Guadeloupe 12:12.6N 61:31.7W
MALARKEY
Jo & Trevor Bush
Fri 11 May 2007 17:13
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After a very nice overnight stay in Ans a La
Barque, we rounded the southern most corner of the island and up into
Pointe a Pitre. This was an ideal base to tour the remainder of inland
parts of Guadeloupe. We picked up a buoy in a
very sheltered area and stayed there for a few days feeling quite happy about
leaving the boat unattended for long periods.
After a cursory look around the town we hired a car
together with Neil & Tracy and the famous four went on the road yet again.
The plan was to do some sight seeing, some light weight yomping and have a
picnic by a babbling brook. Sounds perfect I thought but little did I
know what they had install for me.
Everything went swimmingly at first..... a look
here, a yomp there, a cup of coffee and a pastry in a pleasant little
French cafe and then came the sting. We bought some tickets to look
around a nature reserve. Sounded ok, fairly inoccuous, a gander at
some fluffy creatures, some dodgy insects & reptiles and a pleasant guided
walk through the rain forest, even a free drink was thrown in for good measure.
Little did I know that part of the walk included high level trapeze flying on a
wire through the rain forest canopy swinging from tree to tree high above
the ground.
 A slight exageration, but when you suffer from
vertigo big style like I do, thats what it felt like. Anyway I was committed. I
guess I could have turned back but the others were already getting kitted
out with harnesses and such like. So I had to stop being a girly and get on
with it. The others were loving it. I am not sure which they were enjoying the
most, watching me poo me pants or the wonderful views from the tree tops. The
constant giggles tended to give that away.
Why is it when you wish things would end
quickly, they seem to go on for ever?
I kept my eyes firmly on the next station to
stop myself from losing it. And after 10 mins or so I started to feel alittle
more comfortable and then made the fatal mistake....I looked
down. Holy cow it was high. The knees turned to jelly, the arms started shaking
and I froze. I figured that the only way I was going to get down from there
was by being air lifted out by helicopter. My bum was pumping as fast as my
heart. Neil was fairly quick to suss the situation and started making me laugh
which kind of eased the pain and I slowly regained some composure.
We all eventually got down without too much drama
and the others seemed to have really enjoy the experience. Needless to say, I
didnt and anyone who says you have to confront your fears inorder to
overcome them, should be taken out and shot.
I needed to get away from this high adventure
stuff, its not good for our health and Les Saintes was the ideal place to do
it.
These group of islands are a few miles south of
Guadeloupe and rank high in our Caribbean ratings chart. They offer fairly
good shelter albeit a bit roly but this is more than made up for by their
charm, good walks and snorkling. We made the most of our time there
and really enjoyed it save perhaps the killer climb up the Le Chameau
piton, a 1 in 1 yomp up a track in blistering heat. But the view at the top was
worth it.
 Ho hum, we have to say good bye to France for a
while, as the exploration of unspoilt Dominica
beckons.
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