Guadeloupe, hike

The whole crew went on a hike today. Interesting hike. Done in Tor pace, so lots of time to explore and play.
Still not sure if we leave Basse-Terre tomorrow, or if we wait for better weather. Quite rainy right now, and windy.

Guadeloupe, not always sunshine in Caribbean

Jakob and Rolf left Dominica yesterday. So we're only 7 people onboard for the next three weeks. Nice with more room onboard. I moved cabin last night. Got Jakobs old bed. Bigger than my last one, and with more room for luggage. Perfect.

I has been raining for a couple of days now, so spending moree onboard.

Went big time shopping yesterday. Bought 30 litres of milk and lots more. Nice to have a big crew. We had to carry the stuff for about 3 kilometres.

today, we're hoping for less rain. Planning a three hour hike.

Guadeloupe, sailing from Dominica

Left Dominica at 8 in the morning.
Pretty strong winds, and after getting out of shelter from the island, we had about 10 m/s winds. Plenty for our ship. And excellent speed according to the boys. Around 6.5 knots average speed.

I had a little taste of the big waves. Well, the skipper said they were "only 2 metres high" didn't get seasick, so feel pretty good about sailing at the moment. Crossing the Atlantic might be a different story though :-)

I'm also getting pretty confident with the dingi - taxing crew members on land or to the ship.

We are ankering at Basse-Terre on Guadeloupe. This first night might be a bit rough. Strong winds, and some waves.
But didn't sleep much last night with around 30 degrees in the cabin, and an early start. I "slept" the last two hours in the cockpit. But winds and rain made it hard. So I think this night will go easy cause of the lack of sleep.

we arrived in Basse-Terre at 1PM. Much sooner than expected. This gave us time for a good walk around in the city. Strange with everything in French now, and European standards again. Only one island away from the poor, but wonderful Dominica. I already find the poor islands much more interesting than the rich ones.

it's 10 PM now. Rasmus is finishing his homework. Jakob is sewing his sandals in the cockpit, where I'm enjoying some quiet time.
The rest of the crew is already in bed after the long day.

Dominica, Caught huge fish

Rolf, Rasmus, Bjarke, Ole and I went fishing today. Our guide picked us up at our boat at 15:00
Well Caribbean time (twenty minutes late)
We went straight west for about 30 minutes. Some nets there attacks small fish. And the small fish attacks bigger fish. And so on.
The skipper said we had to catch dinner first. Twenty minutes later we had caught two nice tunas.
A small tuna was used as bait. Half an hour later the big one, a blue Marlin, caught our bait.
The skipper and his helper was fighting for about 20 minutes before landing it. Awesome experience!
Now we are waiting to taste it.

Dominica, chillin in the dingi

Getting water is hard work. Today, I'm taking care of the dingi while Rolf and Bjarke is doing the hard work...
They are complaining  every time they get back to the bridge..... Poor kids...
I'm am learning to sail the dingi at the moment..

Dominica, Indian river tour

A local guide, Marcaronny, took us on a tour on the nearby Indian river. Nice tour with lots of birds, trees and interesting stories. Some of the scenes in "pirates of the Caribbean" are filmed in this river. A scene with a witch.
We had a juice half way, turned back, and went back to our ship for lunch.
Now, a swim is waiting.... Around 30 degrees at the moment.

Dominica, geocaching

The whole crew went geocaching today. Not sure it was the original plan for the day, but after lunch (price 1.2€) at a local place we went for a walk, and ended up heading for a nearby cache.
It was located in another part of Portsmouth. A neighbourhood where about 2000 americans live. There is a medicine university with 1500 students. A huge contrast with this American style neighbourhood next to the poor neighbourhood. 300m from our boat there is people living in a little house in a tree, so we're definitely in the poor part.
The cache was very different compared with the ones I've found. It was located in a bar with a fantastic view. We had a drink, and a long chat with the Dutch owner, Hans.
Afterwards we went shopping in a American style supermarket with lots of American products.

Back on the beach Tor and I enjoyed the swallow water, and played with a waboba ball. A ball which skips on the water.

Tomorrow, were going on a tour up the Indian river with a guide and his boat.

Dominica, Sailing to portsmouth

Great day on the ocean today. No wind, so engine power all day.
Arriving in Portsmouth we did one hour of cleaning the deck, the ship and the inside of the ship. While finishing we had a big shower of rain. Nice, and perfect for cleaning off the salt water.
Now, I have a few minutes on my own on big papas place. A seaside bar very close to the boat. And with free wifi :-)
Afternoon beer.... Aaaaaaaah

just bought two strange looking fruits from a nice lady. Have no idea what it is, but she said they were nice. Price: 4 Danish kroner each.

Dominica, Swimming near a waterfall

Went on tour with the Olea family today. They were going to a big waterfall. I was glad to join. First of all, great with company. And exploring places with kids is, in my opinion, much more fun. Funny perspectives, a pleasant pace... Ole is the big photographer, and is very good with chatting with locals (get information ect.)
Lea is the big organiser. Great when exploring an island with 4 kids and two semi organised helpers (Ole and I, sorry Ole ;)
We went to the waterfall in a collective taxi. They fill it up, and then go. Cheap. 7 Danish kroner (One euro) to drive in approx 25 min.
The waterfall was very great. The most pretty one I've seen. And I've seen a few.
We had luch there, and went for a swim.

After lunch at the waterfall we went to the botanical garden. Most of all to find a schoolbus which had a little accident in a hurricane in 1979... Don't worry. Everyone were outside the bus.

Tonight Jacob is cooking chicken. We get meat a few times a week. But Lea is excellent vegetarian cook, so I don't miss meat at all.

Dominica, evening

After a hot day with lots of experiences, the evening is perfect. The kids are watching a film downstairs. Have just had a nice conversation with the skipper, Ole.
Five minutes ago Ole and his wife went on land for a drink. The two other helpers Jakob and Henning have been on a tour all day. They'll be here shortly. They might join me for a rum. Having half an hour on deck on your own is also nice though.
My clothes are hanging everywhere. I found local laundry facilities. Don't think they see many tourist there. Quite alot of people fund me very interesting, so had lots of little chats. English is spoken here, so very nice to be able to explain myself.

Dominica, Waking up

Waking, again ( I wake up a few times during the night), onboard the ship. Only this time is different. The sun is up, a queer of roosters on land are making sure it's morning. Some of the crew are already up. Five minutes later Tor is checking if I'm awake. Yep - good morning!
Coffee, and then the now almost traditional morning swim. Tor, the five year old boy, is a good swimmer can't wait for me to finish my coffee, so we can jump in the clear water. 10 meters Deep, and around 25 degrees. Excellent way to start your day.
Half an hour later breakfast is rolled oats with rasins and sugar. The milk is probably 25 degrees, but still good :-)

Martinique to Dominica

Left Martinique at 11. Skipper had to out declare us from Martinique. Meanwhile some of us stayed back on the ship, preparing to leave.
I did about one and a half hour of steering. Pretty straight forward job when on open ocean.
Not much wind today, so the engine was helping all day.
Also giving the crew a chance to charge they're their electrical gear.
The trip took about 8 hours. Plenty of time for fishing, looking at the view, talking, playing with the kids, sunbathing, drinking coffee, reading, sleeping and so on....
In Dominica a man in a speedboat wanted to show us a place to anchor. We those our own place though.
While checking the anchor place Lea was already preparing dinner.
The skipper went on land, and came back with a handful  of beers. After hours in the sun, a swim in the ocean, an ice cold beer was sooooo nice.
Now, it's 20:30. The big boys are watching a movie on the laptop. Lea is putting Tor to bed - probably both sleeping.
The rest of the crew is on the deck enjoying the "cold" evening.
Downstairs, where I'm sleeping, the temperature is about 29 degrees now.
Last night was pretty rough. Even for the experienced sailors. No one got seasick, but you don't sleep much when the ship is rolling as last night. Tonight, the sea is calm, so everyone are looking forward to a quite night.

St. Pierre, Hike again

Went on a hike today with the crew. A little warm, but still interesting. We tried to find a taxi to take us to the nearby volcano. Sunday, so no luck. Instead we did a local hike. We went up to a nearby lookout. Found fresh mangoes and Tamarin fruit.  We had lunch in the nature somewhere. Fine tour. Now we are at a restaurant, resting.
Tomorrow were sailing to Dominica.

Anse-á-l'Ane to St Pierre

My first day sailing.
My day started at 7:30. The boat was alive. The crew was slowly getting up. Tor was talking loud, his mom Lea was trying to make him speak quietly.
I got up. First thing was jumping in the sea. Lovely after 28 degrees inside the ship all night.
We had breakfast, and afterwards organising the ship to leave.
We sailed for around three hours. A very easy, and calm start.
In St. Pierre we had lunch on board and made sure the anker chain was alright before leaving the ship.
The whole crew got of and went on land. We went to a museum of the disaster in 1902 where a nearby vulcano blew up, and 30000 people died. Only one man survived. He was in jail with thick walls.
Back on the ship at around 18. The temperature is nice in the evening.
Tomorrow a hike might be waiting.

Martinique, on board now

Just a short update. I'm onboard now. Leaving Anse-á-l'Ane to sail to St. Pierre. A northern town on Martinique. A town which was burned in 1902 when the nearby wulcano exploded.
I also went to a short tour to Fort-de-france with henning.

Martinique, To Anse-á-l'Ane

Left my hotel at 11:30. This gave me plenty of time to carry my two backpacks to the nearest busstop.
Around 28 degrees, so pretty hot tour...
The busride to Anse-á-l'Ane took about one hour. Price 1.20€ 
Some locals will tell you public transport on the island is none existing. I have found it to run on time, being cheap and with aircondition (well, some of them) :-)

In Anse-á-l'Ane I went shopping to cook a Danish dinner for my hosts tonight. Not an easy task, so I don't think any danes would call it Danish food. Put sure gonna be good :-)

Thomas picked me up at Jojos, a bar/ restaurant. We went to his family.
Maïna, Toh, and Titouan (1,5 year old boy).
After a drink we went to pick up
Titouan at his nanny.
Back home in Anse Mitan I had time to do some sightseeing. A very touristy place. I bought a pen, so now there is no excuse for not writing postcards...
The evening with Maïna, Toh, and Titouan was great. My "Danish" meal (wok dish) turned out to be pretty good, but far from Danish :-)

A very nice evening. Tasted a new rum. Almost whisky like, but still good.

Tomorrow it's time to jump on board the ship "den vilde jagt" (The Wild Hunt)
Hunting adventures!

Martinique, the hike again

Well, I know I wrote I was leaving Anse Cafard today, but then the nice woman at the reception talked me into taking another day. And the whole crew from the ship wrote me they were doing the hike I did yesterday.
They were getting of the bus really close to my hotel, so a great option to met them before jumping on board (or escaping :)
I met them, all nice people. Just as I met them a couchsurfer (Thomas) called me. He offered me a couch tomorrow, and a pickup. And even a drop off near the ship on Friday. Well isn't that great!
Looking very much forward to meet them.

The hike today was easier than yesterday. The crew brought the five year old Tor. I was sure they were gonna carry him the most of the way. He turned out to be the coolest five year old I've ever met!
He climbed to the top and down again afterwards. A three hour hike a lot of adults would struggle to do. Very cool. I showed the Geocache at the top.
At the foot of the mountain we had a drink. Five minutes later the crew found out a bus was leaving in three minutes. They left.
As I was waving goodbye a local man thought I was waving at him. He came over, bought me a drink, and introduced me to two of his friends.
I had lunch with them. They spoke absolutely no English, but I managed to talk with them for three hours.
They were offering me a ride back to my hotel, but they had at least 7 drinks during our conversation. So I took a bus to my hotel. Think they were a little disappointed me not going with them. I was more concerned about which one of them who was driving. The one sleeping, or the one chatting to me French.
Have uploaded a picture of me trying to explain my trip, my job, my age and so on... Pictionary in real life.
Also a few pictures from the hike.

Martinique, Checkout at ten?

A little example on how little English the staff speak/understand (or how little French I speak):
I said to the owner of the hotel "checkout at ten?".... After signlanguage he gave up,  and got the chef. Same story. Signlanguage, pointing to my none existing watch. He was pointing to the nearest mountain. I'm definitely not going there again! So I said "OK, ten". The owner and chef seemed happy, and I'm gonna drink another cup of coffee, and take it easy. :-)

A little follow up. I asked in the reception. Checkout time is 12. I also asked if she knew a good hotel in the next city. Her reply was "no, stay here". :-)
There is plenty though, so leaving Le Diamond today.

Martinique, Blind date

Felt sorry for the restaurant at the hotel. Lots of staff. Nice atmosphere. Nice music (English),  and no customers. Apart from me :-)
The menu was in French, the waitress could only speak French. I just pointed at two things and hoped for the best. A so called menu blind date :-)
I attracted more customers, of course, and my food turned out to be a very nice sandwich with potato chips. Excellent choice after the long hike. I ordered the Le petrus on the menu...

Martinique, swimmingpool, or climbing a mountain

A three hour hike was planned for today.
Some of the crew from the ship had also this plan. Same area actually. They chikkened out though :)
The weather wasn't the best for a mountain hike. The receptionist at the hotel looked at me as I was crazy when I asked for directions for the start of the hike.
After some tries, Garmin helped me, and I started climbing. After
50 minutes climbing I was at the top. Some very hard 50 minutes!
Bob was in my pocket all the way. He was singing a song about dying alone from a snake bite on a remote mountain track.
I met 0 people on the entire hike. It took me about 4 hours, including lunch at the top. Fantastic view!
My clothes was drying in a bush. Soaked of sweat!
On the way back to the hotel I met a German couple. They gave me a ride back to Anse Cafard. So nice.
Even though I have barely seen the sun today my head have had enough sun. The UV index is about 13!
Near the top of Morne Larcher I found a Geocache.
Gonna jump on the ship Friday. Sailing Saturday. First stop is Saint-Pierre on the northern part of Martinique.

Martinique, turtle on the beach

My host made some last minute changes, and flew to Paris today. He was kind to find a payable hotel for me in Diamond. (58€ pr night)
He even drove me to the hotel.

So I'm chillin on the south of Martinique.
I went for a walk on the beach today. It started to rain, so I went to a restaurant. With the rain I think we were close to hit 25 degrees. Pretty cold :-)
At the restaurant I ordered the fish menu of the day. I'm pretty sure it was a piece of salmon - just like the one you buy in Denmark. Not particularly Caribbean I guess? :-)
In the close by supermarket they had Norwegian fish in the fridge... Hmmmmm. Strange world...
I was, of course, being environment friendly, and bought local food. Rum and bananas... And sunscreen.

On my way back to the hotel a man kept waving to me. I was sure he was trying to sell me something. Then I realised he wanted me to stop. There was a giant turtle on the beach. She was lying eggs. Cool!
After a while there policemen came, and blocked the beach. But they were also busy doing what all others were doing - taking photos.

Very cool experience.

I'm in Diamond until Wednesday. Then I'll move close to Anse Lane where the ship is. I'm hoping to find a couchsurfing host for the last two days.

Martinique, Swim under a waterfall in the rainforests

Sunday.
Relaxation after the birthday party.
Meri, Frida and I went to the Jardin de Balata, a botanical garden. They had a treetop walk. That was pretty cool.
Before going to the garden, Meri took me to a waterfall where I went for a little swim. Thick jungle here. Lots of jungle sounds. Very cool place, and best of all. No tourists  :-)

Back home  Meri got some sleep. Romeo and I took care of Frida and did a little cleaning..

I was supposed to change host this day. He was a little difficult to get hold on. When I finally managed, he explained he could only host me for one night.

Romeo took me half way to Chop (the new host), and Chop picked me up there. Nice. Chop tried to arrange another host after Monday.
There's always hotels, so that might be the solution for a couple of days.