Thursday, March 22, Marie Galante
We continue our journey northwards to arrive in time to the Dominican Republic where we meet friends in early April.
Marie Galante
This name always made me dream. We made a short stop on a deserted beach, another pearl of the Caribbean. Unforgettable!
Saturday, March 24th.
After a refueling stop at Point à Pitre in Guadeloupe, we head up to the Saintes. Off Guadeloupe coast, Olivier observes strange little water clouds above the sea. No, they are like little geysers … Dolphins? We set full sail towards them… then…. nothing. We scan the horizon … Yet we had seen something. Suddenly a gigantic mass, turquoise, emerges from the depths along the hull! Whales! Two moms with their calves. They follow us, swim around the boat. Calves are playful and give us a real acrobatic show. It is fascinating, of unparalleled beauty and grace, we are hypnotized. But not all reassured because the mothers are longer than our boat and their calves are well 2/3rd of the hull. Suddenly one of them deviates a little, turned around and heads right at us, as if she wanted to mess with us. Olivier turns on the engine per-heating alarm. Phew, at the last moment she turns, avoid our little hull and just splash us with her water jet when taking her breath before swimming away. We are still shaking with emotion and recalling this precious moment still gives me goosebumps. It was such a magical and precious encounter. What a wonderful gift of nature!
In Les Saintes we choose to anchor in the most savage island: Ilet à Cabrit” . At that point we don’t imagine that this one night stop would turn into another unforgettable encounter. If you spend a day there, do not forget to stop at Ilet à Cabrit. There go and meet with Ulric, the potter. He gives children (and parents who dare) the most beautiful introduction to pottery that can exist. In the forest, by the sea, kids can work the clay taken from the creek that passes near the workshop. Ulric knows how to ease the shyest, generously sharing his passion with simplicity and humility.
Click here to see the video for “Noe potter”
On the night of 25th we leave with regret the magical Ilet à Cabrit. No doubt we will return.