Another slow morning - Mario is not feeling 100% today - but we should go out, just so we don't sit around the house all day. We scan the tour guides over breakfast, looking for options of things to visit, and find out that we've pretty much covered all the activities in our area - and all the hiking, too. We instead turn to new beaches to explore, ones we haven't been to before. We are looking places that have the added attraction of good snorkeling, and maybe remoteness - so if we are lucky, we might just get the place all to ourselves!
Off we go, out of town, across the island and through Le Moule, south to beaches near Pointe des Chateaux. Down a road next to the Maison Zévallos, we drive towards the coast. The asphalt disappears, giving way to crushed limestone, marred by potholes, making the driving slow and arduous. Mario has a handle on it, though, acing the course, all while making several references to F-roads in Iceland, and maybe swiss cheese. About 20 minutes of challenging maneuvers and progressively narrower roads, the tree line opens up and gives way to the coast, and a cove filled with coral reefs, and a soft sandy beach - and
sargasses. Yup, this beach has been plagued by the mass of seaweed too. But the water is clearer here than at Porte d'Enfer, which is, I think, due to more ocean currents in this location. It pushed the sargasses into a big mass on the side of the cove, or up onto the beach, leaving plenty of room to get into the water, and plenty of clear water to swim in. Anyway, with all the work it took to get down here, we are
not heading back now!
We settle under a coconut palm, spread out our towels and head into the water. The surf is good, not too strong, so I don my ill-fitting snorkel and explore the corals. I spot lots of little tropical fish, follow some black and yellow stripped angel fish around, and take tons of blurry photos. After, Mario and I lie in the shade and eat our "Guadeloupe" ham and cheese sandwiches(the secret is guava jam), and watch as the total population of the beach doubles from 6 to 12 people. It's a great quiet place to spend the afternoon.
Somewhere after 3-ish, we slowly make our way back up the treacherous road to the highway(and breath a collective sigh of relief when we do), and head back to Le Moule. Tonight is the night market in town, so I figure it might be the perfect spot to find something for supper - and we are passing through anyway, might as well stop by. Stalls are lined up along one of the main streets. There are plenty of fruit and vegetable vendors, offering manioc, igname, bananasm but also rarer items like cherry tomatoes, bitter melon, fresh herbs - things we don't see in the grocery stores here. There are at least
four accras vendors, people grilling chicken or poaching boudin sausage. There are a lot of spices, piled high in Madras fabric bags, and tables loaded with bottles of homemade infused rums, with chunks of coconut, pineapple or banana floating in them. Somewhere near the end of the market, there are a few stalls of artisanal goods: Madras dolls, seed bracelets, essential oils and soaps...We don't stay very long, as the heat today, combined with the bombardment of smells from the market, is a little too much for Mario, but I do manage to get some grilled chicken legs for supper before we leave.
While Mario cools down and gets some much needed sleep(his mighty battle with the mosquitoes is getting a little out of control), I walk through town, admiring the sunset over the water, to pick up some food we need for the rest of the week. List in hand, I head first to the bakery for the bread, then to the 8 à Huit for sandwich supplies and breakfast ingredients. I also get myself an ice cream bar as a treat, and enjoy it as I walk along the Plage du Souffleur, up through the fields, through the ZAC de Rodrigue neighborhood and back to the rental.
Oh, and after a good couple of hours of sleep, Mario was feeling like himself again, and devoured his chicken dinner. It was a good day.
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