Location: Saut d'Acomat, Guadeloupe
Another day full of adventure for the crew of Ocean Star! We found ourselves waking up right off the coast of Guadeloupe, close to Pigeon Island. As the morning routine of breakfast and clean up ensued, we excitedly grabbed our rash guards, water shoes, and sunscreen and headed ashore. We were lucky enough to have a special guest tour guide to lead us on our epic quest for jungle fun from none other than our very own Laurie’s sister, Emma! Emma is an English teacher here on the island and has been living here for the last couple of years, so she knows all the good secret spots and the must-do’s. Soon enough, we found ourselves hiking up yet another steep incline deep into the jungle. After about 30 minutes of intense trekking, we popped out of the jungle and found ourselves on the riverbed of Grande Plaine. We immediately rewarded ourselves by jumping into the cold, refreshing water. After a bit, we forged on and followed the river down the mountainside for awhile, clambering over rocks and boulders through narrow canyons and then into wide river basins. Eventually, we came to what we considered the cherry on top of the whole river quest: Saut d’Acomat. This was a beautiful waterfall surrounded by rocks from which you could jump into a beautiful pool of luscious blue water. Many locals tend to come to this waterfall to enjoy the sun and water but don’t tend to do the entire hike down the river. As we came up to it after hours of hiking, we felt like we had earned this beautiful moment and all happily took turns standing at the top, taking it all in, and then leaping into the most perfect swimming hole you could imagine. What a triumphant moment for us all. Some of the locals cheered us on! As the sun started to fade and the shadows grew taller in the river valley, we headed back to our beautiful Ocean Star for some scrumptious cheeseburgers cooked up by Van. We then followed dinner with a “mockumentary” film on Jacques Cousteau and his team of research divers to set the mood and excite everyone for the dives we will do tomorrow at one of Cousteau’s favorite sites! Another successful day in the life of Sea|mester; life is grand, and we are lovin’ it!