I woke up throughout the night, likely due to being in a strange environment with different night sounds. I finally got up just before 7a, well before Michelle and Addison. I took the opportunity to offload pics from the day before and write some blog entries. We all headed just outside our door to breakfast at 9:30a. It consisted of fruit, muffins, eggs with onions, bacon, and orange juice — very tasty! We met both Marilyn and Pauline, cooks for the villa.
The Pitons at Dawn
Looking west out to sea
Pitons in the morning
Caille Blanc’s common dining area
Beautiful foliage near Caille Blanc
A group of snorkelers just below the villa
About 11a Addison and I walked down the very steep and pock-marked almost-paved road to Anse Castanet beach, a gorgeous beach open to the public as well as guests to the exclusive resort. We checked in with the small dive shop then headed left to the roped in area near the pier and beach intended for providing a safe place for snorkelers. We went in the water for 15 or 20 minutes. It was really neat but I’m afraid I wasn’t very good at it — I kept seeing something neat (like brain or fan coral, a small fish, or even an eel looking thing) and diving below the reach of the snorkel yet still trying to breath. We had fins and prescription goggles which helped a bit. I kept trying to snap pictures with the GoPro but honestly wasn’t too great at it — it was hard to see if I was capturing anything neat on the small viewfinder. Ah, well.
Looking back at Anse Chastanet beach from the water
Amazing clear water distracts from the crazy crooked horizon!
Rocky headland near Anse Chastanet beach
Addison snorkeling
Some coral and fish at Anse Chastanet
One negative is there were tons of little (quarter sized) jellyfish that took delight in stinging us. It wasn’t that painful, more annoying really. We ended up cutting our swimming a little short and sat on the sand a bit. Not wanting to give up so easily I walked out the pier and got in the water via the ladder. Despite a British national warning me of the jellyfish once I got in they were all gone! Had another fantastic swim for a bit before joining Addison on the beach and taking off my fins.
Some more sea life
Another look at Anse Chastanet beach
Amazing clear water made for great snorkeling!
After packing up our stuff in the duffel we walked down the beach, past a cliff with embedded rocks and even cacti, to another more secluded beach, Anse Mamin. We saw a guy shimmied up a palm cutting down coconuts. There was a neat sea stack as well as a small stream emptying out into the sea. There was a burger stand here that we heard was quite good, but we were unprepared for the cost — $60 for a water, a Coke (we even sent one back as we realized it’d put us over the amount of cash we brought with us!), a single burger (bacon, bleu cheese, on an English muffin), and a small side of fries and onion rings. It was good, and the shade welcome, but come on! They had some interesting condiments like some yellow ketchup (not mustard!) thing, made from banana peppers or somesuch. Also a West Indian hot sauce that was yellow with red and green bits.
Anse Chastanet beach
Umbrellas on Anse Chastanet beach
Road to Anse Mamin beach from Anse Chastanet
Anse Mamin beach
Funky West Indian Hot Sauce
After a grueling walk back (seriously, the road was steep!) we met back up with Michelle at Caille Blanc. She had enjoyed a BLT for lunch and was taking a swim in the infinity pool. Addison and I joined her for a couple of hours — it was seriously hard to exit the pool it was soooo pleasant and the views were world class.
Sea stack at Anse Mamin beach
Addison hauling our duffel bag
Anse Mamin beach
Anse Chastanet beach as seen from Anse Mamin beach
Cacti along the path from Mamin to Chastanet
Another look at Anse Chastanet’s palm umbrellas
Flat portion of the road from Anse Chastanet — much steeper later!
Relaxing back at Caille Blanc’s pool
Afternoon view of the Pitons
After exiting we dried off and relaxed a bit. A family from Michigan had checked in and we enjoyed talking a bit with them and talking about our various travels. A couple of hours later we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset with a couple from Switzerland (also newly arrived). It is astonishing how early the sun sets down there, closer to the equator.
Yet another Pitons shot, this time in the late afternoon
Sunset with a impressive looking ship
The Pitons at sunset
Shortly after sunset we sat down for dinner in the common area. It was the same menu as the prior night except a baked potato instead of rice. The steak wasn’t quite as good — but still very tasty. Dessert was vanilla ice cream on top of bananas — yummy! After dinner we sat by the pool watching the Pitons and enjoying the gorgeous stars and moon, finally retiring about 11p.
Bed was inviting, but first had to enjoy the pleasant night!
The moon would sometimes peek from behind the wispy night cloud cover
As it was quite dark the stars were out over the Pitons
Route for Monday, April 2nd, 2018