Iles de Saintes

We moored in Terre de Haute harbor. The town is lovely. A nice dinghy dock, away from the ferry dock. The shops are small and close together, the streets are narrow. This is OK, as most of the town is either closed to cars, or one way traffic. Tourists are everywhere, just off the ferry. Think Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard, in French. After a few minutes wandering around, I realized my 4 year old Doyle's Cruising Guide to the Windward Islands is out of date. The officer at the Gendarmerie told me where to go to clear in. I understood less than a third of what he said, smiled and said "Merci". A nice shipowner, who spoke no English at all, was able to figure out what I needed and walked me to the LSM Cafe where you check in, do laundry, use WiFi (pronounced Wee-Fee), etc. One Euro later, Music was cleared into and out of Guadeloupe. Gotta love the French! I picked up some baguettes on the way back to the boat.

Later that afternoon, Tricia and I toured the town while Cary and Ginny did homework. We found the market, and boulangerie. We walked all the way to Fort Rouge, a small emplacement on a hill. There we met a nice German man and his son who spoke English well and knew a lot about the Battle of the Saintes. he insisted we needed to hike up to the Fort Napolean built to visit the museum. We also visited with the goats that do a nice job keeping the vegetation under control on the hilltop.

So, next morning, bright and early, we all set out for the fort on the hill. The STEEP HILL. Cary and Ginny left Mom and Dad in the dust. There were about 7 switchbacks on the way up, with spectacular views. The museum was WONDERFUL! They have done a great job restoring the fort itself, and have assembled exhibits on the fort, the island, and the flora and fauna of the island and surrounding waters.

Tired but pleased, we got back to the bottom of the hill where we found the dive shop (look for "Immersion" or "Plonge" signs). If we got the tanks in by 1630, they could fill them the same afternoon. So we raced back to the boat, packed all our gear into the dinghy and headed for the first dive site "Pain de Sucre". Cary dove with Tricia and me. A small reef with fair visibility, some coral and a variety of fish. The highlight was spearing my first lion fish. They are an invasive species in the Caribbean, and are crowding out the native fish since they have no natural predators. They have poisonous spines. The trick is to bring scissors, and cut the spines off while the fish is still on the spear. That went fine. Lion fish are supposedly delicious. Ours was too small to bother. Maybe when I get a big one.

We did two more dives in the Saintes. Good, but not great. But who's complaining. We are getting pretty good at donning our gear in the dinghy, and getting back into the dinghy after the dive.

WiFi was pretty good for our stay. They have a HotHotHotSpot service that is only 10 Euro a week, available in Guadeloupe, and Antigua as well as other islands. So we got some homework done between dives, wondered through the streets, and enjoyed this quiet little French town.