Hiking Vieux Fort

An interesting discovery this morning - now that we've been here for 5 days - that maybe there is something to this breakfast nook we have access to. There are a lot of tiny mosquitos around here, that tend to bite many, MANY times, but they seem to congregate in the coolness under the canopy sheltering our dining area. The breakfast nook, however, is out in the middle of the yard, still shaded, but in the drier grass, and seems to have none of the teeny offenders present. Plus, the views of Dominica can't be beat - I am sorry that it took us almost the entire time here to figure this out! Now we can eat our fruit, yogurt and granola in peace!

Mario and I have not been getting too many big hikes in this leg of the trip, and decided to rectify that today with a trek out to Vieux Fort, to hike the 9-km circular trail there. It starts at the beach, runs the length of the coastline until Point du Massacre, then dives into the rainforest before climbing up the "galette" (the Marie Galante highlands) and down again, finally travelling through a mangrove forest before popping back out on the beach again.

There are always funny little hurdles when hiking trails in Guadeloupe. Sometimes the trail is marked all funny-like: on trees, or rocks, or even the pavement underfoot, so it becomes a sort-of scavenger hunt, trying to find the next yellow marker indicating the right way. All is going well until we reach the edge of Plage du Moustique, where a portion of the roadway retaining wall has crumbled onto the beach, partially blocking our hiking trail. We ascend to the road, but that's not the real trail, so now we have to find a way to return to it, and the roadway is lined with the toxic Manceniller trees, whose sap will burn your skin if you come into contact with it...Then, we have to hike the length of the beach, contouring trees that are growing a little too close to the waves, and of course, a good one surprises me, so now my boots are wet, and slowly getting covered in sand. All part of the fun.

We take a snack break about halfway down the beach, since hiking in sand is about as fun as traipsing  through a foot of snow, and as much work, too. Lying on a blanket on the sand, we let the cool alizé breezes dry off the hiking sweat, while we watch the waves crash on the shore, and a few anchored sailboats bob up and down in the bay. Once we have cooled down, we continue on.

The next section is back in the jungle, where the trail is lined with what looks like wispy white amaryllis flowers in varying states of bloom, then tall spiky striate leaves of a plant I may have seen once in a tropical flower shop back home. The jungle passages are wonderfully cool to walk through, as we have once again chosen the hottest part of the day to undertake our hike. Further on though, we emerge out into agricultural fields, where cows are hiding in the shade of freshly cut sugarcane, and the sun beats down on us hard. 

We pass a small farm where we catch a glimpse of what a home gardener might grow in this climate. Pods of peas hang limply on the branches of spindly bushes, drying in the air while, next to them, okra pods point straight up to the sky. Beneath lie rows of sweet potato vines, and the tall leaves of either manioc or taro root, I'm not sure. Some of the coconut palms have rungs nailed to their trunks, creating a natural ladder for fruit collection when the tree grows big enough, and papaya trees are scattered just about everywhere on the property. Looks a lot like how Mario and I would grow a garden if we lived in a little case creole in Marie-Galante.

Up a steep incline, we find ourselves at the very top of the line of cliffs that separate the plateau of Marie-Galante from the beaches at sea level. Once upon a time, 5 years ago, we came to this island of 100 windmills in search of just that - abandoned stone windmills that dot the countryside. Up here, we searched in vain for the Moulin Merlet, got barked at by dogs, climbed trees for better views, but were ultimately unsuccessful in our search. Today, our hiking trail follows that same path, so we took a look around, just for old time's sake, got barked at by(likely) the same dogs, and actually did find that elusive windmill. Restored, it is now a part of someone's home, and we sneaked in through the open front gate to take a peek before continuing on our way. 

One last descent from the cliffs lead us through the cool, refreshing mangrove forest back to the car and beach and turquoise waters of Plage Vieux Fort. We sat at a picnic table to eat ham and cheese baguettes, got overwhelmed by hungry chickens, and decided we liked the tranquility at Plage des Trois Ilets better, so off we went.

Another hike, another afternoon cooling off at the beach, a refreshing evening shower, and another night of eating delicious takeout. Not chicken tonight, this time we decide to try something new. At face value, a restaurant close to our gite called "Kreyol Fish" seems like an ordinary takeout joint, but it ends up being quite the gastronomical find. It's run by a husband-and-wife team, where he goes out to catch the beautiful fish, and she smokes them for use in the restaurant. We order a burger made of a steak of grilled fish, topped with cheese and a slice of smoked tuna, served with thick-cut fries of breadfruit and sweet potato, as well as a fresh, crisp salad with grated pumpkin, coconut, cantaloupe and more of that smoked tuna. It was sooooo good, Mario actually slowed down eating to savour his half burger as long as possible. It elicited several Pulp Fiction quotes from Samuel L. Jackson. That it all.