Martinique | Jason Around the World

Walk around Fort-de-France and Martinique-St Lucia-Trinidad on Air Caraïbes and LIAT

Airports, Flights, Guyanas Trip, hotels, Martinique, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago No Responses »

Sep 152012

…or, otherwise known as, the travel day where almost nothing went right, but in the end, most everything ended up ok.

But, I owe a bit of back story from the night before. Got to my hotel, which I’d chosen based on location (walkable to most major attractions in Fort-de-France for the morning) and on TripAdvisor reviews. I was staying at l’Hôtel Impératrice, which was a very French-feeling small hotel with maybe 20 or so rooms. I’d paid a little extra for the “chambre prestige” and was quite happy with it. Plenty of space to walk around, and what looked like a nice balcony.

It was still pretty early, and again, based on TripAdvisor reviews, I decided to hit Lili’s Beach Bar, which was located in the next town over called Schœlcher, about a 10-15 euro and 15 minute taxi ride. It was located in the Hôtel Batelière down on the beach, and was really more of a bar than a restaurant. I’d gotten there about 8, and there were still plenty of people eating so it was fine. By the time I finished at 9:30, however, it had gone full bar mode and as the reviews note was completely packed with people buying expensive drinks and “paying to be seen.” Food was decent – not stellar, but pretty good. Ended up having a conch pizza which was pretty tasty, along with a Planteur Rum Punch. They were around 10 Euros per drink, but decently tasty.

Back to the hotel and crashed so I could get up and walk around a bit in the morning. Got up in the morning, and went straight out onto my balcony to take in the view. Not bad!

Exploring French Guiana and flight to Martinique on Air Caraïbes

Airports, Flights, French Guiana, Guyanas Trip, Martinique 6 Responses »

Sep 142012

Woke up at oh-dark-thirty, aka 5:15 after not getting to bed the night before until after 11 thanks to the very long trip in the share taxi from Suriname. Considered going back to sleep since I knew my chances of making this trip work were small, but decided I only had part of a day here so was going to try and make the most of it…even if I didn’t manage to make it to the Space Centre. Was out the door by 5:45, and on my way to the shared taxi rank…which I only had a vague idea of its location.

I wandered around, and the local produce market was setting up for business, and after asking a few vendors still had absolutely no idea where the taxi rank was…so I just kept wandering. After about ten minutes I saw lots of minivans pulling in, people getting on, and heading off, so I asked some people and it appeared I’d accidentally found it. On the way, while waiting, there was an amazing sunrise:

The goal was to head to the European Space Centre aka the Centre Spatiale Guyanais where I’d arranged a free tour that started at 8:00am. It’s near the town of Kourou, about 5km outside of town. However, the shared taxis from Cayenne only go to Kourou, and not to the Space Centre. A taxi to Kourou pulled up finally, but it was only me and one other passenger. This was looking like a repeat of the previous day where I might wait hours to fill up. Not good since the tour started in 90 minutes and it was a 55km drive just to Kourou. I chatted with the driver, and he said it was 10 euros a person to Kourou. I asked him, for 20 euros will you leave now with just the two of us, and drop me directly at the Centre? He sized up the other passenger, she offered him 15 euro to leave now, and he decided 35 euro was good enough for a trip and we were off. SCORE! I’d made it work!

Around the Guyanas

Airports, Flights, Guyana, Guyanas Trip, Suriname 3 Responses »

Aug 102012

I’ve been sitting still too much.

Well, not really. I just spent 6 days in Las Vegas, but that’s not blog-friendly. I might post about the flights and hotels at another time, but that’s not all that exciting. It’s time to count some countries, and that’s just what I’m planning on doing shortly. I was inspired by the FlyerTalk thread on the cheap Delta fares to Georgetown, Guyana. Didn’t really work for me (especially since I don’t “do” Delta, and it’s a redeye to boot) but I found a great American fare to rack up some EQP, so booking done, it’s time to plan!

Originally, I wanted to get to Georgetown, Guyana. That’s easy enough. But I don’t do one country in a trip, not when there’s another right next door. I could have bought a round-trip ticket to Suriname, but the times were inconvenient, and I was curious about doing it overland on a combo of bus and ferry. Get out of the city, and see a little bit of the “real” country. Only one problem….Suriname? Only way out by plane is back to Guyana, or to Amsterdam. No thanks….so keep going east overland to French Guiana. Not really a “country” but definitely distinct and interesting….and a way out that wasn’t Paris….Martinique. That figured out, the route was cast:

So in brief, the plan is:

1) Fly to Trinidad, and connect 3 hours later to Guyana, arriving at 2am
2) Sidetrip to Kaieteur Falls – one of the world’s most amazing waterfalls – on a tiny single engine prop
3) Overland by bus/ferry to Paramaribo, Suriname
4) Hang out in Suriname
5) Overland by bus/ferry to Cayenne, French Guinana
6) Hanging out in French Guiana, and hopefully seeing the Guiana European Space Centre
7) Cayenne to Fort-de-France, Martinique
8) Exploring Martinique
9) Martinique – St Lucia – Port of Spain, and a night in Trinidad
10) Trinidad to DC on American again

I have 9 days, so plenty of time for this trip…but alas, it’s not much planned yet. Kinda winging it as I go. Only place I need a visa is Suriname, so better get on that one! Also, it looks like a yellow fever and malaria hot zone, so better get hopping on that too! Lots to plan, not much time to do it! Recommendations welcome, it’s under two weeks to go….