Guadeloupe and surrounding islands

We have now spent two weeks exploring the French Island Guadeloupe and the neighboring islands Isle des Saintes and Marie Galante. This small area of the Leeward Islands has a very diverse nature with Isle des Saintes being rather dry and lowland and touristic,  the west part of Guadeloupe being more volcanic, with peaks of 1400 meters. Marie Galante reminded us of parts of Denmark, low gently sloping hills no more than 150 meters high, lovely beaches, a really tranquil atmosphere, a place to relax and enjoy life.

As a contrast, the capital of Guadeloupe, Pointe-á-Pitre and its large marina complex, was an interesting place to be reminded of the importance of ocean sailing in France. The huge marina had a lot of displays of both the 6.5m mini Transat sailing and the Route de Rhum heroes. This spectacular event happens every 4 year, with a singlehanded race from St Malo, Normandy to Guadeloupe. The latest winner completed this 3500 nm long race in 7 days and 15 hours.

As always since we came to the Caribbean, sailing has been very good. Usually a broad reach, 12-20 knots of wind and generally very small waves / swell. Fishing has been great and we have got several 2 kg Tunas and Barracudas, perfect for a couple of dinners for two. Usually we dine on-board but being in France, we could not resist a couple of restaurant visits.

We are now back in Dominica, this time in the north west anchorage of Portsmouth where we will stay for a week to do some more hikes in this beautiful part of the Island.

Good snorkeling at Pigeon Island, a marine reserve initiated by Jacques Costeau