July 31, 2020
Almost impossible to share all the things we did in the past two weeks when we had our nephew Killian visiting. But here are some of the highlights
Landing in Martinique coming from France is a really easy trip that lots of people do normally in summer. It is not even considered an international flight. In COVID times things are so different. Killian was required to have a PCR test for COVID-19 72 hours in advance of his flight. He had to pass all airport controls which are now more strict and to wear a mask for 9 hours, the whole flight. Well, not that easy. But he did it!!! Finally we arrived at the boat with him after picking him up at the airport late in the afternoon. We had to go by taxi because on that day the public bus was not working. They told us it is not a strike… no no nooooo. “They are just not working for the day-while they negotiated with their new owners”.
Finally at the boat we had a great meal with tuna fresh from the market that same morning. Later a refreshing swim after dinner welcomed him to the Caribbean warm waters!!
Sailing
It is a sailboat after all and Martinique offers lots of options. So we did a few day sails for a few hours. Enough for Killian to brush up on his sailing skills and of course for a happy Capitan. We even did one sail at night, not that long but against the wind and avoiding all types of small buoys when we getting back to the anchorage. It was full moon, my favourite time for night sailing.
Kitesurft
Cédric has already some experience on Kitesurf but for Killian and me it was the first time. We were lucky to have some good wind for a couple of days as this is not really the season. We took some lessons and tried to get into this sport, Killian managed to get up on the second session, for me, not there yet. I did enjoy it! In theory, it is all about technic not so much on power strength. Time will tell.
Snorkeling and paddleboarding
If there is not enough wind for kitesurfing sure enough it is great weather for snorkeling and/or paddle board. Martinique has lots of bays and beaches full of the great Caribbean marine life. Killian was so lucky to have his first experience snorkeling in Anse D’Arlet the bay is a picture perfect for a movie, with a nice church and a ponton in the middle.
Clear blue water with lots of sea life!!! Including turtles.
In the middle of the bay of clear waters at 29 degrees, there is a rock sticking out. It is a protected reserve, full of marine life. Killian managed to swim with the turtles (Video)
Hikking
Martinique has lots of natural parks and a great variety of trails for all levels. It is the rainy season so being able to pick and chose is almost impossible but we still tried. One day we went straight for the “Trace of the Jesuites”. One of the most famous trails in the island because it is path once taken by monks at the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. A total immersion within the tropical forest. They only problem was that it had been raining the day before and that morning as well, so if we were going to try to do the trail we would had been immerse in the mud. We did less than a kilometre and decided to go back.
Back in the car we continued driving up and down the road. That in itself is a bit of an immersion in the rainforest. Soon after we discovered the “Jardin Balata”.
The “Jardin Balata” is really an exceptional place. With more than 300 species of trees and flowers and around 300 palm trees. It was a family property for lots of years and I think it is still privately own by one of the descendants of that family. It has lots of flowers as well. But my favorite part was the tree walk. You go between the trees that are connected with elevated bridges, really nice
Another day we did the hike of the Morne Larcher. It is 400m in a very very step ascend in the rocks to reach the top were the views are amazing and then a very step descend. It was a hard trail and with the heat… we were exhausted but made it to the top.
Hikking mountains to get to the top for nice views is really nice, but hikking knowing that you will get to the waterfall and be able to get in the cold water for a nice refreshing swim sometimes gives me more motivation. So we went in the search of the Cascade Didier, according to our map we had to walk on the side of the river for couple of kilometres to get there.
So from the parking lot we started the walk thru a nice forest, cross the river and got to a nice but small drop of water. A bit surprising as we were expecting a nice waterfall. We had a small refreshing dip in the water and went back.
Later when we left and drove a bit more, we discovered there was another set of signs for the waterfall. So we stopped and asked some locals. They told us we could follow a trail, crossed a tunel and walk a bit more and we would get to the waterfall. I was a bit reluctant to go because it was getting late. But he assured us that it wasn’t a difficult track that it could be done in 15min.
Well, I don’t know what was he thinking with 15 min, it took us at least 30 min. And not only that, the tunnel was horrible. You have to walk on top of a big pipe half submerged in a muddy dirty water, full of all the shoes and sandals that people had lost in the past. Because if you put your feet in there, better save the feet and loose the shoe. Not to mentioned the inhabitants of the tunnel, bats, horrible bats. Killian was screaming probably louder than me when the bats started flying into the tunnel.
The good thing was we made it to the waterfall, nice clear water. But not enough time for a swim. It was getting darker and darker so we ended up crossing the tunnel on the return when it was already night, good we had lights with us. Quite an adventure but we found the Cascade Didier after all.
Rum Tasting
Martinique is famous worldwide for its rum, especially the “rhum agricole”. Sugar cane is cultivated all over the island and the history of rhum dates centuries. There several distillers that can be visited where they explained the process of production of the rum. Some has huge gardens very well maintained that makes really nice walks and normally you end at the shop where you can taste the different varieties and do some shopping as well of course.
One of the rainy days we had to cancel our walk, but then ended up visiting Habitation Saint-Etienne (HSE) which was once a major sugar factory in Martinique before it became a rhum agricole facility. These days, their distilling process is based somewhere else, while blending and maturation are done at Habitation Saint-Etienne. HSE has many bottles available in their core range as well as their range of World Cask Finishes, something for everyone they say.
We did the degustation while it rain and then went to the park for picnic, but another big rain came in, so we had to eat in the car. But finally when it stopped raining we had a chance to walk the gardens which are very well maintain and beautiful.
They were cutting some trees, so we had free coconuts. Excellent… a good work for Cedric and Killian to open them back at the boat!
HSE was one of our favorites, but we visited a few others
Clement, La Mauny and les Trois Rivieres
At the end of the trip Killian became an expert on how the rum is made!!! You learned something new everyday!
Hurricane watch
The hurricane season goes from June to November with the worst time to be in August and September. So being in Martinique at this time of the year is not ideal. This year has been predicted to be very active in terms of hurricanes. So we had to do “Hurricane watch”. Everyday checking 2 or 3 times a day the forecast talking about it and making plans of action for every possible scenario.
Normally the storms formed on the other side of the Atlantic and come across to the Caribbean. When they start forming they get a number. Until then it means only rain and some squalls of wind. Once they get reinforce they can get a name and then it starts to be serious. Then they get a predicted path and a cone of action with probabilities and times on when and how strong it is going to be. All this to say that Gonzalo was forecasted with a high probability to pass exactly by Martinique. So we had talks every morning about that. What if it goes north? what if i goes south? Should we go to Guadalupe and then come back? should I stay on land with Killian and Cedric will go sailing away and come back?
When the forecast shows that you might be on the path of a tropical depression that might become a hurricane and the predictions says “hazardous conditions can occur outside the cone”
I was really scared at some point. Good thing Cedric was very calm and Killian was always sure no hurricane will come our way. Why? I don’t know. But he always said it… “that’s not coming here”
In any case some extra wind was coming our way so we went to “Le Marin” and try to find a place in the marina for few days. Gonzalo was coming and there was another depression 5 days behind. But it was impossible to find a place in the marina. Not sure if it is COVID times or normal hurricane season in Martinique, but there were a lot of boats around, more than 100 for sure.
We kept monitoring Gonzalo’s trajectory and in the afternoon the sky was very charged and a pink sunset. Some wind and a little bit of rain was all that happened.
The following depression passed couple of days later with lots of rain and wind but this time we were in a different anchorage, also on board with a nice apero and watching the sunset.
May all the hurricanes be like Gonzalo!!! Which started really strong with a prognosis to be terrible and then decrease to finally only caused pink skies and some rain. Apparently what happened was that a sand storm formed in the Sahara sent cold air and sand that made Gonzalo lost a lot of its force.
Good bye Killian, thanks for the visit!
And to close it all off, Killian invited us for a great meal out!!!! A nice restaurant called “Pura Vida” which is a very common saying in Costa Rica. It means enjoy life with no worries, no fuss, no stress just good life. What an appropriate bunch of words to finish Killian’s trip, now he goes back to France to finish his holidays and ready to start University!!! aiaiai!!! Good Luck!
Happy Days 