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!

The unfortunate (but tasty) demise of Astrid the cock

Hello world!

Despite what you may think, I am actually alive (which is really always a plus when you're living in French Guiana). So, I've returned to the cyber world and will try to keep up with my blogging in 2015 – I almost forgot, happy new year everybody! Now, I'm not making excuses (... but if I did I would tell you that I got extremely busy with my teaching towards the end of last year and so fell back on my blogging – sorry). I will try to keep it up in 2015. Thanks for reading.

So out of our original four chicken, only one survived, Astrid. The other little fuzzballs were unfortunately eaten by something called a "pian". Essentially it resembles an excessively smelly giant rat – charming, don't you think? Astrid somehow managed to stay alive. A couple of days after the traumatic event (and once we had fortified the chicken-hutch) we went out to buy some new chicken friends for Astrid. Falafel, Emily, Luna and Cleopatra joined the crew.

The chicken grew and everything was going well... until we returned from our holiday to find out that Astrid and Cleopatra are actually cocks rather than hens. Rather unhelpful, since we decided to get chicken in order to have eggs. We can skip the birds and the bees discussion, and (successfully) assume that cocks do not lay eggs.

Now, I wouldn't have minded having a cock in the flock if he would just have kept himself to himself in a nice cock sort of manner. But he did not. He was absolutely set on instilling his dominance over the others by generally inducing terror and fear in his fellow peers. Now, I do not endorse nonchalant violence. And since we are avid supporters of equality in this little family, I can absolutely not sanction outright discrimination. So last night, Astrid, bless him, was sent to barbecue heaven.

Just moments before the execution took place, we captured some last memories of our dear, but barbaric Astrid.

You have to acknowledge that he was a very pretty cock. Melba, of course, kept a close eye on the walking filet.

The executioner and the guilty party (and a machete for an authentic Caribbean effect).

The Red Queen said it well: "Off with his head!"
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENDLDgje0Wc)

About the entire killing process. I would not consider myself a lightweight when it comes to gore, but I must admit, I do not think I could ever kill anything. Which, to be honest, I think, does not entitle me to eat meat. If you are a carnivore you should be able to (at least) acknowledge that another living entity has died in order for you to have that meal. I've been a meat eater all my life and have never seen an animal killed for meat in my 25 years – utter hypocrisy really.

So Anthony took it upon himself to educate me. It was terrible and traumatic... but a necessary and didactic experience. The chicken erratically flaps about even after the head has been removed. There's blood flying everywhere. It's perfectly dreadful.

Then comes the soaking and the plucking, which smells rather unpleasant if you ask me. The scent lingers too. The heat in French Guiana probably does not aid this situation.

I find this picture highly disturbing and thought it best to share it with the entire world. I have not further comments.

Mostly, his face looked more like this throughout the process. Removal of intestines and all the rest. Charming really.

The end result, 'BBQ Astrid' together with a couple of friends. We took a moment and thanked Astrid for his endeavor.

The next day the rest of the brood were looking very content at having their tormentor permanently (and magically) removed.

Luna, our brave and I dare say the most intelligent chicken I've ever met, was eager to be fed.

Luna the Wise

A happy brood enjoying their new found freedom :)

The tale will be ensued once we see what tendencies this little cockerel develops. We have renamed Cleopatra to Alexander the Great... for obvious reasons (we thought we'd give him the benefit of the doubt too).

Will he live in peace with his female companions or will we have to warm up the coals yet again? We'll just have to wait and sizzle – ... I mean SEE..

- - -

A general update and a post on a local equine riding-clinic coming up soon.

Until then, thanks for reading and take care! :)