Anchor up at 8.15 and sailed into Point a Pitre at 2.30, through the usual maze of mooring balls common to all french islands. We grabbed a mooring ball (16 euros/night) and settled in to our new port. We dinghied into the large marina and paid for 2 weeks at the office. This allowed us access to the showers and all garbage facilities. There are chandleries nearby and lovely little shops and restaurants lining the boardwalks. Tres bien! In celebration of our safe arrival, we enjoyed some Breton Crepes and Cidre and soaked up the ambiance. We were excited to see the ‘Amaya’ boat, in honour of cousin Amaya!
Despite the easy access to public transit, we decided to walk into the center of town and went shopping. The town itself has a rough vibe, like the roughest neighbourhood of a very run down european city. Not somewhere I would want to walk through at night, nor really without Michael during the day. There are some great old buildings and large plazas that could be restored to their former glory, if the city decided to make that a priority. There are some very modern new buildings, a university and a fantastic museum that goes through the history of slavery that we all enjoyed. On our way back, we had an interesting moment when we realized we were in the ‘working girl’ area of town. Michael and I just smiled and nodded hello and kept the kids walking.
Michael was leaving us for a week, to go visit his parents. Martin was not well and we decided that being so far away, it was better just for him to go and spend some time with them. So the kids and I made some plans to enjoy some of the modern conveniences of this big city. We hopped on the bus, and headed to the large shopping mall, to get some items that are hard to find in other parts of the caribean - we bought clothes for the kids, new shoes for Christian, and enjoyed some fabulous smash burgers. Riding the bus was so easy and efficient, however some routes only run 1/hr, including the bus back to the marina. I picked up a puzzle that proved to be very challenging, but was a fun activity while waiting in an anchorage. Later in the week, we headed back out to the cinema to see the ‘Mandalorian and Grogu’. AC and a movie with popcorn was heaven.
Guadeloupe has a fantastic little aquarium, and we made sure to spend a day there. Funny that we are constantly in the ocean, snorkeling, but we still thouroughly enjoyed the indoor version. The exhibits were really beautifully arranged and lit. They have the spunkies Ray that circles around a tank filled with tarpin that was such fun. The Sea Turtles and Nurse Sharks were majestic. I spent a long time examining the lionfish - such a deadly and beatiful creature. And they had seahorses - still havent seen one of those in the wild.
Michael returned to us, having cheered up his Dad and helped him to regain some strength. It was his birthday, and we celebrated with a towel dress thing with the islands in Arawak, the native language, in a bag that Flo lovingly decorated, and enjoyed a cake together to celebrate.
As we prepared to leave, we did some final shopping for food and boat parts, and were engulfed in the largest sargasm patch I have seen at anchor. The seaweed has taken over a lot of beaches in the caribbean. We also learned it off gases and its best not to smell it. There are also little critters that live in it. Well, this patch moved along and left us alone.
When we went to pull our anchor up the next day, we were stopped by another French tradition - the local fisherman were on strike, to protest fishing restrictions. They took their nets and blocked off the narrow passageway leading into Pointe a Pitre. We watched as they gleefully forced some larger ships including a ferry to turn around. After watching their antics for a couple of hours, we realized our departure would be delayed a day. In a way, a very fitting way to leave this French Island.
