We left Martinique March 2nd after one and a half month. We have really enjoyed the beautiful nature and the abundance of food. Apart from the repairs on the boat, we got to see the Carneval in Fort De France, Grande Anse D’Arlet and St Pierre.
While still at anchor at Le Marin, we took the bus into Fort De France to see the carneval. It was big and spectacular, and amazing to see. There were people of all sizes, big and small, fat and thin, dressed up in all sorts of costumes. People of all ages and sizes were walking around with very little clothes on. They danced and seemed to enjoy themselves. We saw groups with different themes; there were the Mud people, a group of pregnant women, red devils, a group with people smeared in tar. And then, of course, a whole lot of groups with drums and dancing, that created a party in the street.
Men were dressed in women’s clothing. Some made it big with crinoline dresses, others with tulle skirts with pink panties underneath. There were trucks with loud music and dancing passengers. It really was a huge event and very fun to experience.
The festivities lasted for 4 days, but we were only in town for the big carnival day. A few days later there was Mardi Gras. I tried to coax the kids and Martin back in, but their enthusiasm wasn’t as great as mine. In addition, Martin had also caught a bit of a cold. So we stayed home.
A few days later we sailed 15 nautical miles to Grande Anse D’arlet. It was one of the best sails ever had. Wind from behind and just enough to maintain a speed of 4-5 knots. There were almost no waves, so no one got seasick. We even drank coffee and enjoyed ourselves along the way. We also tried fishing, but the big amount of seaweed in the water makes it difficult. The hooks catch the seaweed immediately. Elliott gathered some of the seaweed and fried it for dinner. It tasted pretty good, but it was really a lot of work cleaning the seaweed.
We got in the water at Grande Anse D’Arlet and tried out our new snorkel gear that we bought as Christmas presents for the kids a couple of months late. The water was full of life. We saw a needle fish, a dragon fish and a many other kind of fish. Anton caught a spotted snake eel on camera. I was glad I didn’t see it in the water. Because of my ophidiophobia(fear of reptiles), I couldn’t even watch the video and had Victor edit it for me.
Although the children would have liked to have stayed longer at Grande Anse D’arlet, we had to move on the next day. Time is passing and we have not come very far. The next day we continued north towards St Pierre. There was almost no wind. We had to sail by motor for much of the trip. On the other hand, there were no waves either, so no one got seasick.
St Pierre is a small town that we drove through a few weeks ago on our way up to Mount Pelee. The town is best known for the volcanic eruption of Mount Pelee in 1902, which completely destroyed St Pierre and nearby villages. The volcanic eruption occurred over a period of time with a series of explosions; The one at may 8th being the biggest and deadliest. Over 30,000 people lost their lives. There were very few survivors. One of them was an unwitting prisoner, Louis Cyparis, who was in a prison cell. The cell had very thick walls and the door faced away from the volcano, which meant that the hot gasses from the volcano that hit the city, did not reach Louis. He was found by rescue workers a few days later. On our walk in town, we saw the ruins of the prison and a replica of the prison cell.
Next to it are the ruins of a theater, where the entrance area with stairs is intact, as it was sheltered from the terrain when the volcano erupted.
In the water near St Pierre, there are shipwrecks of boats sunk by the volcanic eruption as a massive mudslide caused tsunamis, destroying buildings along shore and boats in the water. We visited one of the shipwrecks, Epave de l’Amélie, at a depth of only 5-8 meters near the shore and close to our anchor spot. Today, coral has grown on the wreck and it has become a really nice snorkeling spot.
