A year afloat: to the Caribbean and back - Bathing in the cloud forests

Bathing in the cloud forests

A year afloat: to the Caribbean and back

Sam and Alex Fortescue

Wed 26 Jan 2011 14:47

We went a-drivin' in the cloud forests of Martinique yesterday. In a little Renault Clio, we laboured halfway up a near vertical piton in the centre of the island. The air swirled with low cloud and the trees were perpetually dripping. We fluffed attempts at a long walk by pushing on for lunch at the foot of Martinique's most active volcano - Mont Pelee. It last erupted in 1902, decimating a town of 30,000 people in just minutes. Despite warning signs over several days beforehand, much of the population had stayed put, believing incredibly that they were safe because lava flowed according to the prevailing wind.

When the eruption came, a huge cloud of ash and poisonous gas swept down the flanks of the mountain at huge speed, asphyxiating all but one of the town's population. This fellow, called Cyparis, was locked in an underground cell at the prison - which is what saved him. Languishing in his oubliette after an attempted breakout the day before, the pyroclastic flow of the volcano never found him. He went into semi-slavery afterwards, being hawked around America with Barnum's famous circus, where he was exhibited for his 3rd degree burns.

in cheerier news, we stopped off at a rum distillery on the side of the volcano itself. This old plantation was surrounded by rustling sugar cane, which is about to be harvested to produce cane juice. This is then fermented into cane wine, which in turn is distilled into rum. Interestingly, neat rum tastes pretty unpleasant whether it's been matured for ten years in oak casks, or is piped straight out of a stainless steel tank. It requires fresh fruit juice to become drinkable. Obviously this puts in question my pirate credentials, so I will continue trying to enjoy the stuff.

We got a brief 20 minute scramble in on the way back to the boat in the south of the island. Driving past the cloud-obscured piton for the second time that day, we stopped by a little path setting off promisingly into the undergrowth. Clambering over the bastions of giant roots, shoving through damp banana palm leaves and ducking under the spreading foliage of tree ferns, we made our way uphill to a small waterfall. In what can only be described as a Timotei moment, we wallowed about in the bracing water of a small pool for a while and Alex even took the opportunity to wash her hair (with eco soap, never fear!) Fresh water showers are few and far between for mariners as intrepid as us.

Having stocked up with mountains of cheese and fresh veg, we're planning to go exploring the windward side of the coast today. The pilot is littered with great warnings as to the impractability of getting through the passes in the coral reefs in 'weather', so we'll be taking it easy. Hopes for a proper exploration of these coral sands, deserted cays and mangrove inlets are high, however.

Skipper, pre mullet-cut