Martinique – a senses’ delight

With the adrenaline levels up we did not realise how tired we were when we made landfall in Martinique. 

Keen to discover the island, we hired a car for a couple of days on arrival. Only when we tried to climb up Mont Pelée (the highest pick on the island at around 1,400m) we realised how exhausted we were…Struggling on a steep and challenging ascent we only reached halfway through the climb, to a plateau. The view over the east and west side of the island was worth the pain. The hike did feel like a success, especially that we were lucky to see for the first time an orchid in its natural habitat…

Martinique is amongst the most densely populated islands in Lesser Antilles. As we were approaching the capital this was becoming more and more obvious, as the number of cars was unreal for a small island.

The second day we explored the eastern coast, stopping for a stroll in the mangrove next to the ruines of Dubuc Castle, before visiting St James Rum Distillery…keen to stock up! We continued north crossing interesting suspended bridges across deep green ravines, reaching ‘the end of the road’ at Grande Rivière.

For the rest of our stay in Martinique we enjoyed the company of our newly made friend on catamaran Orient Express and explored further on foot the southern coast of the island.

It is really refreshing to meet so many interesting people from all over the world, different walks of life, all aspiring to different things, but all animated by the love of freedom… some have circumnavigated a few times, some only finding their sea legs. The most interesting for us so far was meeting Selcuk during our Atlantic crossing. Orient Express was the second yacht we’ve sighted during our crossing from a total of three. Sorin made contact with Selcuk via VHF. He was sailing single handed his 58 foot catamaran from Turkey back to the US via the Caribbean. Friendly (despite the early morning), Selcuk confirmed that Martinique is the best island in the Caribbean and gave us some welcomed tips. We met (physically this time!) and we spent some beautiful moments together snorkelling, and then delving through his circumnavigations’ photos and memories.

We enjoyed a drink in the company of fellow Cruising Association members who roamed the seas for years or just achieved their dream of crossing an ocean on their own vessel… 

We met Isabelle and David from Bordeaux and their friends on a pontoon in Marina Le Marin whilst I was hand washing (cruising is not always fun!) our bedspreads. A simple ‘bonjour’ led to a long chat about life and dreams whilst the night was falling…

We had a couple of drinks with a young couple we had met in the Canaries, and who crossed the pond this year too. They have been living aboard with their 3 years old daughter for a few years. 

And the list continues…

Getting to know places and people is the true reward of this great life adventure. We will continue fooling around with the GoPro (present from a good friend – thanks Dani!) and sharing the stories of the people we meet.

Currently, we are still at anchor in St Anne, waiting for the strong ‘Christmas winds’ to pass, before setting sail north to Dominica.