A piece of France away from France or a French baguette in the Caribbean (part 3)

Each island of Guadeloupe is different and has something special to awe you with!

Marie-Galante Island, named after Cristopher Columbus’ flagship Maria Galanda, is also nicknamed the “Big Pancake” for its round shape and flat surface or the “Island with 100 windmills” for the several picturesque windmill ruins scattered around it.

To us it was “Rum Island” because of its endless sugarcane fields and the delicious rum of its three distilleries.

We also loved the remoteness of the island and its mesmerising beauty!

It may not be very big but there are so many things to do.

Hiking through mangroves with colourful hermit crabs and old sugarcane plantations with the ubiquitous pairs of oxen and herons…

Feeling like a tiny human in front of the spectacular natural arch of Gueule Grand Gouffre…

Admiring the hundreds of gorgeous giant shells, corals and coconuts scattered everywhere along the shore and the hiking trails…

Swimming or sailing in the turquoise blue sea…

Enjoying the endless deserted golden sand beaches of Anse Mays, Anse Canot, Vieux Fort or Petite Anse…

Visiting a rum distillery or the ruins of a sugarcane factory…

Enjoying the cute villages of Saint-Louis or Capesterre-de-Marie-Galante with their fishing boats and fishing nets in bright colours…

Add to it the delicious local specialty of “caca boeuf” cakes that we bought from the aunties at the port before taking the ferry back to the main island! The name literally meaning “beef poop” is of course misleading. It can be explained by the round brown shape of the cakes actually made of sugarcane syrup, gingerbread dough and spices and filled with coconut, guava or other tropical fruits. It is mouth-watering!

You may actually think that this island is paradise on Earth until you come across the warning for the manchineel, aka the Tree of Death, which grows on some of the other islands of Guadeloupe as well. It is one of the most dangerous trees in the world. If you touch its bark or leaves, eat its fruits or simply take shelter from the rain under it, it can burn your skin, blind you or even kill you! Each tree has red painting around it to warn people to stay away!

Yet, we absolutely loved Marie-Galante Island and if the price to pay to see this beauty is a few toxic trees, so be it as it is more than worth it!

Another favourite of ours is Basse-Terre Island.

The names of Basse-Terre Island and the other wing of the butterfly - Grande-Terre Island, are misleading as well. It feels like Guadeloupean people are constantly playing with words and with those visiting their islands! Basse-Terre Island ("Flat Land") is larger and more mountainous than Grande-Terre Island ("Big Land") which is smaller and flatter… 

Basse-Terre Island is synonymous to exploring nature in all its facets.

If you only want a nice walk, you can stroll to the Crayfish Waterfall (Cascade aux Ecrevisses) and even take a dip in the river.

Or you can visit the colourful and peaceful botanical garden of Deshaies which made us feel like we were back in Singapore.

It was home to the famous French comedian Coluche.

After his death, his friend and nurseryman Michel Gaillard purchased the property and created an outstanding botanical garden with an unbelievable variety of gorgeous tropical flowers.

You can even come across lots of cute animals!

Parrots…

Flamingos…

Koi fish…

Even hummingbirds… 

If you are here for a strenuous hike, you can climb the active volcano La Soufrière. Unfortunately we could not do it as I fell from a bicycle and injured my knee and arm pretty seriously…

For anything in between a leisurely walk and a strenuous climb, there are hundreds of beautiful hikes to waterfalls, beaches and lighthouses.

We liked the hike to the Vieux-Fort Lighthouse with the jaw-dropping views of Les Saintes Islands in the distance and the cacti, flowers and birds we came across.

The Carbet waterfalls is another hike definitely worth the effort.

Unfortunately, due to recent hurricanes and land sliding, some hikes are closed. You can only reach the First and Second Carbet waterfalls as the Third one is closed… Also, the access of the hike to the beautiful Bassin Paradise nearby was completely blocked when we were there. But do not worry - there are still so many hikes that you will not lack choice at all…

Our favourite hike was an easy one between Grande Anse Beach and Pearl Beach.

The 2km-long Grande Anse Beach is the longest beach of the Guadeloupe archipelago.

Pearl Beach is smaller but also a stunner with its red-sand beach and the views of Montserrat Island (a British territory with an active volcano) and Kahouanne Island.

You can walk along the beaches for hours admiring the transparency of the water, the nuances of the sand, the cute crabs, the coconut palms and the frigate birds in the sky…

The hike ends at the picturesque village of Deshaies where the British-French TV show “Death in Paradise” was filmed. If you are a fan, you can have lunch at Catherine’s bar which is actually a real-world beachside restaurant called “Le Madras”.

Another coup de coeur (literally “a blow to the heart” in French, meaning a place we fell in love with) is the village of Sainte Rose in the northern part of Basse-Terre Island.

Its port is charming with its colourful fishing nets.

It also hides a cute fishermen's cemetery and, based on our humble experience, the best accras in Guadeloupe!

The village is the starting point for some breathtaking kayaking to the Mosquito River (luckily, no mosquitoes there in January) and some tiny islets surrounded by beautiful corals and mangroves.

There were dozens of pelicans who had found home on the lonely trees away from the shore…

It was great kayaking in warm waters again after the freezing waters of Antarctica, even though we probably missed (just a tiny bit!) the icebergs around the Ice Continent…

The beauty of Basse-Terre Island is that if you do not feel like hiking, snorkelling, diving, paddleboarding or kayaking, you can chill out with a visit to the cocoa museum, the best part of which is of course the tasting!

We loved the chocolate with sichuan pepper, coffee beans, chilli and sugarcane, as well as the hot chocolate they make with water - no milk in the original recipe!

Our absolute favourite of Basse-Terre Island and what we missed the most after leaving Guadeloupe was actually our daily routine in our bungalow on the top of the mountain.

The sea views were breathtaking…

The greatest happiness of all was to just sit on the veranda and admire the rainbows above the sea after the rain, the bananaquits and robins popping up to say hello, the hummingbirds buzzing from flower to flower at arm’s distance while we were having breakfast, the goats, chickens and even iguanas roaming around and most of all the gorgeous colours of the sunsets - a different fairytale every day...

Pure magic…

Grande-Terre Island may be smaller and flatter than its big mountainous neighbour but it has some pretty stunning views as well...