Marie Galante

After our stay at Ilet du Gosier We head off to Marie Gallante to explore the wonderful agricultural island. Our first trip is to walk to one of the islands many distilleries called Poisson, where they make Pere Labat rhum. 

The syrup xtraction

The raw alcohol being measured

The malt

The boiler house

Bottling

Choosing a souveni

We were pleased we made the trip, as they were cutting cane along the road side and the cane was in full production. 

Cutting Cane

Refreshments after a long walk - but no internet!

After this we decide to hire a scooter to see more of the island. We have a small 125cc bike and set off around the island. First stop is Anse Canot to see the lovely beach, then Gueuk Grand Gouffre to see the natural stone arch on the coast, then on to Caye Plate to see the tall rock cliffs. 

Anse Canot beach

Gueuk Grand Gouffre

Caye Plate

and looking north

Our transport for the day

Well that's a lot of coast so we decide on a bit of inland viewing, stopping first at Punch Lake, so named after a slave revolt that finished with the plantation being burn down, then the rhum being emptied into the lake with the sugar syrup to make a great 'punch'. We followed this stopping at the site of an old windmill ruin at L'Etang Noir before going on to two distilleries. 

The punch pond

L,Etang Noir

The first distillery was Bellevue and it was in full production with on site bottling running as well.

Belleview windmill

The steering pole at the back

The malt is being fermented

Lots of tanks to make lots of rhum

The second distillery was Bielle which was also running but looked a little like it suffered a recent file due to a black smoke residue on a lot of the buildings and machinery. 

The old machinery at Bielle

The modern distillation equipment

The old boiler burning cane residue

Arnot and Lore with Devin tasting the finished product

We stopped for lunch and the small seaside village of Capesterre and had some lovely local dishes. Fortunately for us the heavens open while we were at lunch and it rained hard for nearly 30 minutes. Thankfully we were able to avoid it all.

Our first stop after lunch was the museum at Habitation Murat which also has extensive ruins of an old sugar plantation.

Murat

Another windmill ruin

Plantation House

We then ventured on to the main town of Grand Bourg where the main harbor and ferry terminal is. It's a quaint village so we stopped and enjoyed ice cream overlooking the harbor. 

Our last stop was the ruins of an old sugar plantation outside of Grand Bourg called Roussel.

The retention pond 

The only roofed building on the site

The old sugar factory

We spent another day chilling on Moosetracks and swimming off the beach. Then we raised anchor and headed for the marine park at Pigeon Island for a quick stop for groceries and on to Deshaies for customs to check out for Antigua. 

In the harbor at Deshaies we run into s/v Secret Smile, Gavin and Mandy and s/v Chimayo, Bob and Debbie and invite them over for cocktails before we all depart for points north and south.  

Next stop Antigua for classics.