Tag 8

Today we leave our beautiful apartment in Sainte Anne and head towards Tartane in the north of Martinique. A stop in Le Robert shows us a huge barrier in the sea as protection against the brown algae that is becoming a huge problem throughout the Caribbean. As long as the brown algae are floating in the sea, they provide food for many small marine creatures. Near the shore, they suffocate the coral reefs. Once washed ashore, they emit toxic gases and smell of sulfur. Our journey continues as we search for the pink mangroves. We end up in a remote place in the Trinité area. After a short walk, we find ourselves in front of a small ferry. How do we get to the other side? There's no one around, and we look at each other a bit puzzled, as it wasn’t mentioned anywhere that we need to cross the water. We look around and spot two men, whom we ask. Yes, we indeed have to take the small ferry ourselves to get across. Once that’s settled, we’re on the ferry making our way to the other side. It was a bit challenging, but the sight of the pink mangroves made it worth it. These are mangroves standing in pink water. The water is pink because the algae Dunaliella Salina produce so much beta-carotene that it turns the water pink. A fascinating natural spectacle. We continue our journey and arrive at Anse la Perche beach in Trinité. We spend another 3 hours there before heading to Schölcher for our new accommodation. We arrive in Schölcher and get ready for the evening. Suddenly we feel a tremor, and everything starts shaking. Later, we read in the news that there was an earthquake near Fort de France, with a magnitude of 5.4. We find a place on the beach of Madiana and discover a restaurant right by the sea, enjoying the view of the beautiful sunset and the full moon.