Deshaies, Guadeloupe:

 

Guadeloupe was know by the Caribs as Karukera which means pretty waters and like Martinique is a department of France.  It is shaped like a butterfly with two islands joined by a river/ mangrove area. The smaller island which is flat is called Grande Terre (meaning large land) and the larger, more mountainous island is called Basse Terre (meaning low land) ... a bit confusing to say the least!

Our first anchorage was in the south-east at Anse le Barque, we then moved to Pt Malendure (alongside Pigeon Island) and we are now in the north east at Deshaies (pronounced DayHay). There is very little English spoken here, and we have continued to manage with our sign language. We rented a car earlier in the week and took a drive around Basse Terre, including a visit to the rain forests and a beautiful Chute de Carbet waterfall (110m high) The foliage in the forest is amazing , as you can see from the photo's below.

 

        

 

Even bigger than an elephant's ear                                                               Well maintained walkways     

 

The weather continues to be a bit grim with lots of wind and rain - and so our opportunity to do diving has been limited. We did however do a good bit of snorkelling at Pigeon island and Mike managed to take this amazing picture of a sole - it's disguise is quite incredible. Notice that both the eyes are on the top side.

 

 

We have enjoyed good food here - last night we had a Creole meal at a local restaurant, where Mike had Colombo de Cabrit (Goat curry). This evening we went to a much more sophisticated restaurant with Bob & Lynne from the yacht "Leap of Faith", where we enjoyed a gourmet meal with a lovely French wine. Of course we were all dressed up, but as we live on a yacht we still arrive with slip-slops & wet butts.

Tomorrow we will head up to the middle of the island to explore the mangroves and rivers with our dinghy - and then set sail for Antigua.