It is nice to have a car, even if it is an acid green Nissan. The day is looking more promising today, although the morning is still wet, it is not the incessant downpour we experienced yesterday. Ian is bent on visiting the other two working distilleries on Marie Galante and I am glad he did although it may be a bit early for tasting. The Distillery Poisson is the smallest ever. We are left wandering around the tiny plant on our own, we have an understanding of the workings now, so we can follow the process. I particularly like the bottling station and the wooden barrel storage, I do like my rum old and oaky. Taste of the smell of the cane. We race to the Distillerie Bielle, it is Saturday and it is only open in the morning. This is probably the biggest on the island. It is in a nice setting and has an open museum part with old machinery in a garden at the back. Not as much access to the vital parts as in the Poisson distillery but it is a different feel to it. And the rum I really tasty! At the front there is a row of tiny shops, selling potteries and other stuff as well as a few food stall selling accras and deep fried banana amongst other things…Delicious.
The weather is definitely improved by mid-morning so we head to the north of the island to the start of the cliffs walks. A bit tricky to find, but we are soon on the right path and glad we did not do it yesterday. The first incline is steep and a bit slippery but the views out to sea are fantastic. Rounded cliffs with vegetation on the top, waves crashing at the bottom. The trail soon takes us up in the costal forest, up and down hills. Pastures on the flat tops are for young cows and calves, very little trees, only low bushes but plenty of birds, butterflies and buzzing insects, even a stoat like creature. No plantation nor habitations here, this is truly the wilder side of the island. Back in more mature woods of fortress and other trees, the path follows a dry river bed which we cross many times, jumping from rock to rock. Actually these rocks look lethal, jagged and sharp, maybe we take it slow. Plenty of land crabs around too, rolling around. It even smell nice, hot hearth and flowers. The river eventually ends up at the bottom of a cliff in Piton Bay where the sea crashes on the rocks. Sadly quit a lot of rubbish has been washed onto the beach, sad. We can only do half of the walk, as we need to retrace our steps to get back to the car. Still a nice five hours walk, diverse and very enjoyable.
We’ll have a day off tomorrow and get ready for sea. Planning to make our way back down to Dominica and Martinique in the next few days.