A fisherman’s village
Somewhere on the North-western coast of Martinique there is a tiny fisherman’s village. We went for a day trip with a rented car and stopped her, because it was too cute not to.
Martinique is an island of the Lesser Antilles with typical caribbean cuisine (so very good) that includes some French variations, like crepes and brasseries.
It exports bananas, pineapple and rum. And is quite windy, most of the time.
Martinique’s population descends from sugar plantation slaves, but now the people living on the island have a higher standard of life than most other Caribbean isles.
It also has a huge dormant volcano, Mt Pelée, that watches over the whole island from the northern-most tip. It hasn’t erupted since 1902 and is long overdue.
Its unofficial, historical flag, depicting a white rearing snake on a blue background, has no legal status on the island. The snake should be in the shape of an “L” (for Lucia), and dates back to 1766, when the island was colonised by the French.
Martinique is technically French, being an overseas department of this European country. Hence, no visa is needed and the euro is accepted.
It was once called Jouanacaëra, “Iguana island” in creole. We went to see the iguanas (see this post), that are very rare and surprisingly beautiful!
The best thing you can do in Martinique is rent a car and drive far, far away from your hotel. You’ll see the real Martinique that way.
Together with Nicole Duplaix, Chair of the IUCN-SSC Otter Specialist Group , I wrote a book all about otters and how wonderful they are. Check it out We Love Otters
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