Martinique Kayaking

Sailboat | Voyages | Log

A expedition to explore uncharted waters A manly pose from the expedition leader Our kayaks tied up at our lunch destination Is this paradise or what? Karen provides more comic relief By rolling over in her kayak twice While trying to get in after lunch A view from the mountains Ilets des Fregates in the background Monday, March 27, 2006 We were truly one with the sea and the sky as we maneuvered our kayaks gracefully between the eight ilets of the Cul-de-Sac Fregate. Ilet Pele, little more than a rock, managed to had a house perched on it. Others were several acres in size and had one or two houses. Some islands were deserted. This was paradise as one imagines it. The islands were a quarter mile to two miles apart. Protected by a barrier reef, the water was gentle and warm, and often less than a few feet deep for a much as a mile at a time. It was a giant swimming pool, heated for our personal pleasure. In the morning, we paddled slowly to L’Ilet Oscar where a gourmet lunch was reserved for us at the Habitation Lagrange (www.habitationlagrange.com). The place was stunning beyond our belief. It was a scene from a novel. As the only guests, we were treated like visiting royalty, beginning with drinks and appetizers on the veranda. For a day, we were part of the rich and famous. Our three course meal of salad, Dorado, and coconut flan was served under a pagoda, surrounded by exotic palm trees, a few feet from the water. After being indulged at lunch we sipped coffee on the patio, read a bit, and rested our eyes before slipping back into our kayaks for our return trip to reality. It was the Caribbean at its best, a unique adventure, way off the beaten path. When we returned to St. Anne to putter back to Full Circle, we were greeted by sound of the conch shell. Throughout the Caribbean, whenever fresh fish are available, regardless of the time of day, a conch shell is blown. As we saw in Dominica, the markets can be spontaneous and set up on a street corner. Today we saw Dorado and tuna. With the sound of the conch shell, people seem to emerge from nowhere to buy the fish. Perhaps they are just waiting for the sound so they can purchase their evening meal. If we hadn’t over indulged at lunch, we would have bought some, maybe tomorrow. Previous | Next