Getting Out There
In keeping with my promise to be more adventurous, I have gotten out a bit to some new places on the island the last couple of days and had some very Caribbean experiences.
After finishing all my classes on Friday, I sort of took the night off, watched some movies on TV and went to bed
early. Saturday morning I was excited because I was going to a new beach, Cap Chevalier, and going to a birthday party on the beach that night.
I picked up Ceri and we set off to the southeastern part of the island. Cap Chevalier is a beautiful string of beaches protected by coral reefs. The only thing that makes the swimming not very enjoyable is the amount of seaweed there is in the water. I went off and hiked part of the 17 mile trail that goes up the southeastern coast of Martinique. It has beautiful views but also lots of thistles so I was getting scraped up pretty good. I turned around after a few miles and headed back to the beach. Ceri was relaxing in the late afternoon sun and we were waiting around for the people to get there so the part could begin.
Around 5:30, people did begin to arrive and we found that we were setting up camp on a small isle just off the main coast. We had to take a boat to get there. I didn’t want to stay the night, I sort of panicked and wondered if I should go if I might not be able to get back if I wanted to. I talked to the boat driver and he said it would not be a problem to get back because he had to pick up some other people later anyway. So in groups of 10, we piled into the boat and motored across the turquoise water to the island party.
There was a tarp set up and underneath it wer
e a few tables covered with food, salad, chips, and drinks of all kinds, but mostly rum and fruit juice. Soon after we arrived Zouk music was blaring and people started dancing. It was dark already and we started the bonfire so soon the smell of chicken roasting and wood burning filled the air. Even though it was a very small place where everyone was gathered, it was easy to get away from the crows and walk out to the little cove and look at the stars. A few of us gathered out there for a while to see how many constellations we could pick out from the trillions it seemed like we could see.
I had a lot of fun. There was a great mix of French, Martiniquais, international university kids and assistants there and it made for a lot of fun and good conversation. I was glad to be able to leave and not have to spend the night there. The amount of rum mixed with a whole bunch of people and not a lot of sleeping space was going to make for interesting late hours. I decided I preferred to skip and and went home around 12:30. I was really happy with the decision because I went and had a great time, but didn’t have to stay for longer than I wanted. Sunday I took it easy, read a lot, enjoyed a quiet day in preparation for Monday, yesterday, the day I planned to climb Mt. Pelée.
Mount Pelée is the volcano that completely wiped out the town of St. Pierre in the north of Martinique in May of 1908. It has been dormant since then but it remains a place of seismological study and interest. It is kind of a must-do for the assistants here, and since David Stevens, who works at the IUFM doesn’t work on Mondays or Tuesdays either, he and I decided to make the most of one of our days off and climb the mountain.
I picked him up around 7:30 and we headed off to Morne Rouge without much traffic at all. You’re supposed to start early because if you don’t it gets very hot. The mountain was completely shrouded in clouds when we got there and we could barely even see what we were climbing. We started up the steps that lead away from the parking lot and for the first time in my stay on Martinique I was actually cold. There was no sun and there was a very strong wind that was blowing the damp, cool air at me. We headed up into the clouds.
We reached the second base without in under an hour without hardly any trouble at all. The steps were steep and you have to scramble up some rock, but nothing too difficult. We wanted to climb the highest peak, naturally, and so we headed for base #3 and “Le Chinois” which is the summit of Mt. Pelée. It was a struggle from there on. In between Base 2 and 3 you descend and ascend steeply 3 times. There are a number of valleys you climb into and then out of before you reach the base of the summit itself. We had to literally climb rocks to get up, it wasn’t like walking a trail, it was scrambling and looking for footholds and handholds and hoisting yourself up. I was freaked out because I had never really done anything like that before and certain death awaited me if I fell. I kept telling myself that people do this every day and they don’t die, so you can too. David went along quickly but I was too nervous and I went very slowly.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, we got to a sign that pointed into the mist that said “Le Chinois”. We could barely see anything outside of a 40 foot radius of us, but every once in a while, the clouds would open for about 20 seconds and we would have a glimpse of what we were headed towards. When we arrived at the sign for the summit, we looked up and for a split second the clouds allowed us a peak at the big peak in front of us. It was the last part until we reached the top. I was really tired and kind of scared of more climbing but I knew I would never be back and I knew that I had to do it. So I pressed on. David went first and picked his way pretty easily to the top. I went very slowly. We finally got to the top and it felt like the wind was going to blow us off. We still had very little visibility except for those rare windows when the wind would make a break in the clouds and from there we could see how high up we were. We walked a little ways to a small flat part around the crater and then saw the last few boulders that lead to the actual summit. We hoisted ourselves up and looked over the edge into a complete void of grayness. I don’t know if it would have been scarier to actually see how high up we were at the summit, but I do know that looking out into the mist and having it hide the actual surroundings from us was a little freaky.
After spending a little bit of time resting and wondering what it would look like if there weren’t any clouds, we started the climb back down. I knew that the hard part would be getting back to base 2 and I knew I could at least get there so I wasn’t too worried. It was just hard climbing down and then up and then down again. It had cleared up a lot more when we got to base 2 and we had some great views from there. We could see both coasts and the quiet little towns
bordering them. The water was very blue contrasted against the thick, lush, and intensely green vegetation that surrounded us on the mountain. Part of what made the climb hard was that the rocks were slippery from moss or algae which had formed on it, so you had to be very careful with your footing.
But as I was coming down from base 2, the clouds had disappeared and we had a clear view of what we had gone up into early that morning. It was nice to finally see it and see how high we had really gone. I felt good about having done it, even though my legs had already started to feel stiff. I am glad I don’t work on Tuesdays because I knew that I would be sore, sore, sore when I woke up the next day.
We walked around the car parking area for a bit, stretching, drinking water, shaking out our exhausted limbs, and thinking about what we had just done. We had started up at around 8:30 and we got back around 2pm. We had reached the summit before noon. It felt really good to have said we were going to go out and do something, and then actually to have done it. The pictures, which I have partially included here, are indicative of the mist that surrounded us. But you can tell the ones that I took near the end when the clouds had burned off with the afternoon sun.
David and I stopped
at one of the northern beaches on the way back to take a picture of the mountain we had just climbed from afar. It was nice to stick my filthy, tired feet in the cool ocean. We snapped our photos, stopped for some snacks, then I dropped him off and went home after picking up some groceries. I took a really long, hot shower and tried to ease the muscles back into regular. I can move pretty well today although stairs are a painful exercise.
This Monday night I am supposed to go see the “legendary” Aswad in concert. I don’t really know anything about them other than all the English folk tell me they remember fondly the songs that they remember from years and years ago from Aswad’s repertoire. So we will see. I wanted to go to a reggae concert while I was here anyway. We’ll see how it goes.
Until next time.
After finishing all my classes on Friday, I sort of took the night off, watched some movies on TV and went to bed
early. Saturday morning I was excited because I was going to a new beach, Cap Chevalier, and going to a birthday party on the beach that night. I picked up Ceri and we set off to the southeastern part of the island. Cap Chevalier is a beautiful string of beaches protected by coral reefs. The only thing that makes the swimming not very enjoyable is the amount of seaweed there is in the water. I went off and hiked part of the 17 mile trail that goes up the southeastern coast of Martinique. It has beautiful views but also lots of thistles so I was getting scraped up pretty good. I turned around after a few miles and headed back to the beach. Ceri was relaxing in the late afternoon sun and we were waiting around for the people to get there so the part could begin.
Around 5:30, people did begin to arrive and we found that we were setting up camp on a small isle just off the main coast. We had to take a boat to get there. I didn’t want to stay the night, I sort of panicked and wondered if I should go if I might not be able to get back if I wanted to. I talked to the boat driver and he said it would not be a problem to get back because he had to pick up some other people later anyway. So in groups of 10, we piled into the boat and motored across the turquoise water to the island party.
There was a tarp set up and underneath it wer
e a few tables covered with food, salad, chips, and drinks of all kinds, but mostly rum and fruit juice. Soon after we arrived Zouk music was blaring and people started dancing. It was dark already and we started the bonfire so soon the smell of chicken roasting and wood burning filled the air. Even though it was a very small place where everyone was gathered, it was easy to get away from the crows and walk out to the little cove and look at the stars. A few of us gathered out there for a while to see how many constellations we could pick out from the trillions it seemed like we could see. I had a lot of fun. There was a great mix of French, Martiniquais, international university kids and assistants there and it made for a lot of fun and good conversation. I was glad to be able to leave and not have to spend the night there. The amount of rum mixed with a whole bunch of people and not a lot of sleeping space was going to make for interesting late hours. I decided I preferred to skip and and went home around 12:30. I was really happy with the decision because I went and had a great time, but didn’t have to stay for longer than I wanted. Sunday I took it easy, read a lot, enjoyed a quiet day in preparation for Monday, yesterday, the day I planned to climb Mt. Pelée.
Mount Pelée is the volcano that completely wiped out the town of St. Pierre in the north of Martinique in May of 1908. It has been dormant since then but it remains a place of seismological study and interest. It is kind of a must-do for the assistants here, and since David Stevens, who works at the IUFM doesn’t work on Mondays or Tuesdays either, he and I decided to make the most of one of our days off and climb the mountain.
I picked him up around 7:30 and we headed off to Morne Rouge without much traffic at all. You’re supposed to start early because if you don’t it gets very hot. The mountain was completely shrouded in clouds when we got there and we could barely even see what we were climbing. We started up the steps that lead away from the parking lot and for the first time in my stay on Martinique I was actually cold. There was no sun and there was a very strong wind that was blowing the damp, cool air at me. We headed up into the clouds.
We reached the second base without in under an hour without hardly any trouble at all. The steps were steep and you have to scramble up some rock, but nothing too difficult. We wanted to climb the highest peak, naturally, and so we headed for base #3 and “Le Chinois” which is the summit of Mt. Pelée. It was a struggle from there on. In between Base 2 and 3 you descend and ascend steeply 3 times. There are a number of valleys you climb into and then out of before you reach the base of the summit itself. We had to literally climb rocks to get up, it wasn’t like walking a trail, it was scrambling and looking for footholds and handholds and hoisting yourself up. I was freaked out because I had never really done anything like that before and certain death awaited me if I fell. I kept telling myself that people do this every day and they don’t die, so you can too. David went along quickly but I was too nervous and I went very slowly.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, we got to a sign that pointed into the mist that said “Le Chinois”. We could barely see anything outside of a 40 foot radius of us, but every once in a while, the clouds would open for about 20 seconds and we would have a glimpse of what we were headed towards. When we arrived at the sign for the summit, we looked up and for a split second the clouds allowed us a peak at the big peak in front of us. It was the last part until we reached the top. I was really tired and kind of scared of more climbing but I knew I would never be back and I knew that I had to do it. So I pressed on. David went first and picked his way pretty easily to the top. I went very slowly. We finally got to the top and it felt like the wind was going to blow us off. We still had very little visibility except for those rare windows when the wind would make a break in the clouds and from there we could see how high up we were. We walked a little ways to a small flat part around the crater and then saw the last few boulders that lead to the actual summit. We hoisted ourselves up and looked over the edge into a complete void of grayness. I don’t know if it would have been scarier to actually see how high up we were at the summit, but I do know that looking out into the mist and having it hide the actual surroundings from us was a little freaky.
After spending a little bit of time resting and wondering what it would look like if there weren’t any clouds, we started the climb back down. I knew that the hard part would be getting back to base 2 and I knew I could at least get there so I wasn’t too worried. It was just hard climbing down and then up and then down again. It had cleared up a lot more when we got to base 2 and we had some great views from there. We could see both coasts and the quiet little towns
bordering them. The water was very blue contrasted against the thick, lush, and intensely green vegetation that surrounded us on the mountain. Part of what made the climb hard was that the rocks were slippery from moss or algae which had formed on it, so you had to be very careful with your footing. But as I was coming down from base 2, the clouds had disappeared and we had a clear view of what we had gone up into early that morning. It was nice to finally see it and see how high we had really gone. I felt good about having done it, even though my legs had already started to feel stiff. I am glad I don’t work on Tuesdays because I knew that I would be sore, sore, sore when I woke up the next day.
We walked around the car parking area for a bit, stretching, drinking water, shaking out our exhausted limbs, and thinking about what we had just done. We had started up at around 8:30 and we got back around 2pm. We had reached the summit before noon. It felt really good to have said we were going to go out and do something, and then actually to have done it. The pictures, which I have partially included here, are indicative of the mist that surrounded us. But you can tell the ones that I took near the end when the clouds had burned off with the afternoon sun.
David and I stopped
at one of the northern beaches on the way back to take a picture of the mountain we had just climbed from afar. It was nice to stick my filthy, tired feet in the cool ocean. We snapped our photos, stopped for some snacks, then I dropped him off and went home after picking up some groceries. I took a really long, hot shower and tried to ease the muscles back into regular. I can move pretty well today although stairs are a painful exercise. This Monday night I am supposed to go see the “legendary” Aswad in concert. I don’t really know anything about them other than all the English folk tell me they remember fondly the songs that they remember from years and years ago from Aswad’s repertoire. So we will see. I wanted to go to a reggae concert while I was here anyway. We’ll see how it goes.
Until next time.
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