The 2nd night at anchor in Grand Bourg is worse than the first. We both got woken up during the night and the wind and swell is up when we get up. It starts raining too. The forecast is not inspiring confidence and we do feel exposed here. We would not be comfortable leaving Mr X all day here to carry on exploring the island. So back we go to St Louis, a bit more sheltered from the wind with no swell in a large roomy bay. The weather is truly awful with heavy rain. It is a real shame as we were looking forward to do a lot of walking. Being back in St Louis has made reaching these hikes difficult, most of them are on the east coast of the island. There is little reliable public transport so we have to rent a car if we want to see and do stuff.
The first day with the car is a wash out, pouring rain prevents us from going near a trail, so we opt to chase the windmills. There are hundreds of them scattered in the landscape and we make a good attempts at seeing them all. Interestingly, some of these are extremely well preserved whilst others are just rubble taken over by the vegetation. Some of them have been incorporated as garden features, others throne in perfect desolation on top of windy hills. Does make for nice atmospheric pictures tough, and Ian is thrilled to have to stop every five minutes at short notice with traffic behind him! The map we have is a little basic, we end up on very small and dented roads, bit hairy in places. The rain is so heavy that we seek shelter in the first rum factory we come across. The Bellevue rum factory is perched on top of a hill, the business end is functional looking but it still has its windmill and remains of the old stone plant. It is small but extremely busy. Trucks after trucks piled with cane are unloading their cargo in the loading bay. The factory is full of steam and noises, cane juices boiling away in big vats. The tall columns of copper where the distillation process takes place gleams in the half gloom of the overcast day. The tasting shop is busy, I guess the beaches are out of bound so everyone is doing the round of the distilleries. A quick stop for lunch at the Gueule du Grand Gouffre between two downpours.
The day brightens up in late afternoon. We push towards Capesterre. Sleeping is the only word to describe it in the middle of a Friday afternoon. Again the weather probably does not help. Nice beach though even in the rain. On our way back to St Louis, we stop at the ruins of the “Habitation Roussel Trianon”. Again some fairly well preserved remains of the old sugar cane factory and windmill. The brick stables have been restored but nothing is left of the master’s house which has been razed to the ground apart from the foundation and staircases to the house. The grounds are nice with plenty of colours from flowers. The pond in front of the stable affords views on the sugar fields. We wander around in the late afternoon sunlight, listening to the birds. A bird of prey has taken station in the tallest tree not far from the windmill. We noticed its piercing calls without really taking notice…well we should have done! I’d climbedthe stairs to the windmill platform when a whoosh of wings flew past my face and landed on the tree on the other side, screeching all the way. And back again it came, this time its talons actually making contact with my scalp. And again, and again… I took shelter inside the windmill which made it even more agitated and was joined by its partner. We have now two birds playing the sweeping game in turn. Standing inside the windmill I finally understood the birds’ frenzy, I could faintly hear other bird calls obviously some young in the nest on top of the tower. Could not see the nest though but as soon as I was at a safe distance, i.e. out of the tower, the sweeping and screeching stopped. I now know how Tippy Heddren felt filming the Birds!