Friday 19 June 2009

Les Chutes de Carbet

We have the Zafira back again after a few weeks of yet another car (our neighbours keep laughing at Bertie who looks like he runs a car hire place!) so off we went last week with Stella for a walk in Basse-Terre.

There are 3 Chutes de Carbet, the 1st is very high and the route up described as difficult and sportive - I have undertaken it twice and it is hard hard work, and there is one really tricky bit that keeps me worrying for the whole climb! I never am able to enjoy being up the top as I spend my time worrying about the climb (or slide!) back down! So we weren't going there.

The 2nd Chute is much smaller and accessible by a well planked path. A €1 charge has recently been added, but you can't bathe in it as you used to be able to. That wasn't on our list.

Our goal was the 3rd Chute - Bertie went with his family and LissaLou three years ago but I chickened out and stayed at home with CassCass, so this was my chance to enjoy the easy walk and bathe in the refreshing cold water of the river. We set off with the lovely surprise of a wild raspberry each that Bertie found next to the car park. Within moments, the rain started pouring. Torrential rain. And it didn't stop! Happily, Stella is wonderful company for the girls and had them singing Dora tunes all the way, meaning a most cheerful walk nonetheless, even through mud mud mud. THey were particularly cute with huge leaves as umbrellash

Then, ten minutes from the end of our hour long walk, just as we arrived within earshot of the deafening noise of the waterfall, there was the sign:

STRICTEMENT INTERDIT

So what do you do? Well, everyone else apparently ignored it and went on down all the same! But they didn't have a 10, 5, 3 and 1 year old with them, and they did tell us that whilst you could see the waterfall, you couldn't bathe. So much to everyone's disappointment, we turned back. Honestly, it has been closed since Jan - would it have been too much trouble to have put a sign up at the start of the walk??!!

Instead we headed to the Plage de Roseau, a black sand one for the second week in a row. The kids had a wonderful time stuffing mud in their swimsuits to give themselves extra body parts (!) but Bertie proclaimed that we would return to the golden shores of Grande Terre next week!

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