Martinique 🇲🇶

And there you have it, the end of the maritime adventure (for now) for Garance and myself, the narrator of this story. What are the plans for the future? I’m not quite sure. How about heading to South America? Or maybe I’ll stay a bit longer on the island, taking the time to discover my first Caribbean island? Let’s do that!

With Garance, we rent a car and decide to head towards the North-East of the island. We rent 2 beds in a youth hostel that turns out to be quite difficult to access. Upon arrival, Kenzo warmly welcomes us! Sandwiches, rum, after our adventures to get here, it’s a nice change! The next day we need to go to the airport to return the rental car and pick up a new one (don’t ask me to explain, it’s just a hassle with cars). A hassle that will take us time and a lot of energy! We take the opportunity to go for a stroll in Fort de France, the capital of Martinique. In my personal opinion, it’s not that great. There is much better to see on this island. Anyway, we take our new rental car and head south to meet up with the crew that is leaving the next day. After GPS troubles (Maps leads us through unpaved agricultural paths that are not suitable for our city car), we manage to arrive at the parking area, the starting point for the 30-minute walk to the spot. We pass through the mangroves, and after searching for our friends for a little while, we stumble upon their barbecue spot. Now we can celebrate! Aiden is at the barbecue, night beach volleyball (lit by headlamps), a dinner aperitif, and music! We all have a wonderful evening, and after giving a thank-you gift to Moogly, Garance and I head back to our hostel. The next day, we set off for the Caravelle Peninsula, to the East of the island. There is a very nice and not too long hike at the tip. We pass by the lighthouse, the beach, and the mangrove; a good mix! I will have the opportunity to return to the peninsula, but you’ll see that later.

The next morning, a phone call from Louis. Who is Louis, you may ask? He is the base manager of Dream Yacht, a boat charter company at the marina of Marin. I had left my CV with him a few days earlier before heading out to explore the island. So, Louis calls me to ask if I can come to work today (Saturday). We pack our bags, and Garance drops me off at the marina. I immediately start my day, and in the evening, after discussing with Louis, we decide to make a contract for me until the end of December. Great! I need to find a place to stay; that will be perfect. In the meantime, I’m staying with a colleague just a couple of steps from the marina. During my lunch break, I stroll along the marina docks, asking everyone I meet if they have a cabin for rent. My lucky star is still shining, as I get a phone number, and after a quick call, I move onto a boat the next day! I am now the happy tenant of « Julie, » an old wooden boat moored at the dock. Well, the boat has a few leaks (quite a lot actually), but I have a bed (actually 8 beds) and a kitchen. That’s all I needed!

But I still haven’t told you what I do for work. I am a deck cleaner on the boats of the company. The charter business is huge. To explain simply, the company owns boats and rents them out by the week. Either someone knows how to sail among the clients and they take the boat out, or they can rent a skipper for the duration of their rental. There is also the option to rent a cabin on a boat and go out with strangers! Anyway, it’s a big business. Especially since Dream Yacht is one of the world leaders. They have more than 800 boats around the world and bases scattered across the oceans. And in all this, I scrub the decks (exterior) of the boats before handing them over to clients. So, it’s simple. I get along with a few colleagues, the atmosphere is cool, but deep down it’s a bit boring as a job. And it tires me out a lot since I’m in the blazing sun all day scrubbing. Anyway, it’s still the beginning, so maybe it will get better (spoiler: no). A routine is forming; I get up, go to work, take a lunch break, and finish the day at 5:30 PM. At the same time, I welcome Cybellia, the daughter of the family who gave me the tip for the boat, on board. She wanted her thing independently, I had space, so I told her to come aboard. The shared living situation is going well; we cook nice little dishes. It should be noted that living in Martinique is expensive (hence the constraints). All groceries are very expensive, so we cook with what we can find. And just for your information, yes, even local products are pricey.

Life goes on, and I move every weekend. One weekend hiking in the hills of Marin and at the beach, another weekend at the Salines beach or in Sainte Anne. I take the opportunity to discover the island of flowers!

I am going back to the Caravelle peninsula for a weekend for an apéro that Thomas has organized. Who is Thomas, you may ask? He is someone I met through Couchsurfing (you’re starting to get familiar with it) who organizes an apéro evening with other Couchsurfers and neighbors. Apéro on Sunday evening, so I have my Saturday night and all of Sunday before heading out! At the Caravelle peninsula, they practice a particular sport: surfing. After a good night in a tent on the beach, I take my first surfing lesson with three other people, guided by our coach Flo. He explains the basics of surfing, the positions, spotting the waves, and off we go, we jump into the water! We have a great session in the waves and I even manage to stand up! I’ll need to come back to train, but I’m on the right track. We will have apéro with the other aspiring surfers and then I’ll join for the second apéro at Thomas’s. We have a wonderful evening with everyone, then I head back to my hotel (the beach) to spend the night. The next day is a chill day at the beach with Thomas and his parents, who are on vacation on the island.

During the month of October, I got in touch with Xavier: an Englishman who is currently in Guadeloupe and is considering coming to Martinique. I therefore offered to host him on the boat during his stay on the island of flowers. He accepted the invitation and here he is arriving for 2 weeks! Cybellia wants to improve her English and Xavier his French, so they will take the opportunity to help each other. We try to teach him words, expressions, or correct his sentences, but Xavier is a good student; he already has the basics of French. During the week, he moves around a lot, and when the weekend arrives, we take the chance to go to Fort de France by car for an evening, then the next day to Tartane, and the day after, we set off to climb Mont Pelé! The highest peak in Martinique, at 1400m altitude, it takes us a few hours in the rain and cold to reach the summit! From there, we had a great v… Oh no, we saw absolutely nothing. In the clouds from start to finish. We will return to Le Marin via the coastal road from the west, which passes by St Pierre in particular. (I will talk about St Pierre in the next post).

The two weeks fly by, and in the meantime, I handed in my resignation. The job was a bit boring, and I simply had more time and energy, so it’s goodbye 👋. Xavier is leaving for Guadeloupe, from where he will take a flight to Canada for a little while. I’m planning the rest of my stay on the island because I still have so much to learn and discover! I found a volunteer position at a youth hostel in Ste Luce, still in the south. I start on December 10! Since my resignation takes effect on November 30, this gives me 10 days to explore the island! But that’s for the next post 🙂

PS: Lots of new photos in the tab: Photo Gallery, Enjoy!