Guadeloupe!

Back in March of 2015 Anthony and I, together with my parents and my oldest brother and my niece, went for a get-away holiday to the Island of Guadeloupe. It's French territory but located in the southern Caribbean Sea. Guadeloupe is just a two-hour plane ride away from French Guiana and although very expensive to get to, is just drop-dead gorgeous. Surrounded by turquoise water and clean white sandy beaches with that French Kreole Carribbean feel to it... ah, it's positively charming. The island is also shaped like a butterfly; need I really say more?

The island is divided into two "halves", Basse-Terre on the west and Grand-Terre towards the east. We stayed in a hotel based on Base-Terre, which is less inhabited than Grand-Terre because of its mountainous and rocky terrain. This side of the island has been kept more "untouched" than its eastern counterpart. So for us nature lovers, it was the natural choice.

So, Anthony and I have never really been on a real holiday together. It was going to be a first for us. Right. So I like to think I know Anthony pretty well by now. Which means I am aware that he likes to keep active. What I wasn't aware of, was that he likes to keep extra active on holidays. See, when I go on holiday I like to relax, kick my feet up a bit. I was imagining reading in the sun, drinking fancy pineapple juices with curly straws by the beach... this sort of thing.

 At least IN-BETWEEN keeping active. I mean, don't get me wrong; I like to snorkel and get out there and discover new stuff too. But not at 7 o'clock first thing in the morning. It's just less appealing before I've had breakfast. I am not even jesting here though, in the five days we had on our resort, I got him to lie down for about a good 15 minutes.

Good thing he's resourceful as well as (abnormally) active.

I just love this picture. It describes Anthony perfectly. There I was joyfully in the sun when I thought to myself. Right, I'll just go have a look, see what he is up to. I walk across to the other side of the resort when I come across this placard and see Anthony packing up his kite-surfing gear. 

He didn't die, so I got over it.

The little village just down the road offered some local sights and excellent dining. The architecture varied quite a bit from Guiana actually. Bright coloured buildings with hand-painted pieces were all around. I also found that the evening light in Guadeloupe was fantastic for taking shots and tinted everything with that warm Caribbean feeling. Like the first taste of rum warming up your insides. 

Yes, those are real shells... the size of your hand :)

Food couldn't possibly taste bad when you're looking at this.

On one of our days we travelled to Saint -Francois, the very tip of the other half of the island on Grand-Terre. The sea was blue and beautiful but fierce. The rocks are almost black in colour and form sharp edges when they crumble.

A man and the sea.

We have always been sea-lovers in my family but waves in Finland do not reach this height. It was really enlightening seeing the sea from such a different perspective. The sea is not only extremely salty, but vigorous too. It demanded attention.

We took it upon ourselves to hike up the little side-path to reach the viewing sight at the top of the hill.

The view with the island La Désirade in the backdrop.

Up top!

Next stop, boating and snorkeling!

Because we're a big boating family taking a day trip out to sea was a must. Luckily, Anthony managed to both research and book us an all-inclusive private boat trip. We were expecting it to be nice, for sure. But we got much more than we bargained for! Like snorkeling around an old shipwreck. We headed out from the port through an alley of mangrove trees and headed out towards the blue. It felt great to be out at sea again after such a long while. 

Once we navigated to the shipwreck, Anthony (of course) was first in. The rest of us, followed suit shortly after. Because the ship-wreck was really just under the surface of the water, the bottom of the wreck being at about 5m depth, it was easy to view the fish and other sea-life.

 

Everybody was fantastically impressed.

Woop woop - Thumbs up!

Second stop was a tiny island close by the wreck. The entire coastline is actually protected by a natural coral barrier reef. But sadly, because of the strong sea, we were unable to take the boat out to see it.

Anthony, determined, snorkeled out to view it. Naturally.

 

As if the trip hadn't already been wonderful enough, the last stop was really the cherry on top. A small island close to the coastline sported a naturally formed knee-deep walkway straight out towards open sea. Taking a stroll, essentially in the middle of the sea, seemed almost fictitious.

Happy faces all around!

But it wasn't finished yet. Hungry anyone?

The metal lining of old car-tires worked as barbecues and the smell of rum-dipped banane flambé was in the air. The shed-like structure was simply standing in the water and worked as kitchen and dining room all at once.

Our captain preparing our dinner in our sea-side saloon. Unreal.

I've certainly never had dinner whilst having a foot spa. A one in a million 2-in-1 experience!

You can trust the French that dinner came complete with wine, baguette, rum and even coffee with dessert. Absolutely unforgettable.

Beautiful and true to itself.

Thank you Guadeloupe!