Littoral Hike, part 2

 

Another day, another hike. During one of our many conversations, I admit to Mario that I feel guilty for sleeping in, eating a slow breakfast, only starting the day's activities around 10:30. I feel I should be planning out my days, maximising the amount of activities I am doing, spending the least amount of time in the Airbnb. He reminds me, "This is our vacation. You're allowed to relax." ...He's right. Several years ago, we decided that every two years, our Christmas travelling would be back to Guadeloupe, a place that feels so comfortable to us, it can only be called our "relaxing" vacation. And so I need to get my mind into that "relaxing" mind set, and not feel guilty about starting my morning a little later, after enjoying my coffee in the sun.

Today, we hiked another littoral trail, this time heading north of town. We've followed this trail many times - it's the one that leads to all the quieter beaches a little further afield from the main tourist beach, Plage du Souffleur. Once upon a time, you could drive a car quite a ways along this path, following the very narrow, pothole-marked road across a bridge and along the edge of the mangrove forest. In an attempt to preserve the coastline, the bridge was replaced with a narrow wooden footbridge, effectively blocking the path to cars, and allowing nature to take over the shores again. Now the trail has become one third its original width, with trees encroaching on both sides, and the beach accesses more and more hidden from sight. It's happy and sad at the same time : The area will be more protected from erosion and storms now that the original ecology is rebalancing itself, but the area was once such a cheerful place, full of the joy of families gathering here, having picnics, swimming in the water.

Past the beaches, the trail winds its way along the coast until Anse-Bertrand, weaving into and out of the shade of the mangroves, dipping on the beaches and sometimes low enough that we had to dodge to sea lapping at our hiking boots. Sometime we miscalculated our crossing - sometimes the ocean caught our boots in its surf.

We got as far as Anse Colas, a little protected bay about an hour from Anse-Bertrand. The was the promise of a picnic table, long gone missing, and any flat spots to relax were at risk of getting flooded by the abnormally high tides. Which they did, I almost lost my water shoes in one such wave! So we ate, and then we left, heading back along the coast from whence we came. 

Our final stop was at one of those little hidden beaches. After a long hike, it's amazing how the salt water of the sea relaxes the muscles and restores our energy. I could *almost* start another hike after a swim like that! Almost - maybe it gave me just enough energy to make it back through town and to the Airbnb. After all, I think 16 km in a day is a pretty good hike, don't you?