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Pointe des Châteaux hike, Guadeloupe

Joyce Belfort

Pointe des Châteaux is where Atlantic ocean and Caribbean sea meet. A gorgeous scenic hike with countless viewing points. This is an easy hike with very little inclination.

 

If you do decide on doing this hike, my top tip for finding the parking is… DO NOT follow Google Map. Follow the street sign and not Google map. Why? Below is a video of where we landed by following Google Map. Does that look like a real road to you? This wasn’t the worst part of the drive. One of the path before this bit had a full 2 meters grass growth.

This was where we landed. Thanks, Google.

Anyways, the route that we chose was from Anse à la Gourde to Anse des Châteaux. According to the official website, my hike should have taken 2 hours. But because I took a lot of photos AND I got lost around Anse à Plume, so it took around 4 hours. Anyways, I’ll talk about it more in a moment. I did give Sentier du Morne Pavillon a go, but it was proven too difficult for me. My foot work was not up to it, aka I am too clumsy.

Source: http://www.pointe-des-chateaux.com

Time to share what this breathtaking hike really looked like 😉

Started off with some heavy rain *LOL* Literately ran back to the car and hide for 10min. Normal in Guadeloupe to have some burst of rain.

 

Anse à la Gourde

Hiking path next to Anse à la Gourde

 

 

Anse Tarare

This is the part where we go lost. We couldn’t find the trail marking. The view was amazing, but the sun was BLAZING. Luckily, a local was casually walking by to show us the way. I do mean casually, he was walking around in speedo and flip flops. Yes, not kidding.

 

Anse à Plume

 

I didn’t walk down into the beach <plage à Plume>. It is the stretch on the left. The surreal looking “island” of water on the right is actually <Grande Anse> / <Les Salines>. It looks surreal from far and up close. You’ll see why in a moment.

 

Les salines / Grande Anse

Les Salines… It was smelling quite funny from this distance, like a salty decay? Unpleasant, but not nauseating. .
Those foam was everywhere near the lake of salt water. No idea how it’s formed. There were lots of small white birds with long skinny beak as well. They always flew off when I took the shot 🙁
Grand Anse. After walking around the lake, the path leads back to the coast. Fresh air again!!! **there is another beach in Guadeloupe that’s called the Grand Anse. The other one is on Basse Terre.

 

Anse des Châteaux

On the way up to Pointe des Châteaux is full of food vendors. Some even offer sit down huts.

 

The finale?

 

The way back is the same scenic path all over again 😀

Sentier du Morne Pavillon.This is the view of the others side of the peninsula. This beach is called Degrat.

 

Short cut?

25 minute route is available!!! It starts right below the viewing point. Will miss out on all the other beautiful sight mentioned though.

 

Where was I?

Pointe des Châteaux, Saint-François, Grande Terre, Guadeloupe

Official site (French only): http://www.pointe-des-chateaux.com/

 

My starting point: Trace de la Gourde

Time from start to return: 4 hours (I took over 300 photos, got lost and took a full picnic break). From the official site, this route takes about 2 hours.

Number of steps (per Fitbit flex 2): +/- 15000 steps

 

My gear?

Cap: Adidas climacool (soft and foldable)

Tee: Bershka

Short: Primark

Shoes: Adidas Terrex. Mine are kids size, goretex (waterproof) and VERY old.

Backpack: Decathlon **it has a water bag compartment, if you’re interested, they’re still currently available online – https://www.decathlon.fr/sac-trail-running-5l-id_8488291.html

Photos: Samsung Galaxy S7 edge **torn ligament means no camera 😉

 

Recommended gear

 

For more Guadeloupe travel ideas? Click here.

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