Location: Martinique
Today was a day of exploration. After a quick breakfast, we made our way to shore and boarded a taxi (not before we stopped at a bakery and bought 13 baguettes) headed for Mt Pele. Mt Pele is a volcano that overshadows the town of St. Pierre. The last time it erupted was May 8, 1902. The eruption completely decimated St. Pierre and left only one survivor. Now, the volcano serves as magnificent scenery and provides exciting hiking opportunities. Once we had been dropped off, we began our trek to the summit. The first part of the hike is commonly referred to as the Spirit Breaker’ because of its high level of difficulty. However, it did not break any of the Ocean Star crew. As we hiked up, we couldn’t help but feel as though we were exploring some lost world. The lush vegetation looked prehistoric as cool, dense clouds cascaded along the entire surface of the volcano. At the summit, we enjoyed our baguettes and the momentary views in between cloud breaks. The rest of the hike down consisted of our captain pretending to be King Kong, tarantulas running across our feet, and lots of slipping. Afterward, we returned to Ocean Star and enjoyed some diving and backflips off the cap rail. Kirsty cooked us up a delicious dinner of Creole lentils, and we enjoyed finishing off the day by watching a documentary called Air Jaws.