DESTINATIONS GUADELOUPE CARIBBEAN


Captain Jacques Cousteau, who campaigned for its protection in the 1970s. I took a trip out with dive school Plaisir Plongée Karukera and it was spectacular, with starfish, flounders and other creatures in rainbow colours gliding between tiny purple-veined trees and brain-like clumps of coral, so that I felt like I was in another universe entirely. It’s an option worth suggesting to certified divers as well as newbies wanting to take their first plunge (from €40, departing from Malendure Beach). For those not into adventure,


suggest a visit to fishing village Deshaies – film location for BBC detective drama Death in Paradise – for candy-coloured houses, quaint souvenir shops and seafood joints flanking a long, sandy beach. Recommend a stop at the Botanical Garden to glimpse colourful, squawking parrots flitting above waxy- looking flowers brought over from across the world (entry €15.90 for adults). There’s also


RIGHT: Fête des


Cuisinières BELOW:


Botanical Garden


FIND OUT MORE


 jardin-


botanique.com/en  memorial- acte.fr


 otantiktours. com/en


 ppk-plongee- guadeloupe.com  visit


guadeloupe.co.uk


Women and children in the parade dance, clap and fling out cakes, biscuits and bread for the crowds


a good restaurant at the garden serving dishes such as accras (fried fish bites) and boudin (blood sausage), ideal for those wanting to try authentic Creole cuisine in picturesque surrounds.


 GRANDE-TERRE: CULTURE AND HISTORY It’s on Grande-Terre that you’ll find most of the key tourist spots and hotels, largely thanks to the snow-white sands, turquoise waters and handful of lively beach towns that line the south coast. Hotspots include Le Gosier,


Sainte-Anne and the rather exclusive Saint-François, all of which draw French tourists after a laid-back escape. It’s also here that you’ll find the capital, Pointe-à-Pitre. Guadeloupe’s commercial centre feels a little gritty in places, with corrugated-iron houses flanking dilapidated streets, and a string of brash shoe shops lining the main drag. But for clients prepared to get stuck in, it’s authentically atmospheric, with lively markets fusing pungent spices, colourful rum bottles and freshly-caught fish together in a sense-engulfing spectacle. We were lucky to catch one of Guadeloupe’s most-anticipated festivals, the Fête des Cuisinières, a huge parade in which women and children from a community of ‘female cooks’ dance, drum and clap their way through the


58travelweekly.co.uk24 January 2019


streets in colourful dress, flinging out home-baked cakes, biscuits and bread for the crowds, as reggae bands take to the streets. It’s been going for more than 90 years and gave us a real insight into traditional Guadeloupian life, so recommend it to clients who happen to be here in August. Just as impressive, albeit in


a totally different way, is the Memorial Acte Museum. Housed in a huge, contemporary-design building, the museum traces the history of slavery in Guadeloupe and beyond through interactive screens, artefacts and slaves’ own stories. It’s fascinating (if sobering), taking visitors from French colonisation to the triangular slave trade and the indentured labour system, when thousands of Indians arrived to work on the sugar plantations. It’s a must for anyone coming here (entry €15 for adults).


 LES SAINTES: LAID-BACK LIVING It’s not just the two main islands that appeal. The nine Les Saintes islands are among Guadeloupe’s biggest charms, and Terre-de- Haut, the largest of the cluster, is enchanting in every way. Accessed by a 40-minute ferry


from the mainland, this spot has the feel of a fishing village, with boho-chic boutiques, seafood joints and quaint souvenir shops lining the front, attracting


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96