31 July 2008

Another Honeymoon Post: Sunday 6 July

Rachel in front of the sharks tank(yup, another honeymoon posting)
After checking out of our hotel, we then put our luggage in a luggage storage room at the hotel and headed to the nearby Guadeloupe Aquarium. At the aquarium, they have posted four different names for each species: French, English (with the Union Jack), the Latin scientific name, and the Guadeloupean [Creole] name (if there was a name). lookdown fish at the Guadeloupe AquariumAll of the species are native to the Caribbean (except for some Amazonian species). For any English-speaking person, all of the signs were in French. There were some interesting fish and tanks (combination of fish, etc.). We thought the lookdown fish had a cool color. There were calming sea sounds music all throughout the aquarium to provide some of the ambiance. One of the new additions to the aquarium was the shark tank, although there were only a couple of different types of sharks there. Also in the tank was a very gracefully moving ray.
After the aquarium, we then went back to the hotel to pick up our luggage, then we headed to our new hotel, La Toubana, which was quite nice. It was, by far, the nicest hotel of our trip. One thing that made it unique was that it was the only one of the hotels that had American mattresses in addition to there being a DVD player in the room (although this hotel had the fewest TV stations, but that didn't seem to be such a bad thing). Drew in the foreground by the water, with the hotel up on the cliffAs such, we ventured into the hotel's tiny DVD library and found mostly 1980's American action or scary flicks. So, it was slim pickings, but we enjoyed watching a DVD or two that evening. One of the cool things about the place was that there was a small pool of some sort that surrounded and went beneath the wooden walkway upon entering the hotel property that had lobsters and two nurse sharks in the water (those nurse sharks were so gracefully swimming about, it was pleasant to see them swim). The guy in charge when we got there, Laurent, was very nice and helpful and would be so for the duration of our stay there. Also, the hotel had a pool next to which you could swim up to the bar (though we didn't end up doing that). Also, the hotel had a decent work-out room with mostly fairly newish equipment that was not worn out at all. Also, the views were excellent, as the hotel is located at a clifftop. By far, La Toubana was our favorite hotel on the trip and we got a good deal on our stay, as it was during the offseason, though it definitely cost a pretty penny to stay during the winter.
---------

No comments: