We’ve been a bit unadventurous recently, so today we decided to make up for it and spend a whole day out and about. I was craving a decent swim so I we checked out our map and headed for the nearest beach, Petite Anse Macabou. We headed South for a few kilometres until we saw a sign post for Macabou, and headed off down a narrow, pot holed track. Eventually we came to a car park set amongst palm trees. There was a school bus parked up. A party of school children were taking turns to ride around the car park – on horse back. Looked a lot more fun than any school trip I went on!

Two for one

We took a dirt track, following the sound of waves breaking until the trees parted to reveal a long, curved, white sand beach.  A small party of cyclists were taking a dip at one end of the beach, and at the other, a couple of men were fishing. That was it! No icecream sellers, no cafes – just a fringe of trees and heaps of seaweed.

We walked to the Northern tip of the beach, and to the headland beyond. There were a few posh holiday homes up here, but they all looked empty. On the horizon, we could see the kitesurfers at Vauclin dipping and diving. Then we turned round, took off our shoes and walked the entire length of the beach. At the far end, we came to a footpath which rose up onto a wooded headland and then dipped down again. We found ourselves on a second beach, even more deserted than the first one. In fact, I couldn’t see anyone at all. This was Grande Anse Macabou. I considered swimming, but the breakers looked bigger than on Petite Macabou, and the lack of people made me nervous.,so we doubled back and swam on Petite Mac. Gorgeous!

Beside the sea

The original plan had been to get some lunch on the beach, but since there were no cafes or restaurants, that plan was scratched. Instead we decided to go and visit a rum producer we had spotted on the road just past Marin. Finding ourselves stuck in a traffic jam on the edge of Marin, we gave up and headed down to the harbour, in search of lunch. I’d spotted a nice looking restaurant called Zanzibar on a previous trip. We had a quick look at the menu – the prices were a bit steep but the food sounded really good –  time to treat ourselves.

Fortunately, the my ‘just off the beach’ style (sandy feet, hair like a birdsnest) didn’t seem to raise eyebrows in Zanzibar – there was a super casual ‘vibe’, with the waitress in shorts and T-shirt. The situation was fantastic. Once up on the first floor terrace, you couldn’t see the road at all, just the harbour. The wind was blowing in off the sea, keeping us deliciously cool. The food was excellent, and imaginatively done with lots of veggies which was a relief as the range of vegetables we’ve been eating has been quite limited. Vegetables don’t feature much on most restaurant menus and I haven’t dared to tackle the various starchy vegs like yams and plantain at home, although I did make a mean veg curry the other night with something called a Boniato (a kind of white fleshed sweet potato).

A right rum do

After eating our fill, we staggered up to look at the local church, and then hit the road again. Next stop the Trois Rivieres Rum plantation.

We’d seen the plantation from the road, and were intrigued by the windmill and rusty remains of an old steam engine. Clearly, the place had been there for quite a few years. However, on arrival, there was no obvious sign of rum being produced on site – a couple of huge production plants were clearly no longer in use. So we wandered up to the shop to taste a few rums. The six year old oak aged rum agricole was something else, and reminded me of Thatcher’s oak aged cider brandy. Definitely too good to mix with coke!

Dancing on the sand

The sun was beating down and we were both a bit hot and bothered, so we left without purchasing rum and headed for the nearby beach of Anse Figuier. We’ve been there before, when we visited the Ecomusee, but we didn’t have our swimming stuff with us, so we lost no time in jumping in. The water was beautiful, warm and clear, with soft sand underfoot.

It was 4.30 pm and the beach was buzzing with families enjoying a bit of after school recreation. A man in day-glo lycra placed a large speaker at one end of the beach, faced out to sea and began to dance on the sand. I swam over to take a look (did I mention the man in lycra was quite fit?) and found myself drawn into a huge ‘in the water’ dance class. David swam off as fast as he could, a look of horror on his face, but I thought it was brilliant! Dancing in the sea with the sun on your back and sand beneath your feet.  A truly joyous Caribbean moment!