French
 GUADELOUPE   
                             INFO & DIARY  1

 GENERAL INFO (Jump to Diary)
Guadeloupe is an overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands; Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Desirade, and two Iles des Saintes!, as well as many uninhabited islands and outcroppings. It covers 1,628 square kilometres, and is the home of nearly 400,000 citizens. Guadeloupe's official language is French, which is spoken by most, who also speak Guadeloupean Creole, a French-based Creole language - and not helpful in any way for me. Around 96% of the population are Christian (86% Roman Catholic, 8% Protestant and 6% other Christian) while the rest are not religious.
The capital is Basse-Terre, found on the island with the same name. Real close to it, Grand Terre if found, connected with two bridges. I will be exploring these two islands, kind of butterfly-shaped, measuring roughly 60 times 45 kilometres along with the smaller Marie-Galante.
The history is rather short: The islands were first populated by indigenous peoples of the Americas, possibly as far back as 3000 BC. The Arawak people are the first identifiable group, but they were later displaced around 1400 by Kalina-Carib peoples. Christopher Columbus landing in November 1493. Colonisation failed for Spain, due to attacks from the native peoples. The France sneaked in, trading in 1635, ownership of the island passed to the French West India Company before it was annexed to France in 1674.
Geography short: The highest point the active volcano La Grande Soufriere with1,467 metres. Here are lava, lifted sea-button and ancient granite. Where Basse-Terre is volcanic and wild, Grande-Terre is mainly flat limestone and agriculture. A third of Basse-Terre is made up by Parc National de la Guadeloupe.
Flora short; Here are 633 species, including 19 species considered endemic to Guadeloupe. With fertile volcanic soils, heavy rainfall and a warm climate, vegetation on Basse-Terre is lush with forests of mahogany, ironwood and chestnut trees. Here are some mangrove swamps along the Salee River. The flatter Grande-Terre, on the other hand, has been cleared for agriculture. Basse-Terre has rainforest from 300 to 1000 meters height, with white gum tree, chestnut tree, oleander; shrubs and herbaceous plants such as mountain palm, ferns and many epiphytes: bromeliads, philodendrons, orchids and lianas. Above 1000 meters, the humid savannah develops, composed of mosses, lichens, sphagnum or more vigorous plants such as mountain mangrove, high altitude violet and mountain thyme. The leeward coast of Basse-Terre have some dry forest with mancenilla and coconut trees. On the cliffs and in the arid zones, cacti such as Cereus, Opuntia, chestnut cactus?, Melocactus violaceus and aloes are found. The coast might have mangrove forest with red- and black mangrove bushes. Here might be some caudiciforms; Arracacia xanthorrhiza, Blechnum occidentale, Ceratosanthes tuberosa, Cnidoscolus chayamansa, Curcuma longa, Dioscorea cayenensis, Doyerea emetocathartica, Euphorbia hypericifolia, Euphorbia petiolaris, Macfadyena unguis-cat, and Talinum paniculatum. Here are only 30 endemic plant species.
Fauna short: Only a few terrestrial mammals, aside from bats and raccoons, are native to the islands. Other have been introduced.
The reptilians have suffered from the introduced cats, mongoose, rats and raccoons. By studying 43,000 bone remains from six islands in the archipelago, it was found that 50 to 70% of snakes and lizards on the Guadeloupe Islands became extinct after European colonists arrived.
The interesting amphibians must be the endemic Guadeloupe Stream Frog; Eleutherodactylus barlagnei and the Guadeloupe Forest Frog; Eleutherodactylus pinchoni. Among the reptilians, Guadeloupe Racer, Terre-de-Bas Racer, Terre-de-Haut Racer, Guadeloupe Blindsnake; Antillotyphlops guadeloupensis, Les Saintes Dwarf Gecko, the Kahouanne Anole, Les Saintes Anole, Petite Terre Anole, La Desirade Anole, Marie Gallant Sail-tailed Anole, Guadeloupe Anole; Anolis marmoratus, Marie-Gallante Skink; Capitellum mariagalantae, Désirade Skink, Petite Terre Skink and Cochons Skink, Mabuya cochonae could be interesting to see, along with the tiny Typhlops guadalupensis.
Here are quite some endemic insects and other invertebrates along with some snails. The world's largest bacteria Thiomargarita magnifica is known only from Guadeloupe.

DIARY
25/2 2025 Day 0. Just like Martinique, this is an unusual holyday tour for me. These islands are neither that big, nor scattered with numerous sights. I just hope for great weather, drivable roads and interesting nature.

An hour flight over Dominica from Martinique and I reach the islands in the middle of the afternoon. I call for a shuttle to bring me to the car, and that take quite some time. But I am first out if the shuttle, and despite the employee think he have lost, due to my lack of French, he soon after brags about being fasted, finishing the papers.
I then pass a large supermarket to stock some food, then find my real cosy house, in the low hills outside Petit-Bourg.
My host live next door - which I find out, when I see her picking up the phone, as I call. She only speak French, but I got the right app, she the Wi-Fi. My house has a huge balcony, facing the park-like garden. The house is fitted with everything, from washing machine to spices. I use both in the evening, while listening to the numerous frogs and crickets in the garden.    

Day 1. The night had quite some rain, and I enjoy breakfast at the covered porch. Then I head out into the flat landscape, by some large and good roads, with a lot of traffic. Here are a lot of farming, mainly cane. I even meet a huge tractor with a load.  The rain and sun shift and are evenly share. That reveals some fantastic rainbows. I reach Le Saut des Trois Cornes, a waterfall at eight, in a light drizzle. Or rather, the little parking lot for it. I start with another trail, leading up the rainforest on some slippery orange clay. I soon see a few plants, unfamiliar from Martinique. 

The rain give up, and I return to the car, to do the waterfall tour. It is a truly challenging trail, due to the clay and recent rain. It is still clay, but here, it is yellow an even more slippery. Here are some interesting plants, but I use too much attention on the trail, to enjoy them fully.

After an hour of real challenging tracking, I reach a small set of real disappointing cascades. Just a river over some one meter boulders. I chose the other trail back, almost as challenging. The "waterfall" was differently not worse the challenge. 

The drizzle is back, and I cross over the hill to the other side. I find La Plage de Grande Anse, a 1200 meter long and perfect golden beach. I do the forest trail to the other end first. The huge Bursera trees have so pealing red bark here. The water is around 26C, while the air is 28C, mainly as the sun is absent. I pass the lagoon with a bit of mangrove, and see a single green anole. 

I manages to find a cup of coffee, at one of the many restaurants along the parking-lot. However, English seems so rare around here, compared with Martinique. 

Close by, the picturesque Deshaies town is found. While I'm here, I see Le Madras; the restaurant  from the TV series "Murder in Paradise" (which were supposed to happen on another tinier island). Well, I see it from the outside, as it is closed, like so many other restaurants here. 

I see the entire little and cosy fishing village, without sun, nor rain. I will have to come back a sunny day, to make some photographs that justify this beautiful place. 

Le Madras is still closed, and supper is a vegetarian sandwich, at the bakery. It take quite some talking to avoid dead animals. Where the supermarket yesterday was expensive, this bakery in this tourists village, is half of Martinique's. And the hens with tiny chicks are busy under the tables. It start to drizzle again, but I head for Jardin Botanique de Deshaies anyway. That helps, although the sun is not here either. It is another overpriced trail, through a flower-park - without that many flowers, but some parrots and flamingos. I see a single tree: Ceiba penetandra, that I like, and the rest of the area, as I have paid for it. 

I think, it is too early to call it a day, sun or not, and I find some potential sights, on the way home. The first is the harbour of Port de Peche Baillargent, where a misty sun is found. It is a tiny fishing hamlet, without a single tourist. Here is a small fish market, where the fishermen sell their catch. 

I find a male pig, some hens & chickens and the local and jumpy iguanas, next to Reviere de Baille-Argent; the river. I get a coffee at the local bar, and head on. The costal area is rather dry, but I fail to find interesting plants.

I follow the west coast down south, to find the southern road, crossing the northern mountains. I make a stop at Plage Marigot outside Pointe-Noire, just to see the beach and town.

The beach is made up by equal amounts of sand, corals and glass. A few line-fishermen try their lock, and a green iguana rushed pass me - unless it is one of the native Iguanas? Pointe-Noire is another little village, unfamiliar with tourists. Here are many old wooden houses, few people and rather steamy. 

I then find D23 in Mahault, crossing the mountains in over a 600 meters height, through the rainforest. I'm home at five, and start with yet another cup of coffee, before dinner. 
The highlights from the day. (Opens in a new window) All the better photos of the day.
               Time to head on in Diary 2.