Northern Basse-Terre.
It was wind-down time. We were through with the treks to Grande-Terre, but still had some exploring to do in our own backyard.

There was a rum distillery, the Domaine de Séverin, in the nearby hills of Sainte-Rose. This area grows much of the sugar cane on Guadeloupe, and rum is one of the main by-products.

The grounds were pretty; rolling cane fields, gardens, and ponds where crawfish (les ouassous, on a french menu) are raised.

The mill had a large water-powered paddle-wheel that crushes the cane. Then it goes into large fermentation tanks — the sweet, rich aroma saturated the air, mmm!

As we got back to the boutique to buy some wares, two large tour busses emptied at the same moment. So we had to battle the crowds (the most people we'd seen in one place) shopping and sampling the rums. Also in the store was a tank with the largest crawfish I'd ever seen — and I'd seen some big ones. As kids, we'd catch them in neighborhood lakes and streams in Barrington, IL. We even found a pregnant crawfish in a puddle, full of tiny cute babies on her back. But I digress ...

We visited some inland neighborhoods, also in Ste. Rose, and even found new construction going on, on hillsides high enough that you could see out to the Caribbean.

More Deshaies.
Near town, on the south side of the harbor were some old cannons behind a low semicircular wall. They pointed out to sea, protecting the cove. This was the Batteries de la Pointe de Deshaies, built in the early 18th century. Now it's a beautiful high spot to look out to sea in one direction, and into the town harbor in the other.

Just a bit further south on the main road was le Jardin Botanique de Deshaies. And just as we arrived we experienced the first good tropical downpour of our trip. It seemed to be raining just over the gardens; they picked a good spot for the lush plants to thrive.

There were long paths through beautiful flowering plants, exotic trees, cacti, by a waterfall, and around bird habitats. Neatest and weirdest of all were the flamingos (les flamants!). Is there a more beautiful, surreal bird? We were mesmerized watching them strut, flap and ruffle about.

There were parts of the gardens that were still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Hugo in 1989.

At last it was time to sit on a beach — beautiful Grande Anse right across the way from our hotel. It was a hot, sunny afternoon, with a stiff breeze. There were some hefty waves, we watched them race, curl and then explode on the beach. Of course, there were clouds about, we were on Basse-Terre, most of which is rainforesty country. It all made for a beautiful setting of sky, beach and sea.

Not long after we got situated on the sand, it started to sprinkle. Oh this will blow over in a minute, right? It pretty much poured, right there in the middle of the sunny day, for several minutes. And contrary to popular belief, being in a bathing suit doesn't make it any easier to have rain pelting down on you. Towels, clothes, books and camera had to be protected, awkwardly and sandily. A mess, but whatever. We're on a beach in the Caribbean!

Next day we were off to the almost-extinct world of the car rental lots, then Le Raizet airport. We were there for quite awhile, and I got to appreciate the airport's fascinating linearity.

Guadeloupe had been a neat getaway to a different kind of place.

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