The least pain in our little finger gives us more concern and uneasiness,
than the destruction of millions of our fellow-beings.
- William Hazlitt, 1778-1830 -
The old lava fields are visible on the southern side of Montserrat as we pass behind it on our way to Guadeloupe
BASSE TERRE
After a fairly hard and wet motor-sail, we managed to get a lovely tight reach in moderate winds towards Dominica. When we got to the lee of Guadeloupe, the wind died completely and we decided to motor inshore and have a look. We reversed out from the tiny, hurricane-damaged marina entrance of Basse Terre but found a good anchorage in shallow water on the south side of the marina. The water was clear and clean with tidal streams sweeping the rapidly deepening bottom. Dark volcanic sand provided good holding. The beach infront of us was full of locals and several swimmers passed by, clearly doing laps for fitness.
Merry-go-round. The constant battle of a light and fluky and gusty winds against the tidal flow kept us doing circles. No matter, except that the wi-fi signal was lost for every 180 degrees... Yes there was a wi-fi here too.
We had seen a comment in a blog of another yacht which was referring to riots and burnt cars but with no other information about what was going on or what port they were in. I took the dinghy ashore and went looking for the the port captain. It was monday but the town was as good as dead, with only few people around and most businesses closed. The Gendarme was there though. One quick form, no money and we had cleared in and out. The news was that Guadeloupe was on general strike and some unrest - including some sort of rioting - had happened last week. The strike was to continue for the remainder of the week, due to rising fuel- and food costs, high taxes, low wages and a cost of living rising beyond reach of the average worker. The worker's unions claim almost a quarter of the islands population to live under the poverty line.
The contrast to our previous port, St. Barthelemy was incredible, even though both islands belong to France. (Until recently, St. Barts was actually administered under Guadeloupe). Instead of fancy cafés and fashion shops, we saw a streetscape of rubbish, graffiti and buildings in a desperate need of either renovations or demolition. It would not be fair to comment much more than that, after all, we saw almost all of the tiny St. Barts but only one figment of a filament of a fraction of Guadeloupe.
The mood was sombre and the town of Basse Terre almost a ghost town. The marina - obviously damaged by a recent hurricane - was in a poor state and closed down cafes and businesses still had some of their broken furniture and microwaves lying on the edge of the marina. A few sunken boats and no signs of any attempts to tidy up. The brand new water front esplanade was lined up with decorative lamp posts, all of which were running with rust, none of which were working and most of which were cracked and ready to fall down.
We would have loved to stay longer and have a look at the place, but the strike set to continue, there was not much to do other than follow the local's example and go swimming in the sea.
A lone excercise bike (along with other rubbish around it) rots in the rocky shore of Guadeloupe, overlooking the marina.
After taking a picture of this abandoned house, we kept walking and realised that it wasn't abandoned. The old concrete house needed nothing but a wash and some paint and a good tidy-up. It was sitting at the waterfront, overlooking the Caribbean sea! Yet, the surrounds were more like a ghetto, full off rubbish and broken cars. And the people who live here? French citicens...
Riots last week or something else? Basse Terre was a ghost town. People greeted and someone came begging. The feeling was sombre and depressed, with some small groups having heated conversations. I wish I could speak French. There is nothing worse than looking at the world and not being able to interact with it.
Hurricane struck October 2008. We came four months later and everything in the marina looked like it happened last week. The Basse Terre Marina area looked beautiful and lush with lots of nice little cafes and restaurants. Unfortunately they were all shut down.
Clear water! The warm, soft, clear water off Guadeloupe looked the cleanest so far. Decending steeply to 400m and flushed by the tidal flows, there was not one particle floating in the calm water off Basse Terre.
Just one week of general strike doesn't seem to explain the state of the shores. At the same time, our sample of Guadeloupe does not justify further judgement. This beach was a 10min walk from the administrative capital Basse Terre.
