Guadalupe West Indies

The travellers Palm is not a tree but a plant, which is originally from Madagascar. Although it used to be included in the banana family Musaceae, It’s not a real palm. It belongs to the family Strelitziaceae like bird-of-paradise flowers. The ravenala madagascariensis is the official name, and it is the unique member of its genus, although it’s closely related to the South American Phenakospermum and the Southern African Strelitzia. The cream-coloured flowers of the ravenala are hermaphrodites. They are pollinated by bats and lemuroids. The brown fruit is a capsule with three shells where many seeds can be found. The seeds are usually surrounded by intense blue fibres which attract the birds.

Its actual name is due to the big quantity of water that can be held in its stems and be used as an emergency drinking supply. Its huge leaves stand like a fan and their dish-shaped base retains the rainwater, which would allow the travellers to quench their thirst. In fact, if you slash the trunk with a machete at the end of the rainy season, you might collect up to one liter per slash of a very liquid sap, which taste is fairly similar to water. Moreover, the trunk can reach 10 metres and the whole plant can be up to 20 metres high. Its shape and height help to spot it from far away in case of thirst emergency.

Due to its impressive beauty, the travellers palm has become a tropical ornamental plant that everybody would like to have in the garden. It requires sun and moderate water. You’ll find travellers palms in many private gardens on the Guadeloupian archipelago, but also in a natural environment. Another symbol that travellers can’t miss!

The hummingbird is a bird of the family Trochilidae. It’s one of the smallest birds in the world, although its main feature is the fact that it is the only bird which can easily hover in the air and fly backwards. It usually has a bright and colourful plumage, mainly metallic green. The male neck is often bright red, blue or emerald green.

The hummingbirds’ family comprises 100 kinds of birds, which are divided into more than 300 species. These birds live mainly on flowers nectar to gain calories in order to fly properly. They obtain proteins from little insects. This diet based only on simple carbohydrates is rich in energy and compulsory to make its extremely exigent flying style possible (flapping their wings up to 80 times per second). Another special feature of the hummingbird is its beak, which size is almost always different from one species to another. Each beak is specially designed for one kind of flowers. This distinction allows the hummingbird to fit in an ecological niche and avoids fights between species.

The most common species that you might see in Guadeloupe are the Antillean crested hummingbird (Orthorhyncus cristatus), the blue-headed hummingbird (Cyanophaia bicolor), the purple-throated Carib (Eulampis jugularis), the green-throated Carib (Eulampis holosericeus), the white-necked Jacobin (Florisuga mellivora) and the ruby-topaz hummingbird (Chrysolampis mosquitus). If you’re a photographer, you should find it easy to take a perfect picture of a hummingbird, while it’s fluttering to feed on a flower. It’s worth a good souvenir! If you go for it, don’t worry, as you’ll have many opportunities to meet one of them. No surprise that the hummingbird is one of the symbols of Guadeloupe.

Before the first European step at the end of 1493, the island was occupied by Amerindians, originally from Asia, known as Arawaks. According to estimations, the earliest settlers landed on Guadeloupe around 300 BC. One of their main tribe in the Caribbean, the Tainos, settled in Guadeloupe and lived happily until they were removed by the Caribs who were more aggressive.

The Caribs called the island Karukera, which means roughly “island with beautiful waters”. This tribe had the honor to meet the first Europeans, although those did not settle in Guadeloupe until 1635. In fact, the island was used as a trading post until the French sent explorers to take control on the island, what they aimed in 1674. They managed to do it exterminating the local population, as the Caribs were warlike people and unlikely to be governed.

This ethnic group was almost wiped out in all the Caribbean area, although it did not extinguish. It is still possible to find a Carribean reserve in the Commonwealth of Dominica, Guadeloupe’s neighbour island southwards.

Anyway, the Arawaks left their mark in Karukera carving many rocks all over the island. It is possible to visit a park in the town of Trois-Rivières (Three-Rivers) with many of the engraved rocks in their original location. Don’t forget to turn up and have a look at this park if you’re visiting the island, as you will find a great range of tropical trees and vegetation appart from the petroglyphs.

Guadeloupe offers a wide range of plants and fruits, as the island is spread with a typical tropical vegetation. It’s a paradise for the many fruit trees, which grow wild all over the islands and grant us with impressive fruits.

One example of it is the Melicoccus bijugatus known as genip, akee or Spanish lime. It’s a typical fruit from Central America. The tree belongs to the soapberry family (Sapindacea). It needs warm temperatures and loads of water to product the fruits. The genip is one of the sweetest tropical fruits, although the flavour is rather tart. It could be compared with the lychee, although the genip skin is green and smooth. The skin is thin and tight but rigid, and you’ll normally crack it with your teeth. You’ll find inside the salmon-pink pulp of the fruit which sticks to its dark seed.

The best way to eat it is by putting the inside part of the fruit in your mouth and sucking the pulp. When there is no more pulp, just throw the seed out of your mouth, like an olive.

The best season to find genips in the local markets of the archipielago is from June till August. Do not loose the opportunity to have a taste of it!

Christopher Columbus was an Italian navigator who wanted to reach the Indies through the sea. The Spanish Queen Isabella of Castile gave him three caravels to help him reach his aim. The Santa María conducted by Columbus and the Niña and the Pinta respectively by the Pinzon brothers.

Columbus did not reach the Indies in his first voyage, but opened a new world for the European. In his second voyage in late 1493, they had problems because of the lack of potable water on board for the whole crew. Columbus had decided to abandon and was about to give the order to return to Spain to prevent a mutiny, when he had a look at the horizon and catched sight of a land. He then decided to get closer and a few white lines in the mountain attracted his attention, as they were probably waterfalls. He finally tied up in that area of the island. It was definitely the Carbet waterfalls. Christopher Columbus named the island Santa María de Guadalupe after the Virgin of Guadalupe in Caceres, Spain.

Centuries later, they would call a village where they landed “Sainte-Marie” in remembrance of the original name of the island. Nowadays, a monument for the one who discovered the island to the Occidental World can be seen nearby. The village belongs to the city of Capesterre Belle Eau, which name means “cape at the East of the land with beautiful water”. Its waterfalls keep attracting many visitors all year round, and it’s worth it! The biggest one is easily accessible for the general public and the smallest ones are suitable for people who are fond of mountaineering.