THERE’S A SEDUCTIVE PULL THAT THIS BUTTERFLY-SHAPED FRENCH OUTPOST EXERTS ON ALL THOSE WHO FIND THEIR WAY THERE. YOU CANNOT SIMPLY COME AND GO – A PART OF YOU WILL BECOME ENTWINED IN ITS TROPICAL ARMS AND YOU’LL NEVER BE QUITE THE SAME. YOU ARE, AFTER ALL, IN FRANCE… YET IN THE LUSH, TROPICAL CARIBBEAN.
LIZ FLEMING
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS was the first tourist to visit the island we now know as Guadeloupe on his second trip to the new world in 1493. Looking for fresh water to replenish supplies on his ships, Columbus found a place called Karukera or ‘land of beautiful water’ by the Carib Indians. He came ashore to find a place so beautiful he was moved to dedicate the island to the Virgin Mary, renaming it Santa Maria de Guadalupe de Extremadura, after the image of the Virgin Mary at the famous Spanish monastery of Villuercas, in Guadalupe, Extremadura.
During his stay in Guadeloupe, Columbus became enchanted by a new fruit he called piña de Indias, meaning ‘pine of Indies’ or pineapple. (In fact, it was hardly a new discovery, given that South Americans had been enjoying the fruit for many years, but the name was certainly catchy!) Today, locals will tell you the most delicious pineapples in the world grow in Guadeloupe. Have a taste – it will spoil you for any other.
Guadeloupe will spoil you for other things as well – like beaches and scenery. While every Caribbean island boasts of the beauty of its sandy stretches, few can match the heart-stopping spectacle of La Pointe des Châteaux, enormous conical boulders that rise from the sea like the turrets of an indestructible sand castle. When the waves smash against them, sending explosions of froth and foam high in the air, it’s mesmerizing and the kind of photo-op that makes you grateful for digital technology. You’ll want to take a hundred shots. Because the water at La Pointe des Chateaux is a little wilder than on other beaches, it’s less popular for swimming and sunbathing. If you’re lucky, you might have the sand all to yourself.
The chefs of Guadeloupe – many of whom are escapees from the best kitchens in Paris – will also be an important part of the spoiling process. Bringing a European savoir-faire to the preparation of locally sourced seafood, fish and produce, the transplanted chefs work with their Guadeloupian culinary colleagues in a synergy that produces meals that far exceed the usual fried-fish-andplantain specials found on so many islands.
Chef Simon of the tiny but chic Hotel Le Jardin Malanga in Trois Rivières is a case in point. Guests who visit his casual open-air dining room nestled at the base of a lush tropical hillside soon become eager devotees of his cooking. Working in a small kitchen, using mostly ingredients grown on the property, Simon has created a menu that draws guests from around the island. “I like to go out to the garden, see what’s ripe and plan my menu around it.” If you go, be sure to have the signature accras (crispy fried balls of cod fish mixed with onions, chives, sweet peppers, herbs and garlic – a traditional Guadeloupian treat) and be generous with the sweet chili and lime juice topping, Simon’s own delectable modification for the dish.
One element of the Guadeloupe experience that has a distinctly spoiling effect is this: things work very well there. Air-conditioners hum efficiently because the power source is endlessly reliable, roads are smooth and well-maintained and public services such as buses and hospitals are dependable.
It feels a little like the Switzerland of the Caribbean in this regard. Being a part of France has meant t
hat Guadeloupe, for all its quaint tropical charms, has maintained a steady march into the future, enjoying all the infrastructure support so many of its neighboring islands have missed out on.
A visit to the Botanical Gardens in Deshaies is like a return to Eden as trees laden with fuchsia-pink flowers droop lazily towards the earth – too full of their own beauty to hold their lush heads up any longer. Vines of brilliant green, wind and tangle together, long-legged water birds land in warm ponds to snap up schools of tiny fish. It’s as if nature feels particularly generous here and is offering a welcome as warm as the one you’ll be given by the Guadeloupians themselves.
Visit La Grivelière Coffee Farm located in Vieux Habitants in south Basse-Terre to learn how rich dark chocolate is made from cocoa beans that grow wrapped in sweet pulp that’s nearly as delicious as the final product itself. While the friendly hostess demonstrates the process, you’ll be given a handful to try. Like it? Another handful is always on offer.
Be sure to tour the national park in north Basse-Terre. Our guide, Alain, had a gentle ability to commune as well with people as he did with the natural world. (If you’re looking for the kind of extraordinary tours we had, make a point of contacting him at ginkoland@yahoo.fr). As we wandered along cow paths – sometimes sharing the walkway with bovine brethren – Alain introduced us to natural answers for most of what ails the outside world, from bay rum leaves used to fight fever and influenza, to the Naked Indian tree whose boiled bark makes a powerful aphrodisiac, to the Traveler’s Palm Tree, a succulent ready to provide a liter and a half of water at the poke of a knife in its green trunk.
WHAT SETS GUADELOUPE APART IS ITS OUTRAGEOUS, GLORIOUS SENSE OF ABUNDANCE
LIKE MOST Caribbean islands, Guadeloupe officially celebrates Carnival or the Mardi Gras Festival, beginning the last Sunday of the Epiphany and concluding on Ash Wednesday. Vaval, the character who symbolizes the spirit of Carnival is celebrated, touted and ultimately burned on Ash Wednesday. Until his fiery end, Carnival is all about indulging in life’s pleasures – food, drink, music and fun – joyously exploiting the ‘fat days’ before the self-denial period of Lent arrives. While the music, parties, costumes, food and dancing may be similar to what you’ll find on other islands – and indeed in Catholic countries around the world – what sets Guadeloupe apart is its explosive enthusiasm.
Never let it be said that anyone is unprepared when Carnival officially begins on Guadeloupe – they’ll already have been practicing for more than a month.
Guadeloupians love a celebration and one that spans four weeks is far better than one that lasts only a few days. Every Sunday evening beginning in January, therefore, they practice. Wildly costumed dance troupes and bands gather on the main streets of towns and villages across the island, as well as on the streets of the capital city of Basse-Terre to practice their routines and shake their feathers.
It’s impossible to merely watch the procession – the passion is contagious. The rhythms capture the audience and soon hands reach out and touch across the crowd, pulling spectators onto the street and into the magic.
Stunning beach views, great cuisine, solid infrastructure, the world’s best pineapple… all these elements will contribute to spoiling you for future island adventures elsewhere but what sets Guadeloupe apart from all competitors is its outrageous, glorious sense of abundance.
It’s a place where life is celebrated to the fullest, where more champagne is drunk than in any other French country (unofficial estimates suggest three bottles per person per year) and where an estimated 70 percent of the one million liters of rum produced annually is never exported but is instead consumed by appreciative Guadeloupians.
Yes, Guadeloupe is an island of surprises, as the dramatic landscape of Western Basse-Terre, punctuated by La Soufrière volcano contrasts sharply with the rolling hills, flat lands and tourist-filled beaches of eastern Grande-Terre. It’s a butterfly with two distinctly different wings but a seductive symmetry all its own.
