Around Martinique
Scott-Free’s blog
Steve & Chris
Fri 11 Feb 2011 00:49
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Friday 11th February 2011
After a couple of days of trying to get the
generator battery sorted (I'll let Steve fill you in on the technical details),
during which we didn't get an opportunity to see much of Martinique, we hired a
car and went for a drive round. The roads are very good and surprisingly
well signposted, and we didn't actually get lost once! We set off along
the scenic windy road through the rainforest (a very different one from the
track with a palm tree across it in St Lucia!) and stopped at the Botanical
gardens. These were a joy to see, with many species well displayed and
well looked after. We went up into the aerial walkway to see the
views of the rainforest that surrounds the gardens.
 Hummingbirds
The
aerial walkway
 An interesting bloom
and a friendly lizard!
We drove to St Pierre, which used to be the capital
of Martinique until 1902 when Mount Pelee erupted and wiped out the town.
Many of the new buildings are built using walls of the old, and blackened sides
are still visible. Part of the theatre survived and has been left as it
was. A small museum tells the story and has photos of the town before and
after the eruption. We happened upon a small restaurant offering a
three-course set menu and decided we would treat ourselves to lunch. It
turned out to be a lucky find and the meal was excellent, as was the
service. We both forgot we were in the Caribbean and thought we were in
France enjoying a leisurely lunch of delicious French cuisine. We later
discovered that the restaurant was one that was recommended in the Martinique
pilot book. (For our sailing friends' info - it's called 'La Tamaya' and
it's at the Cathedral end of the road nearest the sea.)
 The remains of the St Pierre
theatre.
We also checked out the anchorage as we plan to
make an overnight stop here on our way to Dominica. Tomorrow we will check
out and then move round to the anchorage at St Anne's which has been recommended
as a good swimming anchorage, before setting off on Sunday for
Dominica.
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