Wayne Baumgarten and Debbie Baumgarten
A Travel Blog
Kite Surfing is fairly popular here- not something I have tried yet, but it sure looks fun. We have a tiny apartment right on a beach and lagoon that is a popular kite surfing spot. There is a steady strong breeze that blows in pretty much every day. The surfer saw me trying to get some shots and I think he tried to put on a pretty good show. I would say his highest jump was close to 30 feet off the water. Pretty impressive! (click a thumbnail to see the gallery)
Well, we took a trip on a large catamaran to a small uninhabited island called Petit Terre. There are 2 parts to the island. One half is a bird and wildlife sanctuary. The other half has beautiful beaches with white sand and very clear water. The trip out to the island was a bit over an hour. On the trip out it was a bit overcast and it rained briefly. But by the time we got to the island it had cleared up and was beautiful. The island is inhabited with iguana.
In fact we had lunch with on small, very cute iguana who munched on some bananas while we ate a nice meal of grilled fish and salad. They are vegetarians and are not dangerous at all. Afterwards we went snorkeling – my first time and Wayne hasn’t snorkeled since he was 10 years old! It was incredible!! There were all kinds of fish – angel-fish that were about a foot high, green fish, blue fish, transparent fish, striped fish. And we saw a baby sand shark! The water was crystal clear and warm. We were out there for hours. We finally got tuckered out and came back just in time to get ready to go back. The trip back was so soothing and calm that both Wayne and I passed out for a bit. We had a great time.
We were close so we decided to drive up to the Northern tip of Guadeloupe. I had convinced Debbie to go on a “short” afternoon drive. Since the island is small, you can go almost anywhere in an hour or two. However the roads can be windy and slow, and if you get caught behind a small pickup truck with two large cows standing in the back, it can be a while before you can overtake. So it was getting towards evening when we headed up to Pointe Nord. Some fun photos- click a thumbnail to see the gallery.
We arrived and there was a beach party going on. Not a person’s party, a town’s party. There was a park behind the beach and they had music playing, activities for children, food and fun. We walked along the beach and just enjoyed the relaxed ambiance. There were very few white people on the beach, it was mostly african american families hanging out, swimming and having fun.
The North of Gaudeloupe is very quiet but has some really incredible beaches. I love the first photo, somehow for me it captures the people of guadeloupe and how they love their island. Port Louis is not a tourist town, it’s just a little out of the way small town, with a pretty nice view. Click a thumbnail to see the gallery.
