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Laid back and off the beaten path, the eight idyllic islands of Les Saintes are part of a volcanic archipelago fully encircled by shallow reefs. Only two are inhabited, of which picturesque Terre-de-Haut is one.

Other ship scheduled is Le Bellot (260).

This is another new group of islands for us. We'll tender in to a small island where we have a tour called "Discover les Saintes".

Here we are at the tiny island of Terre-de-Haut, south of the main island of Guadeloupe called Bass-Terre about 20km.. We're anchored and will be transported ashore by tenders.

The tender took us to the little pier that suffices for this place. Ships larger than ours are not allowed. The only gas vehicles on the island are those belonging to hotels and tourist companies. The remainder use e-bikes or small motorcycles.

The road from the village to the fort is incredible. Narrow, concrete (no asphalt on the island) with deep ditches and steep turning stretches. Possibly 1.5 lanes wide.





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The road ends at a blockade from which point you walk up the steep road to the gate in the fort wall. The local wild goats, called black-belly goats, watched us struggle up the hill. Very impressive fort, very thick walls. It would be hard to hit from the water since it's way up the hill. Same architecture as all the others in the period with deep moats (even if not filled with water) and steep walls.

We were guided by John into the fort. Then through several rooms of museum quality artifacts and artistry. We walked around it on the walls and then down. And then the walk down to the mini-bus. And then the drive down the mountain into town.

We had a beer and a coke first, then bought shirts and stuff. We caught the tender back to the ship and had lunch. Then we retired to the cabin to rest, and to moan, and to take aspirin and to steel ourselves for the things to come - trivia, loyalty party, and dinner.

My walking gauge of 1.7 miles doesn't properly account for the vertical distance covered.

We did Trivia but only scored poorly. But it was fun. Then Eric & Captain Smith hosted the loyalty party - a lady was awarded champagne for having been on an Azamara ship the most - 720 nights. Cocktails were passed out and consumed.

We returned to the cabin to kill time until dinner. An announcement was made over the PA that we would NOT be going to Virgin Gorda but rather to Tortola. The exposed harbor at VG was given as the reason for the change. That's fine with me - if the Captain does not want to put people into tenders, I don't want to go into the tender.
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So we ate in Discoveries with a nice German couple we have seen before. We got all sorts of good information from them.

Then the Crooners show took place - the kids did very nicely. One of the songs we'd seen done on Quest - Anything Goes. In conversation with the assistant cruise director afterward we were told they choreograph the song and dance in New York and send it out with the groups.

Nightcap in the Living Room and to bed - long day.

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