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Exploring the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe – strong sea legs and smattering of French required

  • Navigating between the sublime sandy beaches and quaint villages can test your patience and language skills
  • Leave the vehicle-choked cities for rainforests, waterfalls and gorgeous sweeps of palm-tree-lined sand

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Saint-Pierre, on the French Caribbean island of Martinique. Photo: Tim Pile
I’m in a police car racing across the French Caribbean island of Martinique. Well, strictly speaking I’m in a Renault with my Airbnb host, who also happens to be a police officer. On Sundays, Audrey visits her ageing parents and I’ve come along for the ride.

Our route takes us past dense banana plantations and fields of spiky sugar cane. In the seaside town of Le François, Audrey explains that locals are fighting a losing battle against an invasion of foul-smelling seaweed known as sargassum. Merely inhaling the stuff can cause eye and respiratory problems, especially for children. When French President Emmanuel Macron visited Martinique in 2018, residents blocked a road with home appliances that had been corroded by the toxic gases.

We reach the (sargassum-free) town of La Trinité and while my plain-clothed host spends some quality time with her parents, I explore the beaches, fishing settlements and nature reserves of the Caravelle Peninsula on foot.

It’s a delightfully scenic region but the Caribbean sun is unrelenting; my water bottle is soon empty and with an island-wide bus strike in force, I regret not having hired a car of my own. Sunstroke is averted when Audrey pulls up at a prearranged spot and we set off back to her house.

The library in Fort-de-France, Martinique. Photo: Tim Pile
The library in Fort-de-France, Martinique. Photo: Tim Pile

A department of France, Martinique has an air of prosperity about it. Big-box stores, malls and fast-food outlets give its capital, Fort-de-France, the feel of an American city. I’d read all about the island’s frosty white beaches and the lush, hilly interior; what I wasn’t expecting from a Caribbean paradise were congested high­ways, bus lanes and clogged car parks. We pass dozens of dealerships, vehicle-repair workshops and spare-parts stores. The car is most definitely king on Martinique.

Downtown Fort-de-France is a melange of mildewing apartments, gaily painted two-storey shophouses and distinctive colonial architecture.

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