Getting a taxi in this town is not simple or easy, but Douglas managed somehow (more on his French in a minute…...) to find the only taxi driver in town and persuade him to take us to the local Rum factory. The plantation is located on the slopes of the volcano and looks down towards the sea. The main house is really beautiful and we had a lovely picnic sitting under a tree in the garden. 

The sugar cane is harvested from the very rich, fertile soil of the volcano’s slopes and the juice extracted in enormous machines which churn and squash the cane. The juice is then fermented distilled and bottled. It was fascinating to see and the setting was so beautiful, we had such a lovely time.

So, back to finding a taxi, as mentioned before, it is almost impossible in this town. Douglas was approached by a beggar and when I joined in the conversation a few minutes later was horrified to realised that Douglas was trying to get him to take us to the rum factory. I am not even sure if he had a car, but he did have no teeth and very red eyes, so I managed to dissolve the situation in my best French. A few minutes later, after I had dispatched Douglas off to go and find a more legitimate means to get to the factory, I was approached by the same beggar ( who had clearly forgotten who I was). He said he was hungry and needed money for food. I had just bought a few groceries at the market so offered him a banana. “Non, Money” he said through a toothless grimace. “but you are hungry” I said ( this is all in French by the way- I was quite impressed afterwards!!) “so here is a banana” . Aopparently banannas gave him a sore tummy so I offered him a tomato. but, alas, nothing i had was to his taste so I gave him a stern “au revoire”. He was so cross with me for not giving him money, but my concience was clear. I told him my policy was to give food and not money. So even the beggars here are grumpy………

Douglas continues to display a very good grasp of French, by filling in any unknown French words with the english word…….. said with a French accent. I think this is technically known as Franglais. 

We leave tomorrow morning for Dominica, which will hopefully be an 8 ish hour sail.