Starfish & Cucumber City

The dinghy ride along the Grand Riviere a Goyaves was out of this world. The river started off surrounded by mangroves. The transition from choppy sea to calm water was abrupt and we were surrounded by silence broken by the odd jumping fish. It was so tranquil. We also saw a turtle basking on a log – very much like the snappers we used to see back in New Jersey. We traveled over three miles up the river where the mangroves had changed to bamboo and other foliage which in turn broke into fields
with grazing cattle and fields of sugar cane.

We backtracked to where there was an old dock set into the side of the river to eat our sandwiches and drink lemonade.

Here is a track of our trip. Right now the satellite imagery is low resolution for most of the map but one day it may improve.

Back on the boat the flies had won the decision as we had more than we cared for aboard. So we headed off pretty much straight away to the west side of Ilet a Fajou. This is Starfish & Cucumber City as all around us in the sands are countless starfish and sea cucumbers as we confirmed when we went snorkeling for half an hour. The anchorage is heaven. We have a reef to the north which we intend to snorkel tomorrow. To the west the mountains of Bass-Terre rise majestically – the taller ones obscured by the weather they create. To our south and east lies Ilet a Fajou, a mangrove covered island peppered with the odd beach that invites us to explore. The sea is turquoise with patches of darker turtle grass and brown reefs. Just awesome. We’re going to stay here two nights. Being a Sunday the area was a little crowded (if you can use the word) with the boats of a few locals. As of writing most have already left for home, the rest I assume will leave soon leaving us all alone out here. Bliss.

I am now feeling so happy with the battery and charger set up I feel like doing something extravagant. Tonight we’ll set up the bread maker to wake us up with fresh bread. Heaven in heaven. Except it’ll be more like torture as I’m sure I’ll now wake at 4:30 to the smell of baking bread and be driven insane. Problems, problems.

I have a habit of checking. Both of our anchorages today had no wireless internet signals at all – even using my most sensitive antenna. It’s nice to be off the web.