Wednesday 14th December
Nowcrew
Thu 15 Dec 2005 13:24
Iles Des
Saintes - Guadeloupe
Everyone was up
early this morning. We had all decided to have an early night last night and had
arranged for Jeffrey to come and collect us at 8.00am.
First stop was the
Customs Office to check in and clear Dominica customs. We had not been able to
do this the previous night as we had arrived too late. We filled in the required
forms in triplicate and were amazed at the filing systems in what was supposed
to be a government office! In fact it was a run down tin shack at the end of the
jetty and all of the custom's forms were piled up on the only desk in the
adjacent room as well as in the corner of the room on the floor. A further
reflection of the poverty on this island.
Before going back to
the boat Jeffrey took us for a trip up the Indian River. This is a narrow river
that opens out into Portsmouth bay and is a protected nature reserve. You can
only travel up it with a permit and in the official hand rowed boats with a
guide. No fishing is allowed in the river so it was packed with big silver
mullet fish that swam fearlessly around the boat. The land surrounding the river
is swamp land and the vegetation created a tunnel effect as we went up river. It
is called Indian river as it is used by the original native Indian inhabitants
of Dominica who live inland at the centre of the island and come down
river to trade their local crafts and fruits. We stopped at a local river bar
after an hour and had some very welcome fruit juice drinks. This was run by a
Rasta family and it was great to see the whole family happily living of the
fruits of the land in very simple and natural surroundings.
The trip back down
river was a little quicker as we had the current with us and a little easier for
the guide! It was then back to NOW3 to cast off and head on to Guadeloupe and
our anchorage for the night off a beautiful French island called Iles Des
Saintes.
This was clearly a
popular anchorage as there were several big yachts anchored up as we arrived. We
settled the boat in and headed for the shore in the dingy. There were lots of
little boutique stores in the main street and several cafe's and restaurants. We
all wondered around and spent a few Euros (The currency here) on gifts for Xmas.
Refreshments were taken at a lovely harbour side cafe and then Andy ferried the
first group back to the boat.
Ian, Tom and Nico
under the guise of looking for a supermarket had a walk along the seafront and
found a bar packed with locals. We managed to hail Andy as he was on his way
back to pick us up and diverted him to the little pontoon by the bar. After a
few sneaky beers we headed back to the boat for the evening
meal.
The skipper had
decided to cook tonight and he rustled up a wonderful meal. Garlic prawns as an
appetizer and then Steak with a pepper sauce, potatoes roasted in rosemary and
green beans. Delightful all washed down with a few bottles of Chilean
Merlot.
Fed and watered it
was another early nigh for us all with lights out by 10.00pm! pure
luxury.
Nowcrew
out.