My review of our short trip to Martinique. How we drove around the island by car, but never visited anything.
Ship's log. Day fourteen.
Martinique! This island I waited and wanted to see! I went to the homeland of Napoleon's beloved wife with Napoleonic plans.
During the day, I had to find a bus to the airport from the port, rent a car there, wind 200 km along the picturesque mountain roads of the island, climb the formidable volcano, see the three best beaches with excellent snorkeling, return to the airport at sunset, return the car and return to the liner right for dinner with a bottle of red. Great plan! Bonaparte himself would have appreciated!
It all started well: what was in my power, I did. Then the elements intervened: as soon as I got behind the wheel, the heavens opened up, and charged a tropical downpour. We were flooded all day! We drove almost the entire route, closing the ring around the island, but we didn’t do anything worthwhile in Martinique. To hell with their beaches, but it was a shame with a volcano! We reached the beginning of the ascent trail, drank coffee, chatted with the French, who managed to climb to the top in the early morning (but then they were flooded anyway), and, sighing bitterly, drove away. It took 4 hours to get to Anse Noire beach (100 km) due to rain and traffic jams, and to my surprise, they are fierce on the island. The beach, although it turned out to be pleasant and intimate, is definitely not heavenly: the water is muddy, the sand is so-so.
The island itself is green, mountainous and beautiful. Palm trees, ferns, bananas grow, iguanas crawl, tropical birds whistle, exotic insects chirp. The nature of Martinique is very similar to the Asian islands, for example, Bali or Langkawi. Aborigines against the backdrop of trashy Bridgetown in Barbados are pleasant and civilized, however, only until dark - then the mafia wakes up.
Is it worth going here on purpose? Not. It's beautiful here, but it's cooler in Asia. All the infrastructure is available, but it's too expensive here. There is a certain flavor in remote villages, but nothing outstanding. It is a pity that it didn’t work out to climb the volcano, because I’m unlikely to go here again, except perhaps on a cruise again.
UPD... At first he answered the previous question in the negative, but after a while he doubted. Still, this island does not go out of my head ... A certain nostalgia has already woken up. Perhaps, the unfulfilled goal is to blame for everything - climbing the volcano. Whatever one may say, but I like to bring what I started to the end. So maybe I'll be back! However, such disadvantages as high prices and the lack of bright expressiveness on the island of Martinique have not been canceled, so see for yourself.
Our trip to Martinique in numbers (for two):
- Time on the island - 11 hours.
- Mileage - 170 km.
- Car rental - 26 €.
- Gasoline - 20 €.
- Bus to the airport and back - 6 €.
- One coffee and one sandwich somewhere off the beaten path - € 9.
