Guadeloupe. The good, bad, & ugly.

It's that time again. We just picked up our guests and we will be on the move again heading Dominica. We have been in Guadeloupe for the past 3 weeks. While we have had some good times I will share some of the bad ones too. First after 2 nights of being here we had our first burglar. A very intoxicated gentleman walked on the boat around 5 a.m. and proceeded to find one door unlocked (shame it was the one night a door was unlocked but it happens). He managed to steal some things in the pilot house including three binoculars, an antique sextant, keyboard and mouse, laptop and almost a pair of shoes but was to drunk to remember where he placed them. All of this was viewable from our video cameras but even with the help of the police and some CSI work we weren't able to find the culprit. Another time at the beach Bethany had a pair of flip flops stolen. Our chef had her bag stolen with some money and her camera. Another night we had left our flip flops on the edge of the dock before entering the boat and a group of kids came by and kicked them in the water just for kicks! The French are not to kind and seem to hold a grudge. If you don't speak French they feel they shouldn't have to try and communicate with you. After all, language is a choice and we choose not to speak French, which is their attitude. Apart from all the bad we have managed to make the best of it. Guadeloupe has an active volcano (on Basse Terre one of the two conjoined islands) which is a good hour 45 min hike one way. Once at the top it's pretty cloudy and not much of a view but there are plenty of good shots along the way. After the hike there is a hot spring bath which is awesome after a long hike. On valentines day we had a great scuba dive. We drove to Basse Terre early that morning and got set up. It was a nice little reef dive about 60 feet deep. We saw a shark, a huge green moray eel and some other interesting stuff. It wasn't the best dive to date but was fun and worth the trip. On the way back we couldn't resist having a rum tour of an old rum disterlary. We snuck in a few kiteboarding trips as well. The wind was cranking 4 days in a row so we loaded up the cars, cut work short and drove 15 mins to Les Salines Beach. It was a perfect calm body of water with a reef break 600 yards out, ideal for catching some waves. We opted for the calm water to focus on our board and kite skills. Guadeloupe also features some pretty amazing rainforests and 3 massive waterfalls. So far we seen two and had much exploring and driving through the forests. It was a little touchy at times driving a tiny manual up some really steep inclines. Bethany can contest to that and would probably admit I may have taken a few years off her life. All in all we made the most out of a not so good situation. With all the activities, surf, and beaches we made it fun. As a tourist it ranks a 5 out of 10. As a yachtie it's a 3.