Subject: Log March 7, 2000 Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 19:16:01 -0500 From: W2LSI@cho.win-net.org To: rudys03@ibm.net We all decided to stay at the Marina at Pointe-A-Pitre for a couple of days at least so that Jim and Marilyn would have "real" shower facilities to get ready for their departure on Tuesday. We also rented a car so that we would be able to carry baggage without the threat of an unplanned swim or have the dinghy sink!! We called ahead to secure a spot in the Marina. The costs were about $.65/ft including unlimited water and electricity....one of the better deals so far. Except the power was 220v @ 50 cycles. ( We have 110v @ 60 cycles) Leave it to the French! We would dock bow in with no finger piers. We would need to climb over the bow rails and bow anchor to get on and off the boat....not too bad. Customs wasn't open and they would only be open for a few hours the next two days due to the holidays and Carnival. Would they ever let us into their country? The showers had nice stalls and unlimited COLD water. Needless to say, I am the only one who used them frequently. Faith opted for the showers on board with hot water. The toilets in the men's room had not been upgraded lately. While each was in a very nice clean secure stall they only consisted of a porcelain floor fitting over a drain with a place to put your feet. You can be sure few men do any reading during their daily constitutional. Not quite as expected, but not bad. We had lunch ashore and rented a car so that we could see how active Carnival was in town, see some high points of the island and still get Jim and Marilyn to their plane by 4:00 PM or so on Tuesday. The Carnival was not very exciting but we did have a great meal of French cheese, French bread, fruit, wine and other assorted drinks. Tuesday (March 7th), Customs was open! We all cleared in so Jim and Marilyn could clear out later that day. We never did catch Immigration so we still weren't legally in the country but we were getting closer. We had a French breakfast at a local patisserie and left for the chute de Carbet. The first of a series of 3 waterfalls along a path into the rain forest and up the side of the volcanic peak that created most of the island. We were told there was a pond at the bottom of the falls with clear water where we could swim and relax after our hike in. We thought we were told that the trip was 30 min. each way. After about 40 min. hiking uphill over wet muddy ground, over roots, rocks, pallets, logs, etc., we asked a person returning where the falls were. He told us it was another 30 minutes and more difficult. If we continued we would not be able to see the rest of the island or the volcano.....we turned around. It was great exercise, but who needs that much exercise? We drove to Basse Terre, had lunch and started up the mountain. It was almost 5000 ft. and many of the turns were almost 90 degrees!! Marilyn wanted to go back to the boat to get her medicine for motion sickness. It was quite a drive. The Renault Clio really strained to get the four of us and the luggage to the top of the volcano, but we made it. It was a beautiful trip. There were many steam vents near the peak. The colors of various minerals were evident. The peak was not shrouded in clouds so we had magnificent views and it was cool over 4000 ft. Because of time we couldn't climb to the peak....actually, we could hardly move from the earlier hike to nowhere! We walked around and took a few pictures. Maybe by summer we'll be able to get some pictures onto the Web Site. From there we continued around the island heading back to the airport. We considered staying for a while to see the start of the largest and most elaborate Carnival parade that was scheduled for 3:00 PM, but decided the risk was too high. Maybe we could catch the end of the parade in Pointe-A-Pitre! We said good bye to Jim and Marilyn after a great week. They were going back to Antigua to relax for a day, maybe do a dive and get ready to return to the real world. We returned to the Marina and asked Jon and Shawn of Sasse Too if they would like to go with us to see the end of the parade...it was now after 5:00 PM and the parade was scheduled to start at 3:00 PM. We drove into town and couldn't find a place to park. We eventually parked in the middle of a wide street with many other cars straddling the center line. It looked like everybody was still waiting for the parade...how could that be? Well, 3:00 o'clock island time is not very specific. The parade actually started close to 6:00 o'clock. We didn't miss a thing! It was a wonderful experience. We are not sure how the groups were organized, but they were all large groups with piles of energy! The group's costumes were all hand made with a central theme, but each was unique. Each group started with a banner or flag that said who they were. These were usually carried by young men and women that played to the crowd and set the stage for the balance of the group. Next came the kids, some as young as 3! They would dance and sing just like their parents and older siblings. Next came the teenage girls and progressively older women. They danced and gyrated to the rhythms created by the teenage boys and men. Unlike most of the other islands there were no steel drums. Instead there were other kinds of drums.... tomtoms, snare drums, Clorox bottles, cow bells, garbage cans, and almost anything else that would allow the user to keep a rhythm. The were also many castanets and gourds filled with beans that helped create the excitement of the beat! There were various kinds of brass instruments to carry a tune as well as sea shells and other implements to aid the overall effect. It was really exciting! The sound was deafening, but we loved it! You couldn't sit still, you had to move! The beat was fast and contagious. The energy was incredible and they kept going for hours! There were also what seemed like rogue groups that followed their own route, weaving in and out of the normal parade, but with equal energy and excitement. These groups were generally a little smaller, but they seemed to have no less pride in their statement! The parade seemed very unorganized from what we were used to, but was absolutely normal for Guadeloupe. The groups would stop at various places to do special routines and just have fun. It seemed each group had a leader that would run back and forth to keep everybody on the same song, watch that they didn't crowd the group in front, maintain a level of safety while rounding corners with large holes, getting around crowds or things in the road. Another unusual sight was bull whips. If you were a teenage boy you had to have one. Those that didn't have them clearly wanted one. Some of the groups had 15 to 20 teenagers with these whips leading the group. The snaps were loud and frequent. There was always competition amongst the teenagers with the younger boys trying to snap their whips as loud and hard as the bigger and stronger boys. I was absolutely amazed that nobody was injured or hurt by the frequent use of these whips. It seemed as though any open space had one or several young men testing their prowess with a whip. We are not sure if this is something new or something that has been carried down from long ago, but it certainly was unusual and unexpected. Some of these groups marched for over 4 hours! They completed the normal route and continued on their own still frequently stopping with special routines, songs, dances and just to have fun. Everybody was involved and everybody had fun! What an experience!