15:52.2N 61:35.2W

 

We spent one day in Guadeloupe, anchored off the southern town of Basse-Terre, near a quarry.  Not a great anchorage, but OK for clearing-in at the marina there before moving down to Les Saintes (which are a part of the Guadeloupe chain).

 

Les Saintes have a large protected bay tucked in between the islands.  There are only about a dozen yachts there at this time of year, but the whole of the marked anchorage areas are filled with hundreds of mooring balls.  We anchored just outside the designated area, leaving plenty of space for the ferries (there is no buoyed shipping channel here), but got moved on in the morning by the harbourmaster anyway.  He said we were in the way of the ferries (although the ferries weren’t coming anywhere near us because they were just cutting straight through the acres of empty mooring fields). 

 

I guess it is difficult for the harbour to make money from the mooring balls, when there is so much good anchorage space, but trying to coerce you with zoning restrictions is annoying.  Anyway, we moved over to a much better anchorage behind the little piton, Pain de Sucre.  Less ferry wake and snorkelling right off the boat. 

 

The Pain de Sucre anchorage, viewed from the cross on the hill

 

We saw this little guy on the walk up to the cross, in a field with some ewes and a billy goat.  Not sure if it really is a geep, but cute nonetheless.

 

If you get to visit Les Saints then Fort Napoleon is definitely worth a visit.  Beautifully restored, with great views and an interesting museum.

 

Anastasia tucked in behind the sugarloaf, as viewed from the fort

 

Andrea spotted a green iguana up a tree in the fort grounds

 

and then a grey one by the road down to the town.