Let’s see how the French think of other nations. For the Swiss, a watch. For the Spanish, a guitar. And for the Belgians… So America has been wrong all along. They are not really French fries, they are Belgian fries. The French are disowning them. I wonder what they call the French horn? We’ve driven past the local chocolate museum several times now, and finally got around to visiting it. We were the only english speaking visitors for the 10:30…
Yesterday’s waterfall was lovely, but the water was a little chill, so we set out today to the southern end of the island to find a waterfall that is a bit warmer. Le Bain des Amours Dolé is a man made pool fed by a natural warm spring. However, if you trek through the forest a little way… … you come to a creek with a natural pool… … and a warmish waterfall. The reviews said the water was warmer…
The best thing about Guadeloupe Zoo is not the animals, but the setting, a lush tropical rainforest. The animal collection is mostly species found locally, and in South America. Racoons are native… … mongooses were introduced from India… … iguanas are native. This guy is depressed. I suspect he auditioned for the part of Henry in Death in Paradise, and is pissed off that they gave the part to a CGI lizard instead. Look! This little chap has a thagomizer!…
When I was a kid my whole family used to enjoy the nature shows on TV on a Sunday night. One time my dad had fallen asleep in his armchair. “Wake up dad, it’s Jacques Cousteau,” we said. “It’s just a load of fish,” he muttered, and went back to sleep. Today visited the La réserve Cousteau, a national park for the corals and fish that he loved. Once again we tagged along on a dive boat, but just went…
Make no mistake, the Antilles are volcanic: conical mountains, lush vegetation, and the occasional town lost in an eruption. In the 1997 the capital of Montserrat, Plymouth, was completely destroyed by lava and volcanic ash and had to be abandoned. However, the other things you get with active volcanos are hot springs, and if you have any sense, geothermal energy. Guadeloupe has one geothermal power plant, which uses a bore hole to get hot water. It discharges the excess into…
Just a few minutes drive from us is a lovely botanic garden. We spent a big chunk of the day, and I took lots of photos of plants and birds. There were five bird species there that I hadn’t seen before, including two lovely hummingbirds… …the green-throated carib, and the purple-throated carib. They also have an aviary with some imported lorikeets. OK, now for the flower pictures.
First stop today was a little cove just down the coast where there is good snorkeling. Sadly almost all the sharks and big fish here have been fished out, but there are still lots of little fish. It seemed like there were more fish than water in some places. For the pelicans it was an all-you-can-eat buffet. In other places the fish were hard to spot. Can you see the wonderfully disguised flatfish in this picture? If you need a…
First impressions of Gwada Easiest international country entry ever. No forms, no stupid machines that take your picture, just a quick rubber stamp and our bags were already on the carousel. Hey, they have cows here! First cows of the day just a few kilometers from the airport. Yuck, ugly billboards. Hey, I know that island, someone was murdered there in Death in Paradise. Ooh, look at that hotel, someone was murdered there in Death in Paradise. There’s the headland…
I considered spelling SharkZ with a Z to make them sound more bitey, but spelling won out. We went snorkeling off the beach yesterday, and that was good but we were looking for something more adventurous, so I asked about snorkel trips at the local dive shop. They said we could come along on their dive boat today, as they were going to some locations where there was good snorkeling as well as scuba. The first stop was by a…
Bimini is crowded. Not that there are a lot of people here, but almost all the buildings are crammed together on one sand spit about two hundred yards wide and two or three miles long. There is more land on this island, and two more islands, including one that has the airstrip, but all the locals seem to live here in Alice Town. At one end of the jumble of homes, shops, restaurants, bars, and marinas there is a huge…