A story about a hike

The Airbnb owner gave us bananas!!

There are an infinite number of foot trails on the island of Marie-Galante, but only 9 official hiking trails, and we have done most of them. I say most, because some are long and one direction, and some are just long, but I think we've now completed 7 of the 9 trails, and have our favorites that we like to return to. The Vieux Fort Trail is one of those - we tried for the first time last visit, and enjoyed it very much, so we decided to revisit the trek today. 

Things were a little more disorganized this morning than usual. We gather our things as usual, but I forget the baguette sandwiches, and we only realized when we arrive at the parking for the Vieux Fort Beach. Thankfully, we packed plenty of other snacks: water, apples, mixed nuts and slices of bonbon siwo cake. We put on our boots and strap on our packs, lock up the car - and then I remember my camera is still on the back seat...We eventually get the hike underway with not much more of a delay, or forgetting of things.

Map at the trailhead

Littoral forest section

The Vieux Fort Trail is a very interesting one, because it traverses many different ecosystems, and so you can see all sides of Marie-Galante in one 9 km hike. We start on a coastal trail that winds its way up and down the rocky coast, so we climb and descend several slopes covered in a jumble of roots, or littered with limestone rocks. It's not hard, but it's not easy, either. From here, we can see the crystal clear water below, sailboats anchored in the bay, sunbathers on the beaches yet to come.  We follow the trail markers, little yellow streaks of paint on trees, on stumps, on a particularly large and immoveable rock, and soon emerge from the littoral forest and onto the beach.

Sandy dog on the beach is also a trail marker

Running around the trees while dodging the waves

This trail starts at a beach, and because of its location along the coastline, actually follows a couple of other beaches. The bay we pass, Anse Canot, is lined by Plage Moustique, which I am assuming is named for an over-abundance of mosquitos, but the wind is strong enough today, we don't have to worry about them. We DO have to worry about Mario's hat, which refuses to stay on his his head, and which he has to chase into the surf not once, but TWICE. The wind is nice enough that we do decide to stop at the far end on the long expanse on sand for a break, a drink of water, and to enjoy the view for a bit. 

A little further along, we are playing a game of Frogger. The beach is more narrow, the trees larger, and the waves reaching high enough up that we have to choose our moments in which to run around the trees, lest we want to find ourselves with wet feet! It's a lot of fun, and we play until we reach the end of the beach and re-enter the forest again. Here, we are surrounded by tall pointy plants, all leaves and rather stiff. We carefully wind our way along the narrow path among them, arms raises above them - it's almost fantastical, this place we are walking through.

Now, we make another turn, heading back inland and through farm fields. All around us are fields of grass, often with a cow or two grazing, or tall green sugarcane, leaves rustling in the wind. We cross the roadway and begin heading up to the plateau that runs the width of the island. Along the way, we pass a small farmstead where someone has planted all sorts of crops and fruit trees and flowers. It looks like something I would do if I lived in Guadeloupe. I would collect all of the edible plant species and make a beautiful garden and tend to my garden - just like what this person has done here. I fell in love with this little farm 2 years ago, and though it looks a little less cared for, I love it just as much. We'll call it Caribbean goals. 

Here we hit the steep climb, up a limestone road that only the bravest of drivers would dare navigate, and in nothing less than a LandRover, too. We climb up it slowly, one step at a time, as the heat is now bearing down on us hard, and we are getting to the highest point on the island. Finally, we emerge from the roadway and are on a plateau, with magnificent views of the ocean. Up here, we had seen two bungalows under construction two years ago, and of course, Mario explored the site, checked out the buildings and plumbing and such. We remarked that they would make great getaways, being up here, so far from any town and street lighting, and in such a beautiful spot with the views and the breeze. A little research back at home showed that they are indeed available to rent, so you know we will be looking more into them for our next trip.

Walking through the jungle section

Aerial vines coming to get me!!

Now the trail begins to descend. First along roads on the Morne Merlet, where we onced searched high and low for the ruins of a windmill, and eventually found it, years later, hidden in someone's backyard. Now we look at all the quaint houses and the villas for rent in this quiet neighbourhood. The trail turns into the woods again, but this time, we are not in a littoral forest, but a jungle, with tall trees towering above us, and aerial roots trailing down from the canopy to tickle us as we walk by. I believe these things are so alive, if you were to stand still too long, they would take a hold of you and drag you into the jungle. We don't slow our pace too much.

Looking for the way?

Mangrove forest section

The jungle spits us out onto another roadway, one that crosses the island again, and we follow it until we can re-enter the wilderness again, this time crossing through a mangrove forest. Along one side, a slope of tall rainforest trees. On the other, a salt water lake where kayakers glide by, and waterfowl are slowly returning to this new tranquil environment. There is even a bird hide built for observing the wildlife, though it is too hot today for anything to be out. The mangroves plant their tall legs into the saltwater mud all around us, creating a hedge of tangled legs. Hermit crabs scuttle around, their shells clacking as they hide from our footsteps. We arrive at a boardwalk, and then here we are, at the end of the hike and back at the car.

And that's the end of the hike. We had to come back to the rental for our baguette, which was nice and cool in the fridge, and so we took it with us to the Plage des Trois Îlets, where we had a picnic on the beach, and I went out snorkeling again while Mario napped. What other way is there to end an otherwise great day?

Happy ending at Trois Îlets Beach

We found an hylode frog in our room!!