The Guadeloupe Promenade (9 January 2011)

During the night, the hotel du Wrec lived up to its name. We discover the odd noises heard the other night that Gill had thought was an earth mover was in fact the corrugated roof lifting off in the slight winds.... Just glad we weren't here in hurricane season. A man with a hammer was on to it first thing....


Our last day in Guadeloupe so we make for the town beach and enjoy our last decent french coffee and croissant for a while. Even early at 9am it's heaving but with the bathers doing an unusual "promenade" in the sea, walking up and down in groups, cheek kissing each other in welcome, no actual swimming to be seen. Turns out there is a strong cross current which can be used as effective exercise if you walk against it. Given the age and nationality profile here Ant (rather uncharitably I thought......) likened it to a Saga Speedo photo shoot for Health & Efficiency magazine... And no, that is not Ant in the pic, just a Euro Speedo-er whose Speedo's shrunk in the wash.



With relief, we leave the Hotel Rotabas and head into the capital, Pointe a Pitre before our flight home. We had heard the place was a bit rough, but weren't prepared for feeling that we might just have run into our own version of "Bonfire of the Vanities". Even though there was a huge cruise ship in, nowhere was open - this is still France after all, so we guess even the opportunity of making a living when your economy is f****d and unemployment is almost 25% doesn't get in the way of Sunday at home....



The fact that the shops were boarded up and no one else was around probably made the crack addicts more visible than they would normally be.... We found one dingy cafe, where a few crew from the cruise ship, any port in a storm I guess, were eating, desperate for a change from cruise ship food.



And the local KFC, busy with Phillipino crew from the ship all skypeing home on the free wifi on their Macs, looks like cruisees' tip well. We decide to eat here, the only place we could find open and also attended by two burly security guards.... It's such a shame for the place, apart from the awful graffitied boxlike apartment blocks, there is some quite nice old colonial architecture in the centre, but no one would want to linger here. A couple of locals were trying their best to stop the local druggies from begging and hassling any nearby tourist but they were fighting a losing battle. So on this occasion, even Ant was happy to get to the airport early. A lovely modern airport, more EU money, I hear you cry..... Full to the brim of people arriving and departing today's Costa cruise. We wait patiently in the departure lounge, unable even to shop. Duty free here is tiny as most passengers are on Air France or Euro charters travelling from one EU country to the next, so can't buy any duty free at all..
We take our 16 minute flight on Liat, who were only slightly late, and arrive in Antigua. We stopped here for two reasons, Ant to get a pin (Gill has already claimed this one...), and to go over to Montserrat, yes new pins for both but also to see such an interesting post volcano island. But the Caribbean economy has thwarted our efforts, no ferries timed to get there and back in a day, and the only flight, WinAir have just gone bust...
We check in at the Wind Chimes Inn, near the airport, and again the cheapest we could find, a steal at $100US. The place itself is lovely, nice clean rooms and small but modern bathrooms, but yet again a hotelier forgets location, location, location. It's situated about 50 metres from the beginning of the runway here where everything from small private Cessna's to BA777's take off and land. Great for a plane buff but last night we both thought that either the world had ended or the neighbouring volcano had had one hell of a vent as a jumbo roared into life and took of outside the bedroom windows...
No restaurant or bar here either so we get a lift to the nearest, Food Fantasy, over the local supermarket. And yes, most of the menu was a fantasy, pizza oven broken, soup off......


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Carla and Nicolas, Our New Neighbours (8 January 2011)

Today we have been subject to great excitement, security everywhere, police road blocks, diversions, all due to the fact that Monsieur Le Pres, Nicolas Sarkozy and wife Carla are in town. Lots of security around L'hotel Du Wrec so we thought he was checking in here..... But guess he has a few more Euro's than us so they are checking in to Club Med next door. We think he is looking for a new economic model for France and is checking out ditching the Euro and using seashells instead....
Diversions aside, we have travelled around Grand Terre today, the other big island of Guadeloupe. A civilised start at a boulangerie in St Anne, where, whilst enjoying a pain au chocolate and a cafe au lait, we pondered on the status of this Caribbean island's tourist trade, whilst listening to a couple of drug crazed locals spouting off.... Our pre conceived notion of a stylish, cosmopolitan, French sophisticated playground have been shattered. From what we have seen the tourist trade seems to be low end, older French people complete with their own beach chairs. We have seen very few decent hotels, even Club Med looks a bit past its sell by date (although difficult to get close as the beach, Caravelle Beach, one of the best in Guadeloupe, is closed due to the Presidential visit). Lots of places are shut down and there is an air of emptiness around, especially considering this is high season.
We visit St Francois, another small coastal town, very seasidey, with bucket and spade shops, in fact on reflection, this coast is more a bucket and spade coast than the buckets of champagne coast we had envisaged. And the Pres is visiting a farm here hence the diversions all over the place.



We find another great small farmer's market situated alongside the fishermen gutting their catches. Luckily the pleasant smell of the various spices on sale drowned that out. Ant buys some vanilla after a tortuous conversation in Gill's bad French about how long it would keep and how best to store it. We also spotted a turtle swimming about in the bay. Poor soul, it had probably swum trillions of miles to get back to it's birth beach only to find it had been washed away......
We drive along to the extreme east of the island to Pointe de Chateaux, which, being on the Atlantic, has impressive big rollers crashing in.


And then onto Le Moule for lunch, a small coastal town, complete with a French church, square and mairie, definitely for locals with no obvious tourist attraction apart from the rum distillery. We dine in the boulangerie, making the most of the bread and pastries We move on and are sad to find the distillery closed, but of course we are in France and everything is now closed till Monday.....But Ant still managed to climb up the windmill....



So back to the beach by our hotel, and we look out over the blue sea at the windsurfers and dingy sailors enjoying their Saturday afternoon. Ant has a beach nod as security helicopters buzz overhead.
Security around the Sarkozy's is tight, but after the riots in Feb 2009 where 20% of the whites fleed from the island amidst chaos and burning cars, we guess he is taking no chances. This evening,so far, so peaceful except for the loud blues being played as we dine yet again at The Americano Cafe in St Anne. And for a nation that " no speak a de english" we are surprised to find they are singing in it..... English is still obviously the "lingua franca"!
But St Anne is livlier tonight (all relative.......) with fire magicians on the beach and music to entertain the business types down here for the weekend. We have however been able to acquire a couple of Ecuadorian panamas!

We are ready to leave Guadeloupe, it isn't special at all, but we will miss coffee and baguettes. We did however earn a pin, so is worth every euro, Little else.....
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Loopin' The Loop In Guadeloupe (7 January 2011)

There are some benefits to staying in L'hotel Du Wrec, the breakfast area is so sorry for itself and served in a room that would make an old Soviet restaurant look like the Ritz, so you neither want to eat much or linger long. There was good french bread, although I think Parisian's would actually spit in the coffee... we take a quick walk to the beach and find it is almost washed away, with the hotel's old restaurant empty and wrecked. One poor guy is wheelbarrowing in loads of sand to build the beach up again, looks like a thankless task....
But after our gastronomic breakfast experience, we set off to explore in our trusty little car. It's bright metallic blue, so looks even more like a little toy one. Not sure what engine is in there, but the gradients in Guadeloupe are a challenge, we were in second gear most of the way, occasionally going up to third on the dual carriageway.
The two main islands of Guadeloupe


are shaped like a butterfly, and today we explore Basse Terre, the one which houses La Soufriere, the volcano. There are not too many roads as it is fairly mountainous so we take the loop right around the north of the island which the Lonely Planet says is the more interesting part. Its all very green but so much more manicured than Dominica. We visit the Cascades de Ecrivasses, which as waterfalls go was quite nice, but smaller than the waterfalls we had in the garden at the Papilotte Wilderness Retreat in Dominica. There was however a bit of a shop and of course Ant bought salad servers, how many more does a boy need? And it was all health & safety, so EU, with notices about not walking here or there, be careful etc., etc.

En route we stop at a musee de cacao for some hot cocao. The first cups were too sweet, so we really pissed off the proprietress by asking for ones with no sugar! We got a lecture on how this was what they always served, and we said thank you but we wanted no sugar. We won. It was worth the fight. We then find Grand Anse Beach, a big, wide sandy beach with lots of Frenchie's, all speedo's, thongs and bangers out eating cheese. Ant had a few swims and then we lay on the beach and fell asleep after a Magnum! This was a great lunch spot, again very French with huge three course lunches and wine. Being Brits of course, we had a salad and water and left no tip....




We see, and pass, several museums for costume, seashells and rum. Mind you passing the rum one was a mistake, we just missed the turn!
We then start to wend our way back via Pointe A Pitre and stop at Le Gosier where we find a great farmers market going on with local produce, home distilled rum, tat souvenirs, and enough quiche to feed Calais.


It was nice.
The island is quite built up and scruffy, with Funded by the EU signs everywhere, can't belive that we are paying for a lot of these roads. A least the other islands are fending for themselves. We also notice that the vast majority of businesses are owned and run by whites, definite economic apartheid here. Explains the riots from earlier this year.
Then back to L'hotel Du Wrec. The area around the hotel is used as parking for the Club Med beach which is open to the public and very popular. We needed to get back into the hotel but our way was blocked by a very irate Frenchman who wasn't in tune with our needs. He was very abusive and Gill (very out of charachter....) ended up calling him a "f*****g frenchman", very good for international relations we thought.


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L'hotel Du Wrec (6 January 2011)

I know we're in France, but even for Gill, a frog in the room is a bit much. Only a small one but a frog nonetheless, but I guess frogs do live in France, I just wish they didn't share my room.
We departed Dominica this morning which we have both loved, even with the rain. Generally the people have been lovely until we had a row (for that, read Ant threw a hissy fit in reception.....) with a rip off taxi merchant as we left for the ferry. 20 times the local rate for a cab, But the nice people are still there and we ended up thumbing a lift in the rain with another taxi who was taking a group of Estonian's back to their cruise ship. So as a bonus, we got some extra free sightseeing on the way. Most Dominicans are so nice and generous, but are spoiled by the ones who are just money grabbing, seeing every traveller in terms of the dollar sign. We understand they have to make a living and prices here are really high, but this morning was one rip off too many. Grrrr



But dismissing said rip off taxi driver did leave us stranded at the top of the valley, with suitcases in the pouring rain.....But the lift we did get restored our faith in the people so we left feeling good about them, and we gave him a great tip - karma.


A coffee at Ritual's Coffee near the ramshackle ferry port before checking in in the looky likey Starbucks but with coffee that tasted genuine and banana and chocolate muffins that would be more than happy in Abbeville Road, before we face the melee that was the departure area on the ferry for Guadeloupe. The huge Celebrity cruise liner looked so serene moored up a few hundred metres from the ferry port. This was so different, locals and a few traveller's pushing and shoving as if they were Italians, and loaded with kids, boxes, bags, fruit, baskets and other unidentifiable packages, all tied up with string, in hot, sweaty heat. Our battered bags looked in comparison as if they had just stepped off the Paris catwalks. Gill is pleased to report that at least this crossing was a little smoother than the last two, although not quite enough for her to adopt it as her preferred form of transport. But an interesting diversion on board, we discover that Ant's app of yachting charts driven by GPS worked perfectly so we followed our progress on the relevant chart and Gill was able to confirm that we were on track to get into port, miss the reefs, pass by the correct sides of the buoys and see the speed we were travelling in real time, all very reassuring.



Given we were going into the EU, we were hopeful of a more sedate arrival in Guadeloupe, but no. The Italian style pushing and shoving continued, suffice to say we are now experts and were off the boat before most. Then the wait, passport control was not open!! French probably on bloody strike. Half an hour later we eventually made it through immigration and customs before the rest....
Our ferry had transported us to a medium size French town. Like France but much less snooty people, the girl at Avis, even though we had gone to the wrong place was charm itself, as was the taxi driver, even though he had not one word of English. And a big Carrefour which is a must see sight for us in the next couple of days, we thought we had arrived at the Cite in Calais.
We hire a Ford Ka at the airport and pack ourselves and our luggage in. Ant drives to the Bates Motel, sorry the Rotabas hotel in St Anne on the south coast of Grand Terre.



We are greeted by the old retainer who surfaces from mounds of paper, this is so not a paperless reception. No chance of her finding our reservation, but no problem she could find us rooms.. Actually she could find us lots of rooms, very few other people are staying here.... never a good sign. They advertised wifi as being included, but no chance of that working, perhaps "plus tard" the old crone said, translate, no chance. By the look at the mounds of paper we're not sure any sort of recent technology has ever worked here.... The whole area of Saint Anne, sold as the best beach area in Guadeloupe looks like it has hit very hard times, with this place hit the hardest. Daylight robbery at 99 Euros a night, but the cheapest we could find.



Perhaps if they charged more reasonable prices, more people would stay, they would get more revenue, they could do it up a bit and more people would stay - just a thought... A series of beach huts but with decent locks, and on a positive note it does not smell damp! The beach is next door at Club Med, but we are not here for the beach, we want to take a look around.
So here we are in a medium sized French town, same signs, cars, road works, Carrefours, the lot. It has the beach so we are hopeful of a croisette... So not the Caribbean we would have expected. We even sit in a traffic jam, very novel. And get up to speeds exceeding 90 kmh on the motorway type road out of Pointe a Pitere, the capital.
Dinner in St Anne, on the beach at the Americano Bar, free wifi. The hotel restaurant had the ambience of the Marie Celeste, so we decided to give it a miss. But more importantly at the Americano, we got steak frites that taste like proper Euro steak frites, a gratinee with real French cheese, a coupe de champage, a cold pression and a half carafe of decent French wine. We may not find the Croisette, and we are paying Cannes prices..... c'est la vie. Forget the Bates Motel, we don't bother showering anyway, Vive La France!





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The Rainy Road To Roseau (5 January 2011)

It was a record night for rain battering down on the tin roof of our room, sounding like someone trying to break in. Once the day starts, the rain tends to be more intermittent and so we decided to walk the six miles into the capital Roseau and dodge the downpours. It was mainly downhill as we are 300m above sea level, but there were a couple of challenging inclines to keep us on our toes. Wildlife kept us entertained, land crabs, goats, cows, but little else. Did the animals run away from the rain of Noah's ark?






Ant did find the steep downhill parts a challenge in flip-flops and so walked barefoot. He has loads of shoes but none on this trip!



We met some really kind people en route offering free lifts, or buses or just saying hello. We think that travellers walking here is a novelty. We sheltered from downpours in peoples' garages and lean to's, which is where we met our favourite contact. He was building a 'shopping mall' in his garden from tin sheets and bamboo, on a sharp bend. He'd clearly forgotten the adage location, location, location. Westfield can sleep easy. He did, however, pass on some useful advice. Always cut your bamboo on moonless nights. Thus preventing them being infested with worms. The same applies when taking your worming medication, if you want to be rid of them in one purge. On that advice alone, we will probably avoid the restaurant he is planning on opening in his garden sized mall.
We also met with some huge downpours, Gill's umbrella came to the fore and it saved her from the indignity of yesterday's soaking. It also doubled as a sunshade in those rare dry moments.
Finally the sea and town came into view. Sadly the view of the Caribbean was blocked by the monstrosity of P&O's Azura towering over quaint little Roseau.


We had been forewarned and to be fair we didn't get mistaken for cruisiee's they were old and clean and cheap, we were young and soaking and looked like we'd been dragged through a hedge backwards. Ant expressed surprise that the cruisiee's weren't all dressed up, he had assumed that everyone on a cruise wore linen, duh!



Roseau is a lovely little town, and is amazingly friendly and non threatening, in a way that some other Caribbean towns haven't been. It is a gorgeous mix of tumbledown shops, shipping agents, and women selling lettuce and tomatoes from the back of their pickup trucks. The streets are a mix of wooden and brick built houses, many with porches and balconies, we had a lovely morning running errands.
Two streets from the port, the influx of cruisiee's is felt in their version of Caribbean life, duty free shops, pirate bars and masses of taxi drivers offering trips to the rainforest. However, we didn't let this spoil our fun and we even went to look at some watches!! Weather at the coast is drier but still changeable and it hadn't finished with us yet. When it rained we loved watching the cruisiees scuttle back to the safety of their ship as if they were under fire from the locals.
We had long decided that we weren't going to walk back and so feeling like locals who know their way around town we piled into a dollar van. It was however, a club class van, complete with DVD playing reggae full blast. It was a fun ride and a lot quicker than the walk down. These vans provide a great social service, dropping people outside their doors with all their shopping, or dropping off parcels. It dropped us at the hotel door for less than a £1 each and that was tourist price!


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In Search of Fanny (13 - 14 January 2011) - re post

(Am re posting this as it seems to have posted itself way down in the blog so was all in the wrong date order. And I do like to keep a tidy blog....)
We just couldn't resist this title as fanny is huge on this island, Fanny Nisbet that is. This morning wasn't promising, supremely comfy rooms but the weather was more Wales on an autumn day than the Caribbean in peak season. Gale force winds faced us as we had breakfast overlooking the breaking waves on the bleak beach. But food was good and Ant had kippers, obviously, the Brit influence is still strong here.
The Nisbet Plantation was once the home of Fanny Nisbet, who married Horatio Nelson. They married at the Montpelier Plantation up in the hills, so we decide to take a bus round the island and end up with lunch there. They are the usual minibuses and are great. The locals helped us understand the system. But with one road round the island, it really wasn't too difficult. We go to Charlestown, the tiny capital and then jump on a bus going in the other direction to see where it took us. It took us up Figtree Drive and on to Gingerland, pretty but perhaps not worth stopping. On and off the bus got the local schoolkids, well behaved and dressed in their super white blouses and pleated skirts, as usual we looked scruffy in comparison. We ask to be dropped off at the main road where it turns into the Montpelier Plantation. The bus driver took it upon himself to take us right to the entrance, another example of local kindness, in that way, this is a lovely island.
Montpelier is peopled not by Americans but mainly older Brits. Sort of sub aristocracy, very plummy accents, so guess even here there would be a dress code for dinner of which we would fall well foul.... The bar area by the pool was lovely old colonial, but after lunch we take a stroll to nose at the rooms. Interestingly, this place charges as much an arm and a leg as the Nisbet Plantation, but the rooms, all set in the lush gardens with views over the Caribbean looked equally holiday campish and also as if they were gussied up prefabs from the 1950's..... We didn't find Fanny and Horatio's bridal suite though..... Everywhere seems so old fashioned and these sort of places must die out unless they sharpen up a bit. Diana and kids stayed here 17 years ago, think they're still trading on that. It did however have a nice welcoming atmosphere unlike Nisbet and we had the best food on the trip with gazpacho and salads around the pool, but with two rum punches each the bill was $98US.... So much for backpacking.....









We walked from the hotel, the mile or so to the main road. It goes to show how few tourists actually walk here, we appeared to be a novelty, and got greeted by everyone. Amma was kind and a bus came immediatley. These buses provide a great social service, this was in evidence again today, a young schoolgirl got on with her baby brother in arms. In order to drop them off at their home, the driver, first asking if it was ok with us, took a detour, can you imagine that happening in the uk?
Back in town, we were yet again feeling a little squiffy, so went on an icecream hunt, Ant was lucky, Gill wasn't, before catching another bus back to Nisbet. We know that they are loathsome, but we had planned on going to the manager's cocktail party/ beach barbecue tonight. We planned on faking it as travel journalists and having some fun. But as we appached we could see these groups of "cruise wear clad" Americans and we both thought NAH! Not for us. Small talk is too much like hard work...... So we escaped the hotel for the evening to Gallipot, it was 100% tourist and 100% white, hanging out its economic apartheid laundry for all to see, so again not normally our scene, but must admit the US inluenced food was good.








At least on day three it was sunny and we spent the morning on the beach. It may have been sunny but it was also windy and so rather unpleasant. We did enjoy watching the pelicans dive for fish. In the afternoon, we found some shelter further inland, near our rooms. A day of reading and relaxing, and Ant getting red as he didn't apply any suncream at all. tut tut!
And Gill trying to recreate those iconic pictures of Diana on the beach here - a task too far even for Adobe Photoshop....








We decided to go out for some sunset drinks to a well known beach shack bar called Sunshine's. The beach, Pinney's, is grey, a mix of coral and volcanic sand, with ramshackle beach bars, loud music, and reminiscent of Goa. There was a fantastic view over to the dark peaks of the St Kitt's volcanic hills and a few white yachts bobbing about. Sunshine's is famous for their Killer Bee rum punches and reggae. We have no idea what we imbibed, or even whether it was legal, but funnily enough, the sunset looked particularly colourful.....









We sat on the beach watching the sunset together on this trip for the last time. We strolled up Pinney's beach to the Four Seasons. The beach was even more volcanic here and lined with beach chairs but the hotel was very nice and was what we thought The Nisbet Plantation was going to be like. We are so getting used to throwing wads of money at people in the Caribbean that we barely flinch at the 15% service and 10% tax on top of our 10US$ each glasses of Sauvignon Blanc. It was nice to sit here though and even Gill used their posh loo, a real treat....









We had originally planned to eat at Sunshine's but to be honest it didn't look great, so both feeling a tad tipsy by now (what was in that killer bee punch, we really thought the brown powder was nutmeg.....) we returned to Gallipot for our last supper. We drank no more booze, the earlier drinks had knocked us out! Gallipot is run by a local and her Brit husband and appeals to the white expat crowd, but sometimes we just don't want goat water or fried chicken so the European/US menu is welcome. She was telling us about the rise of gun crime on the island and the fact that the Four Seasons employs 40% of the island's population. This island has certainly sold it's soul. Couple this with a dramatic drop in tourist numbers and the ultra high prices and the future isn't looking rosy.
Tracy, the owner of Gallipot's also informed us that her family had owned Nisbets till 15 years ago. Maybe, at last, we had found our Fanny?
But perhaps our view of Nevis has been coloured by our unrealistic expectations and a bad choice of hotel. It's not the Caribbean Dream of white, palm finged beaches and blue seas, it's a pleasant, prettyish place with lovely friendly people. But it's old fashioned charm is carried too far with old fashioned formality in it's hotels.... So last century dahling......
So writing this on the last morning, it's raining (no surprise there). We head to the ferry at 12.15 back to St kitts and BA to London for Ant, whilst Gill disembarks at Antigua. It's been a fun trip and we are glad to have seen more of the Caribbean, and enjoyed linking up the islands by whatever means available but it has lacked the adventure of previous trips and the camaraderie of meeting fellow travellers. Yanks in cruise wear not suiting us AT ALL!
But we have collected a record number of pins in one trip.......

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Testing tech....

Testing new tech for uploading blogs......



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