Anse de Couleuvre and Habitacion Cerón
It was my last day in Martinique, and I was excited because I planned to make it a really fun and full last day. The plan was to hitchhike to a bunch of places in the North, visit a waterfall near Anse de Couleuvre, and maybe also see the Zamana tree in the Habitaciion Cerón. And then hitch back down South to Fort-de-France just in time to catch my airplane back home. Luckily, the plane only goes at 19:45 in the evening. Quite late in the day, and therefore, I have some time left to explore the island a little bit more.
I wake up early, even putting an alarm that I don't need because I am up with excitement way before that. And it's such a nice morning.
Packing my stuff and leaving the house after a good shower feels great. At first, I had a bit of trouble hitchhiking out of the city. It's a bit too early, and there are only locals driving around who go to work or bring their children to school, and they have no space in their cars nor time to stop to pick up a hitchhiker. At this time of day, there are no tourists around yet who would go to the areas that I want to go to either.
But that doesn't matter because it's a beautiful morning, the sun illuminating the buildings in and around Saint Pierre and the big volcano Mount Peleé in the distance. Slowly, I walk out of the small city. On the way, I find more mangos just like in Dominica, it's mango season here, and that makes me happy. I even find a beautiful black sand beach.
Eventually, somebody picks me up and helps me to go North, when we stop, there is a small but beautiful beach, and I go for a morning swim. The water is refreshing, not too cold, not too warm, just the perfect Caribbean sea, and the beach with the darker, black sand and the coconut palms makes me happy.
Eventually, I continued on my journey toward the North, saying goodbye to my hitchhiker friend and walking the rest of the way up the mountain, waiting for more cars. I am lucky because a couple stops to pick me up, and we go to explore the Anse du Couleuvre waterfall together.
On the way, we see a couple of big tarantula spiders that are endemic to Martinique only. One of the species here is known to locals as Matoutou. This spider has a bright blue color as a baby and later a sort of greenish, even purple-blueish hue as an adult. As far as spiders go, these are some of the most beautiful I have ever seen, and they are mostly harmless to humans as long as you don't disturb them. They have a bite that can hurt quite a bit, but even when disturbed, they are generally docile and non-aggressive. Their Latin name is Caribena versicolor. There is also a second species of Tarantula here that is more of a brown color and can grow even bigger, fully hand-sized spiders are not uncommon.
Walking through the jungle is its own reward. It's a sight to behold: sunlight streaming through the leaves, lianas, and old trees stretching into the sky, chirping birds, and the odd tarantula crawling up a tree or sitting on a leaf.
Once we reach the waterfall, it is also extremely beautiful, a small stream falling down a big rock cliff, splashing and sparkling in the sun. The water is cold and refreshing, and I like the meditative state of this place and eat a couple of the mangoes that I have found along the way.
Eventually, the couple and I walk back and toward the beach of Anse de Couleuvre. Both the beach and the waterfall are famous among tourists and locals alike, and we see a few other people there, but it is generally empty. There is even a little cave at the far end of the beach that fills with water during the tides.
Eventually, we leave and walk towards the car again and drive a little bit to the Habitacion Cerón, an old garden and farm that produces all sorts of natural products like coffee, chocolate, Rhum, and more. This old estate is mostly famous these days as a tourist attraction because of an old tree growing on their land, known as the Zamana.
This tree is centuries old and truly giant, its branches covering a huge part of the land, like a giant canopy. Can you spot me in the picture above?
I think this tree is beautiful, telling its own story through the winding woods of its branches. They form intricate shapes and patterns, and it is stunning and mesmerizing to look at this tree. I eat my little lunch underneath the tree and talk with some people from France who are also visiting this site.
They take a picture of me, and I take a picture of them, and then we go our separate ways again, but one of them spoke a little bit of German, so it was fun to talk with her in my native language because my French is not all that great, even though it is enough for some very basic conversation.
The rest of the garden of the Habitacion Cerón is immensely beautiful as well, and I was glad that I decided to pay the entrance fee. I almost didn't go because, in the beginning, I thought about not spending the money. Now, I think that the experience of the Zamana tree alone was absolutely worth it.
On my way back, I hitchhiked and was lucky to find people that got me to the airport in time, because it was quite far and I could have easily missed my flight if I had to rely on the bus or nobody would have taken me. Passing by the Schoelcher Library one last time, admiring this beautiful building.
In my mind, I was already saying goodbye to Martinique and the Caribbean because my flight went back home to Europe. I was thanking this place for its beauty and the time I spent here.