February 1
As planned, we hiked a couple of times in St. Lucia with our friends Benoit and Dominique (sailboat Andromeda). Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, is flanked by 2 hills: Admiral George Brydges Rodney's fort and Signal Hill (77 metres) are to the North; and Mount Pimard is the one to the South (202 metres). We hiked both.
In the late 1700's, English Admiral Rodney expelled all the remaining Arawaks (Carribbean natives), cut down all trees of Pidgeon Island and built his fort to spy on the French in Martinique, 20 nautical miles North. In 1972, a 500-metre causeway was artificially filled to join Pidgeon Island to St. Lucia Island on which the Rodney Bay marina and the Sandals resort were built.
Mount Pimard's hike was quite interesting and challenging. Our app called All Trails rated it as "hard" .... and it is! It starts from the beach in a gentle ascent on a dirt road at which end we paused by a gazebo overlooking an inner cove. From that point, we took a trail which grade increased progressively to the point where we needed to use knotted ropes (3 times) to ascend rocky, muddy and slippery ground. All this effort was worth the spectacular views at the top. During our descent, when everyone was quiet so we could concentrate on our hand holds and steps, Frank slipped on mud and hurt his ribcage when trying to hold his fall hugging a small tree. Understandingly, it became painful for him to breathe. It improved a few minutes later after he stretched. As of now - 4 days later - Frank's ribs are still achy but he learned to avoid some movements that are more painful. Rest is the best for him for now.
Our sail to Martinique was pleasant: light winds South-East, 1-2 metre swells, sunny. We arrived at the bay called Le Marin (the island's southern shores) at around noon which gave us enough time for clearing Customs and visit some of Frank's toy stores (boat supply) before dark. We had planned to have dinner in a restaurant; but when we saw some brie, blue cheese, saucissons, baguettes and reasonably-priced wines at the grocery store, we had a delicious dinner on Komeekha.
Le Marin is a huge bay and marina - about 3000 boats. Sailors can find all goods and services necessary for their boats here. It is therefore very crowded and busy. So we're only staying at Le Marin for another couple days before we'll move around the corner to Sainte-Anne on Saturday where the water is clearwe can swim and snorkel. Martinique has a well-documented bus system on well-maintained roads, a huge improvement from other Carribbean islands. You can really see the difference in the quality and variety of goods, services and public utilities on an island that is subsidized by a European country: France for Martinique, Guadeloupe, Les Saintes and St. Barts.
Tomorrow, we're planning on a hike of Morne Gommier - 258 metres - with picnic and a view of Le Marin. This hike is mostly on roads so it'll be easier on Frank's healing ribs. This month, we'll do more hikes, sail to Fort de France where the Carnival will be held, tour the island by bus and maybe by rented car, sample some rums at different distilleries.
Happy Carnival everyone!
