Today’s post will cover our visit to the Deshaies botanical gardens, Gosier island, a gyrocopter tour, Point des Châteaux, and Distillerie Damoiseau.
February 13: Deshaies botanical gardens
We’d just completed our visit to the zoo followed by a 1.5 hour lunch (the restaurant was really busy so service was slow. . . but the food was great!). Now we had about 1.5 hours to visit the botanical gardens. We stayed until they closed.
The gardens (as is true with any garden) are beautiful and calming. This one is quite large (5 hectares) with lots of winding paths (on which we got rather lost at times) and a little stream flowing through parts of it. It also has some animals. It was a delightful visit!
The gardens have different worlds:
The world of tropical Asia
The world of explorers
The world of palm trees
The arid
The world of tropical trees
The simple
The humid Caribbean
If you would like to learn more about the gardens, check out this website: https://jardin-botanique.com/en/
February 15: Gosier island, Gyrocopter tour, Point des Châteaux, and Distillerie Damoiseau
This was one of my favorite days. So much beauty. . . and a new experience to boot! Add to that the fact that we were traveling with our new friends, Cathie and Greg, who are fabulous companions!
Gosier Island
Gosier Island is a small deserted island near Datcha Beach in Gosier. It is about a 1/3 mile swim to the island. The current is against you on the way out so the swim back goes much faster. There isn’t really much to see on the island, but the swim is fun and the island is pretty.
Ulm Caraibes Gyrocopter Tour
Going to the island was a great way to start the day! Nothing like a good swim to perk up the soul.
I was really looking forward to our second stop, though. Ulm Caraibes gives tours in gyrocopters. There is room for two people per gyrocopter: the pilot and the passenger.
We opted to take the 30-minute tour, which flies from their little airport in Sainte Francois to Iles des les Petite Terre and back. What a trip! Here are some pictures of the gyrocopters, Cathie and Greg before they took off and while in the air, then pictures from Michael’s and my flight.
From the air.
Still over the big island of Guadeloupe.
Iles des les Petite Terre in the distance and then up closer.
That was so much fun!!!
We ate lunch at the restaurant next door to Ulm Caraibes. I don’t remember what any of us ate, but I remember that it was good.
Now that we’d seen more of Guadeloupe from the air, including Point des Châteaux, it was time to visit Point des Châteaux by land.
Point des Châteaux
Point des Châteaux’s striking cliff formations define Grande-Terre’s easternmost edge, marking where the Atlantic Ocean collides with the Caribbean Sea. There are clusters of hollowed out limestone coves, sculpted over time by turbulent winds and rough waves. The scenery is dramatic, the waves are loud, the wind is strong. It is an exhilarating experience!! We took a hike to the cross at the top of the hill.
Info about the cross:
Location: On top of “Morne Pavillon” at the Pointe des Châteaux.
Significance: Serves as a landmark for sailors and offers stunning panoramic views.
Scenic views: From the cross, you can see the islands of La Désirade, Petite Terre, and a large portion of Guadeloupe’s coastline.
We were quite interested in the fossils in the rocks by the beach. (You walk on/by the beach before you get to the cross and the end of land.)
It was time for our last stop of the day: Distillerie Damoiseau
Unfortunately, we arrived after the last tour, so we didn’t get to see how they made their rum. But we tasted a couple, bought a few bottles and headed on our way.
It was, as I said, a wonderful day! And we had two more fun days of travel ahead of us with Cathie and Greg. More about those in the next post.