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veral islands, scattered over an area of 240km. The capital is-
land looks somewhat like a butterfly and comprised of two parts
Basse-Terre and Grande-Terre. The French part of St.
Martin and the "jetset" island St. Barth also belong to Guade-
loupe, as the small islands around Guadeloupe, La Desirade,
Les Saintes and Marie-Galante.
Both parts of Guadeloupe are very dissimilar from each other.
Basse-Terre is surrounded by dense forest and high moun-
tains. The vulcano La Soufriere is the highest elevation with
1,467m, up to which you could take a walking trip. This part of
island boasts a picturesque tropical forest, with waterfalls and
splendid beaches. The capital Basse-Terre is really worth vi-
siting, a rather quiet small city which holds a population of on-
ly 14,000. In Sainte-Marie you can visit the point where Co-
lumbus landed once. Capesterre is famous for its Allee Du-
manoir, a beautiful palmtree street. The La Traversee is a
street that goes straight across Basse-Terre and the National
Park of Guadeloupe. The street provides good views of the
countryside and runs past banana plantations and dense fo-
rest. One of the best beaches on this part of Guadeloupe is
the lovely and large beach of Deshais.
Grande-Terre is the more touristic part of the island. Here you
will find most of the hotels and magnificent beaches. Com-
pare to the other part of the island Grande-Terre is flat.
Pointe-a-Pitre is the biggest city and commercial center and
has more than 100,000 inhabitants. Worth visiting places are
the market at the harbor and many colonial buildings. At the
Riviera of Guadeloupe, a coast from Fort Fleur d Epee to
Point des Chateaux at the other end, are many comfortable
hotels, restaurants and yacht harbors. Gosier is the busiest
village at the coast and host several good hotels and resorts.
The IŽlet de Gosier is an attractive picnic place and lies oppo-
site the village of Gosier. Also nice are the villages Saint Anne
and St. Francois which have some beautiful promenads and
top beaches.
The neighboring islands Les Saintes, Marie-Galante and La
Desirade are ideal for day trips. Les Saintes get' s crowded on
weekends and is popular by locals and tourists. You will find
lovely bays and good sand beaches. La Desirade is a tiny is-
land and was used as leprosy station. Marie-Galante is the
biggest of them and has a population of around 18,000. The
island is famous for the many windmills and its beautiful land-
scape.
