Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine July 2017 | Page 310

If the word “paradise” evokes unspoiled beaches
shaded by palm trees, cool and beautiful highlands
cloaked in virgin forests, pristine coral reefs with
myriad fish, village markets whose vendors aren’t
weary of North Americans, and fabulous food,
then Guadeloupe Islands is the very definition of
the term. Since American Airlines initiated two
weekly nonstops between Miami and Pointe-à-Pitre
(PTP), Guadeloupe, and then Seaborne Airlines
introduced three weekly nonstops between San
Juan International Airport and Pointe-à-Pitre -
low-cost airline Norwegian added seven nonstop
flights from the U.S. in December 2015 - it’s made
this formerly hard-to-reach destination much more
accessible to North Americans, and real paradise is
shockingly easy to reach, easy to enjoy.
Just don’t think of it as “an island,” Guadeloupe
Islands is comprised of five islands. The butterfly-
shaped land mass most people think of when
they hear the word “Guadeloupe” is really two
islands connected by a bridge: low-lying Grande-
Terre, with towns and farms, beaches and resorts;
and verdant Basse-Terre, a dramatic upthrust of
mountains, rainforests, and cascades surrounded
by waters teeming with life. To the east and south
of these islands, La Désirade offers away-from-it-
all tranquility, agricultural Marie-Galante boasts
exquisite rum and beaches, and the tiny Les
Saintes features French cafes and history. They’re
connected to the main islands by fast, efficient
ferries - no trip takes more than 50 minutes - as well
as by air. Between those easy connections and the
distinctive ambiance of each island, Guadeloupe
Islands is one of the best places in the Caribbean -
no, make that the entire earth - for island-hopping.
If the islands are so distinct, what holds them
together? For starters, the French and Creole
languages, Gallic savoir faire, and culinary and other
cultural traditions, not to mention the fact that the
Guadeloupe archipelago is, just like the Loire and
© Guadeloupe Tourism
the Rhone in Paris, a full-fledged department of
France, with a French health system, a high level of
safety and security, representation in Parliament,
and really good baguettes. The islands’ residents
also share a primarily agricultural lifestyle; this is
not one of those destinations that has covered all
its farmland with sprawling resorts or exploited
its fisheries into oblivion. In fact, when it comes to
preserving its authentic way of life and protecting
its rainforests, mountains, beaches, and coral
ecosystems, Guadeloupe Islands has been ahead of
the game for decades.