Wednesday, March 5, 2025
Last full day in Guadeloupe March 5th
Woke up to pouring rain, but it had cleared up by the time we got on the bus at 830. Left Le Cosier - which means 'peliquin'- and there certainly are plenty of peliquins-- heading east along the coast line to Sainte-Anne, stopping at another market. Guys not too happy about that! Then headed right out to the furthest point east, beautiful area, with big rocks and huge waves. it was very busy, as its ash Wednesday, lots of the locals go there. From there we headed west thru the middle of the island through small hills and valleys-to have lunch, in a great little resturant. once again we drove through acres of sugar cane, would have loved to see it being harvested. They cut the cane around 8 inches off the ground, and it just starts to grow again,no need to replant. our final stop was at the historic Morne-a-l'eau cemetery- acres of cripts decorated with black and white tiles, to place their dead in. The man who owned the land and started the cemetery, as a private one, later opened it up to all classes, including the blacks. So some are not so fancy. Home for our last swim in the ocean. class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Day 11- Tuesday
A day of leisure, so after breakfast we went for a short walk in the town Le Gosier. Then back to put on our swiming suits, found lounge chairs in the shade and sat there, reading, and watching. in and out of the ocean. Can't believe how warm the water is! So, sending pics of our time by the sea. also sending a better map of the islands. An interesting fact--we have had a tour guide when we are on the bus who has really told us lots about what we are seeing, so after we saw the rather shady houses yesterday, we asked him about poverty. He said most of the money is owned by about 2% of the population, who are very rich--with most others being very poor. So we wondered about all the cars--he said no matter the shack they live in, everyone in the family has a car! status! We certainly have found everyone friendly. " style="clear: both;">
Monday, March 3, 2025
Day 10
Off again in our bus for a trip to Pointe-A-Pitre, from our hotel in Le Gosier. First pic is of the islands- so you can see why they call it the 'butterfly islands'. Le Gosier is in the very south part of the Grande Terre--the island on the right. Pointe-A-Pitre is abit north of Le Gosier. We did a lot of street walking, showing some of the older houses. we visited a museum, that showed some of the costumes from Mardi Gras. pretty fancy. one pic showing a womans face is the old art gallery. It is being torn down, because it is not earthquake safe. they will build a new one with steel beams. Then we toured a church, again rebuilt with steel. Finally we went to a street market. Our tour leader treated us to ice cream before coming home. The last pic is a mock up of our hotel site-- you get an idea of how large it is. I have gotten lost 2x, trying to find our room! 
Sunday, March 2, 2025
Day 9 in paridise
Had a liesure day--sat on the beach, had 3 great swims in the ocean, and Neil and I went out to the end of the breakwater and got into the big waves. Got sunburned, had lots of sunscreen on, and yes, it was new, not expired!! Explored the property, walking around the trails, came across some aquawanas. Lots of birds in the trees, but not colouful ones. Roasters, chickens and cats all roam around! A bit crazy!! Really is a beautiful property. 
Saturday, March 1, 2025
day 7, and day 8
Before I tell you about the next two days,I am sending a pic of roof top hot water heaters, pretty well on every indiviual home in Martinque. What a great idea-- but maybe not for canadian winters! So day 7 was a long tiring day, on the bus at 11am heading to the airport for our flight to Guadeloupe, which was to go at 2pm, but was delayed -- so nearly 330 before we took off. that meant that we didnt get to the hotel till nearly 630. Got our room, washed up and went for dinner at 7--if we cpuld find our convuluted way! So now I will tell you about this hotel! 6 buildings, we are in building #5, one of the furthest away from reception, or restaurant--only one chair in the room, a shower in the bathtub, that works or doesnt. Neil and I are fairly adgile, but there are many who are not! It will be a miracle if no one falls. No balcony that you can sit out on, but you can open the glass sliding doors and look out, but we can see the ocean thru the trees,and the grounds are beautiful. Enough of the gripping!!
Day 8
Guadeloupe is made up of 2 islands, looks like a butterfly, seperated by a river. So our hotel was on the right island called Grande Terre, we drove across the river to the other island, thru the lush tropicsl forest in the center of the island, then north along the coast enjoying views of the carribean ocean. first stop was the 'Crayfish' waterfalls, pretty but sure not spectactular. Next stop was at another Botanical Gardens, wonderful tropical plants and flowers, including colouful birds, lorikeets, macaws, and flamingos. Then we had lunch at a creole restaurant, fish again, but very good. Next we walked thru a medicinal garden with a guide, very interesting. There is even a plant leaf that you can use for sandpaper, very tough. Finally finished with a cocoa workshop, where they showed us the cocoa beans and the process to get it to powder-- had a small cup! Very good. Oh, and I forgot to mention, we were held up with a marti-graw parade. Over 500 dancers, singers and drummers. colourful and noisy! but very important the this culture. 
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