Iles Guadeloupe Adventure
Sulphurous gases oozed from the slopes of the volcano
Jacqueline Windh / 30.11.2007
The wake-up was at 4:30am, in order to make the 6:00 ferry back to Point-a-Pitre. This time the Caribbean sea was calm, and the ride was really enjoyable. The islands of Grande-Terre and Basse-Terre are each big volcanic islands that are so close that they are practically joined together at Point-a-Pitre. We loaded up the buses and headed west, over the short bridge that connects these two islands, and then south along the shore of Basse-Terre.
Everyone was immediately by how different this island is: it is very high, and we were travelling down its eastern windward coast, which catches all of the moisture coming in from the Atlantic. The terrain is steep and the vegetation is dense jungle. At times it felt like the bus was winding through a tunnel of vines, and when the vegetation opened up we had sweeping views of the coastal villages below and, in the distance, the small Guadeloupian islands of Les-Saintes. This little chain of hilly and forest islands looked so enticing, they just called to me to return here with my kayak.
Once we rounded the southern point of Basse-Terre, we started climbing up the slopes of the active volcano La Soufriere, past the village of St-Claude, and into the National Park where today’s event would take place.
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