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 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 Désirade, and two Îles 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 Soufrière 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 Salée 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
Will start 25/2 2025
The daily
updates will only be published - in Danish - on
https://www.facebook.com/BihrmannOnTour
The
highlights from the day. (Opens in a new window)
Time to head on in Diary 2. |