Right now, my family and I are in Deshaies Harbor, Guadeloupe. The trip here took about half a day, but it felt like forever! The waves were pretty rough and I wasn’t able to take a sea-sickness pill as soon as I should have. I spent the entire trip in the cockpit, trying not to throw up. And it didn’t even work! I still got sick, twice! Blegh.

 

Once we got to Guadeloupe, it was much better. Everything here is amazing! It’s beautiful, warm, yet windy enough to not be unbearable. They have great baguettes and eclairs! Sooooo delicious…. Oh, and speaking French is fun too! Especially when you get to use what you learn in real life situations and not just in a classroom.

A few days ago we went to a huge garden with lots of plants from different parts of the world, the Jardin Botanique. There were also lots of tropical birds: flamingos and blue and scarlet macaws. There were two scarlet macaws, Tchoco, the male, and Koka, the female. They were mates. For the blue macaws there was Jerk (male), Bec Blanc (male) and Jazz (female). Jazz and Bec Blanc were mates. (When we saw them, they were sitting on their perch together. It was so cute!) Then there was Salsa (female), and Roger (pronounced Row-zjay), who was the  park’s mascot. The flamingoes didn’t have names, but they were still cool! At first they were each sleeping on one leg, but then one started searching for food in the little pond next to the grass in their habitat. It looked like the flamingo was dancing. It was shuffling in a circle with its head in the water, stirring up creatures to eat in the mud.

There is lots more to do in Deshaies, but so far we’ve only gone to the garden and snorkeling. I really hope we get to the other stuff soon though. Apparently there’s canyoning, a waterfall hike, and a zoo. At the beginning of our family’s trip on Strider, I wanted nothing more than to go home. But ever since we got to Deshaies, everything seems better. I’m actually starting to think this trip was a good idea after all!