When we asked around in Sainte-Rose, someone told us about the springs at Sofaia, a half-hour drive outside the city. So away we went, along a steep road that got progressively narrower, and eventually wasn't even paved...
Moments that should be documented photographically throughout one's life: birth, kindergarten graduation, prom, marriage, first ride in a glass-bottomed boat. Of all the days to forget the frickin' camera....I did. So, this time you're just going to have to rely on distant views and verbal images of the Jacques Cousteau nature preserve, off Guadeloupe's western coast.
The second waterfall at Carbet is the most accessible, a fact made obvious by the tour buses parked by the side of the road. The waterfall is visible even from the parking lot, if you're just there for a photo oportunity. Otherwise, there are a few kilometers of well-maintained boardwalk through the forest, down a valley and up the other side.
I've always wondered what it would be like to walk around inside a cloud. I thought it would be fluffier, and somehow softer. More like a cartoon, really. I didn't think it would be so...damp. Anyhoo, if you want to find out for yourself, the best way is to go to a cloud forest, not stick your head out an airplane window...
If the pace of Guadeloupe becomes too frantic for you
then it is time to visit Marie Galante, a smaller
offshore-offshore island where you will find even
quieter beaches and towns, reminiscent of Guadeloupe
as it might have been fifty years ago...
Overlooking Gosier, Point-a-Pitre, and the marina of
Bas-du-Fort, with Marie Galante, les Saintes, and
Basse-Terre visible in the distance, the Fort Fleur
d'Épée has not only great views but was also a
strategically placed vantage point.
Trying to find some trace of pre-European civilization
we stumbled upon the Parc archeologiques des Roches
Gravées (Archeological Park of carved stones).
Pointe des Chateaux is the easternmost tip of
Guadeloupe, where the placid Caribbean meets the
antagonistic Atlantic ocean and the two engage in a
dramatic conversation. Or is it an argument? It's hard to tell.
Moments that should be documented photographically throughout one's life: birth, kindergarten graduation, prom, marriage, first ride in a glass-bottomed boat. Of all the days to forget the frickin' camera....I did. So, this time you're just going to have to rely on distant views and verbal images of the Jacques Cousteau nature preserve, off Guadeloupe's western coast.
The second waterfall at Carbet is the most accessible, a fact made obvious by the tour buses parked by the side of the road. The waterfall is visible even from the parking lot, if you're just there for a photo oportunity. Otherwise, there are a few kilometers of well-maintained boardwalk through the forest, down a valley and up the other side.
I've always wondered what it would be like to walk around inside a cloud. I thought it would be fluffier, and somehow softer. More like a cartoon, really. I didn't think it would be so...damp. Anyhoo, if you want to find out for yourself, the best way is to go to a cloud forest, not stick your head out an airplane window...
If the pace of Guadeloupe becomes too frantic for you
then it is time to visit Marie Galante, a smaller
offshore-offshore island where you will find even
quieter beaches and towns, reminiscent of Guadeloupe
as it might have been fifty years ago...
Overlooking Gosier, Point-a-Pitre, and the marina of
Bas-du-Fort, with Marie Galante, les Saintes, and
Basse-Terre visible in the distance, the Fort Fleur
d'Épée has not only great views but was also a
strategically placed vantage point.
Trying to find some trace of pre-European civilization
we stumbled upon the Parc archeologiques des Roches
Gravées (Archeological Park of carved stones).
