Eating breakfast by dad and Sophy's bungalow
We did not sleep well because Karl got sick and threw up half a dozen times. Fortunately he was good enough about it that he did it in the bathroom instead of on the bed. By morning, Karl was sleeping but we were a bit tired. Still felt the urge to get up by 6:30 and just enjoy the nice morning. Bought some bread from the van. Picked up 10 bags of Roche de Coco bread that I had ordered from him the day before.
Eating breakfast by dad and Sophy's bungalow
This is our last full day. I was in a bit of a quandary with today's agenda. I really wanted to get up the trail to the volcano with Naveed but I also wanted to go to the beach. The beach won out and we decided to head over to Ilet de Gosier, with Thierry, Brigitte, my dad and Sophy.
Ilet de Gosier
We ate breakfast at dad and Sophy's bungalow. The drive to Gosier is not long. We parked down near the beach of Gosier and walked with our things over to a little pier on the mainland side, facing the island. We waited for a fisherman to come over to offer a ride; there are no public or scheduled boats to Ilet de Gosier. This year was a tad more expensive than this year, but not too bad. It cost 10FR for kids and 15FR for adults (two way). In other words: 50FR ($7) for our family.
Erik and Gaetan posing on Ilet de Gosier
The island is not big and has a little restaurant on it and small picnic tables in the shade. It looks as if the restaurant is more of a converted fishing shed. But the tables must be maintained by the town of Gosier. We put our cooler in the shade and I sat down to read a book (The Last Dive) while the others headed over to the beach. After lunch by the table I wanted to come down to the beach too. The waters around the island are very shallow (1m/3ft or less) and snorkeling is fun and warm but there are less things to see than, for example, St Francois. Weather was sunny so I cannot complain. Erik and Gaetan played in the water near the shore. Read a book on the beach for a while, but the sun is very strong here. Karl slept most of the day in the shade under a towel. But he did want to go up with Lilly to the light house on the island. Isabella walked around and found chickens by the light house and then stayed near the shallow areas of the water and looked for creeps. She burned her back (as usual). I bought three large shells (for the ridiculously low price of 20FR each). They were "lambi" shells and very beautiful, but heavy.
Lilly, Gaetan, Isabella and Erik by the shore of Ilet de
Gosier
A around 3 o'clock we reached the "turning point". That is the time when you know things are starting to unravel for the trip home. It is the beginning of the end. One last dip in the warm and shallow waters.
Lilly taking one last dip in the warm waters before
packing.
We packed our things and got ready to leave the island. The kids jumped into the water by the dock. It was clear, shallow and warm water. They had a lot of fun. The boat ride back to mainland takes less than 5 minutes.
Light house on Ilet de Gosier
We stopped at Continent on our way home, with Thierry and Brigitte, while Isabella and Morgane rode home to the bungalows with dad and Sophy. There are so many nice things in the large store. We bought plenty of food for this evening's last dinner on Guadeloupe. Thierry took care of most of it. Bought other goodies to take home, such as chocolate bars with 85% cocoa, mint syrup, biscuits, some clothes, etc. When it came time to go through the cash registers it took a long time for us to get through. The guy could not swipe my US VISA card through. In the end, with my goods in the cart past his counter, he asked me to walk over to the central cash register and get it done there instead. That took a while because the lady behind the glass took one phone call per sentence I completed. Frustrating at best. But we got through.
Karl sleeping under a cover in the shade
When we came home we started to pack our things. The plan was to eat dinner by the communal bungalow around 8 o'clock. I was not ready by then and asked for a 20 minute extension. We had so much stuff to pack and I wanted to get a head start. I also noticed that one of the stray dogs had been in the bungalow and had eaten two of the 10 bags of Roche the Coco I bought earlier. I can understand why Jean-Jacques is very upset with the dogs! By 8:30 I was ready to relax. We ate plenty of good things, including Fish soup, Sauterne and Fois Gras. Dad brought over two bottles of Champagne. Before I got to desert I had to ask to be excused because I was so tired; two nights of less than ideal sleep was taking its toll. Within minutes I passed out in bed, exhausted. Lilly stayed with the others at the dinner table.
Dad waiting for chilled Sauterne and Fois Gras