Last day on the boat, St Martin to Martinique!

We were to disembark at Fort de France, but once we realised that we were stopping in the north of Martinique at St Pierre, where we were booked in 2 nights later, it was too tempting!  We needed to sleep! The hotel  the Villa St Pierre did have available rooms...... St Pierre is more popular as a day destination! In fact something like 90% of all visitors to the island visit but few stay overnight!
So we abandoned the boat!!

On our last day there was a lot of wind and so we sailed all the way...... this meant the boat was totally tipped over!!

Note the shoes holding on for dear life!

It took a little while to feel that the earth was not moving once we got to the hotel........

The hotel was a small family run hotel and thankfully we had chosen to have rooms with a sea view.
Where we watched a fantastic sunset......

The other side of the hotel had heavy traffic, anything from the north of the island had to pass by the door( it is a one way system). Not a problem at night however..... no traffic!

We asked their advice on where to eat and they suggested La Vague....

This turned out to be a great suggestion and we ate there all three nights!   However there wasn't too much alternative within walking distance!  And it had a great location also overlooking the beach....

It was a simple restaurant but the food was good!!

We had booked our rental car for pick up at the airport in Fort de France. No car was available for a day or two in St Pierre so we decided to travel to Fort de France with the locals...... in a minibus taxi!  This was actually quite fun.....
However the driver did seem to be trying to be meet his maker early a few times! Hence presumably the prominent Jesus!

As we were now fairly south in the island we decided to go to the Diamont area for lunch.
We found a great place......

 Judging by the fishing boats tied up outside we decided they should have fresh fish......

And they did.......

 They also had goat on the menu and we noticed a few of them next door!!

We went on into Diamont.... to admire the rock the British held onto for 17 months!!

And ever onwards....Les Saintes to Dominica..

Our trip from Les Saintes to Dominica did not take too long.....after 12 hours in one day what could be long!!  I think it fell into the 3-5 hour timeframe!

Dominica should not be confused with the Dominican Republic!  It is its own country.......
and it was where Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was filmed!  At Portsmouth, where we were staying the first night. The locals really liked the actors!

We arrived in Portsmouth, at the north of the island, early afternoon and soon afterwards were in a boat to go up the Indian River.  I should point out that this was a more stable boat than the dingy!! And once we were on the river the engine was turned off (noise not allowed!) and we were rowed/punted upriver.

This was a fantastic experience ........ to be recommended definitely! It was eerily silent apart from the noise of the oars..... and the mangrove tree roots were superb.....

Sorry....it was very difficult to cut out any photos!! And now I actually would really like to see the movie!

 We did get to see a hermit crab....... there were lots of crab holes along the banks of the river....

Our meal that evening at the Blue Bay Restaurant was not to be recommended, although I suspect it would have been the same at the few other possibilities!!

We sat outside, overlooking the beach.......good... but had to wait 2 hours for anything to eat. This coupled with the fact there was no white wine........ in fact one of the 'friends' of the restaurant went to a local supermarket to get some for us! ( he brought back 3 bottles, all different, all indifferent in taste!!)

Next morning we were picked up to drive to the south of the island.......

yes......... his Dad was with him........

The skipper and a friend would meet us in Roseau at the south end of the island....... quite civilized, and less time on the boat ( for those of us who were not sailors!!).....

We drove to the other side of the island, passing through the Carraibes reserve..

and stopped for lunch... with a view.....

The bottles at the back had all sorts of concoctions.........think snake oil for aches ( we were offered that at a local stall!)......

Actually they seemed to be different flavoured rums..........

The choice was chicken or fish with local veg......we chose fish but then learnt that the head was a much appreciated delicacy, locally!

However the dessert was good...... first time to have fresh sugar cane...

 .......as was the local beer.......

We visited the   Emerald Pool......a World Heritage site.......

I didn't know about the 3.6 metre Boa non poisonous snakes there.... before we took a stroll through the rainforest to get to the Emerald Pool!

Not quite sure why it was a World Heritage Site!! But it was interesting.......
But I definitely think the Indian River should be elevated to being a Unesco site........

Dinner was in a hotel in Roseau ( next to the Anchorage Hotel) ..... and was not so great! Typical hotel food, catering to foreigners! And again very slow.......perhaps that is something to be expected in Dominica!

Deshaies to Les Saints

We set off from Deshaies early morning with plans to stop at Pigeon Island, a Jacques Cousteau Reserve, where people like to snorkel.......

and we did all get in.... but not all to snorkel....

there were a lot of fish......

This was a great days sailing as we stopped after one and a half hours, had a break, and swim, and then went a further 3 hours in the afternoon.  Fantastic after the 12 hours non stop the day before!

.....and there were other boats.........

This one past by us very quickly! Probably coming from St Barts!!

Les Saintes was one of the nicest stops we had.... and we were there for 2 nights! and arrived in time to witness another sunset.......

 Our dingy pier was close to an internet cafe Les Couleurs du Monde.....

Which we enjoyed......

and enjoyed watching the demolition of a pedallo....

Apparently they had been trying to get the owner to remove it for several years........ and now the Commune stepped in!

Bikes seemed to be the preferential mode of transport here also......

It was decided that we could go to Pain de Sucre during the day.... also a great place to snorkel.....

Unfortunately when we returned to Terres de Haut, les Saintes..... it didn't have any free buoys!  So we had to leave and overnight in the bay where we had spent the afternoon. We ended up eating at the local hotel....

 This was a shame as we had booked into a very nice restaurant, Au Bon Vivre ...

and we really liked the town of Le Terre de Haut!