We then asked if they would be interested in sharing the car we were renting. They said sure. Excellent. From Florida, they had a Gulfstar 50 that they had taken down the Thorny Path and we spoke about the typical boat things like watermakers, generators and such. We asked if they would like to come over later for drinks. We had also invited Guy, Rose, Jacques and Jean, so it would be a bit cozy in the boat. Tom and Stephanie went off to change some money and do other errands and I went back to my labor. I was trying to rebed a vent that leaked badly every time we took some spray. As the day went, we tried to decide exactly when we wanted to leave for the Saintes. We thought that we would rent the car Saturday and leave Sunday. But that wouldn't give us a chance to clean the boat. Since we had a supply of fresh water at the dock, we wanted to take advantage of it and really clean the boat. So we figured that we would leave Monday morning so we could clean the boat and generally get ready. That night, everyone came over to the boat for aperitifs and hors de oeuvres. Even though we speak almost no French (although Stephanie did speak it a little) and only Rose spoke both fluently, we had a great time. I think my favorite drink that night was Ti Punch. I mentioned this drink before but Jean, from the boat next to ours, made me one and it was delicious. Potent, but delicious. During the evening, Rose and Guy invited Tom and Stephanie to the party for their son Jacques, the next day. It was his twelfth birthday. They had invited us already and very graciously invited our new friends as well. Really nice people. The following day, we got up early to get the car and clear out. We had checked with customs on Friday and they told us they would be open. We cleared out since we would be leaving too early on Monday and the office would be closed. We got the car and Rose came along and asked if we were OK. Guy had wanted to know if we were going to keep the car for the night to be able to drive to the party that night. We said no because we couldn't return it on Sunday since the rental place was closed. She went in saying she would see what she could do. When she came out, she told us they would do a 32 hour rental for 400 francs, about 80 francs less that the normal 2 day rate. Splitting the cost with Tom and Stephanie meant it would be about $29, not including gas. Tom and Stephanie agreed and so did we. We said we would pick up Jean and be over at around 7:30. So off we went to tour the island. We first went to Soufriere volcano. The volcano is about 3400 feet high and it was actually chilly up there. It really felt great. We stopped at a small visitor center first and walked around, seeing the small hot springs pool that you could take a dip in. We then went to the parking area for the climb to the top. We got some great views but the clouds had come in and the summit was covered. We didn't feel like it would be worth a long climb for a view from inside a cloud. Of course, the signs warning you of toxic gas didn't help. We then went to see some of the beautiful waterfalls a little further in the forest. Unfortunately, we had to go around the east side of the island to get there since the hike from Soufriere was about 3 hours and nobody was interested in that. The waterfalls, "chutes" in French, were narrow but very high. We only saw the "Chutes du Carbet" from a distance. We tried the hike but it was too muddy and the trail too slippery and full of rocks. If we had hiking shoes it would have been OK, but it wasn't possible with sandals. We came back around the north end of the island and stopped at a place called the Rum Museum (Musee du Rhum) but it really wasn't much and we decided to skip the 40 FF entrance fee. We then went back down the west coast of Basse Terre and through Deshaies. We past Pigeon Island and made a brief stop at what is billed as the most beautiful beach on Guadeloupe, Plage de Grand Anse. It's a large beach and wide, with beach from restaurants and bars setup back in the palm trees. I suppose it would have been nicer if it weren't raining. We then went back to the marina and relaxed a bit before we went to the party. Diane had baked brownies and we were going to give Jacques a kite we had gotten on St. Martin. We got Jean, who knew they way, and we left. We didn't get back until after midnight and we had a marvelous time. The children's party had been in the afternoon and this was now the adults' party. Since Guy was originally from Morocco, he had made some Couscous and Rose had made a vegetable dish and a meat platter with chicken and lamb. All very delicious. Their hospitality was unbeatable. Although we spoke different languages, we had very little trouble communicating and truly enjoyed each other's company. The next day, although we were still a bit tired, Diane, Tom and Stephanie went shopping at the big Cora supermarket. I stayed on the boat and started cleaning. We wanted to take advantage of the fresh water supply while we could. After they came back, we took the car on the road that goes between the sides of Basse Terre, over the mountains. It was a very beautiful road through the National Park. The road is locally called Le Mamals, because the mountains look like a woman's breasts from a certain angle. We stopped at a smaller waterfall that was an easier hike and then stopped again at a small 20 minute hiking trail that went through the rainforest. Since we were the only people doing the trail at the time, it really was great simply looking at the foliage and listening to the birds. Diane and I had been in zoo exhibits that re-created a rainforest, but this was the real thing. After we got back to the boat, we continued cleaning a bit and then went over to Tom and Stephanie's boat, Mima, for drinks. Tom and I had been having a discussion about which rum was the best. I said Goslings Black Seal from Bermuda and Tom said Brugal Anejo from the Dominican Republic. Well, we brought over our Goslings and they took out their bottle of Brugal and we had a taste test. I must admit, the Brugal was good, but for me, I'll take the Goslings. They had also invited Rose, Guy, Jacques and Jean over as a small thank you for the great party. They came over with Olivier, Catarina and their 2 children. It was quite a crowd but we all enjoyed it. Guy, Olivier and Jean then bought pizza for the crowd. They refused to accept any money from either Tom or us. After the pizza, and some interesting discussion about whether French men look at topless women the same way American men do, they went home and we followed shortly after. It had been a long 2 days. |