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Villa Nature Caraibe Lodge
Vacation rentals in Guadeloupe
What to visit in Guadeloupe?
Places & sites to visit
Use the interactive map below to find all the sites to visit.
In yellow: museums
In blue: distilleries, viewpoints, zoo, parks, tourist sites, historical sites.
GUADELOUPE: a bit of history
Guadeloupe in Guadeloupean Creole : Gwadloupe is a Caribbean archipelago made up of seven islands, forming a French overseas region and department . The main part (Karukera in Amerindian languages ) shaped like a butterfly is composed of two islands: Grande-Terre to the east and Basse-Terre to the west, separated by a strait, called "the Rivière Salée ".
Administratively, Guadeloupe is a French department , a single-department region of the French Overseas Territories and an outermost region of the European Union, in the French Antilles ; its official departmental code is " 971 ". It is a member of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
Guadeloupe, bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, is located 575 km north of the coast of Venezuela in South America , 205 km east of Aves Island , 739 km east-southeast of the Dominican Republic , 2,176 km east-southeast of Miami ( USA ) and 6,732 km from Paris .
The region consists of several islands and islets : mainland Guadeloupe ( Grande-Terre and Basse-Terre ) and its dependencies: the island of Marie-Galante , the Saintes archipelago composed mainly of Terre-de-Haut and Terre-de-Bas , La Désirade and uninhabited islets.
Basse-Terre known as Karukera
Historically, Basse-Terre was first named "Karukera" ("island of beautiful waters," in the Carib language) by the Amerindians who inhabited it, and Grande-Terre, "Cibuqueira" ("island of gum trees," in the Carib language). The Rivière Salée , the arm of the sea that separates them, cutting Guadeloupe in two, was called "Aboukétoutou," meaning "strait." Christopher Columbus landed there on November 4, 1493, and named it Guadeloupe in homage to Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of navigators. In Spain , in Guadalupe , the Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe is dedicated to the Virgin of Navigators. The name Guadalupe is said to come from the name of the river that flows through this city, in Arabic wadi-al-lub, which means the "river of black pebbles" or, according to a distortion noted by Ana Castillo , "river of love".
We owe to travel agencies the circumlocution "the butterfly island" inspired by the shape of the two main islands.
Why choose Deshaies for your stay in Guadeloupe?
Staying in Deshaies means choosing an authentic and unspoiled Guadeloupe. By choosing Nature Caraïbe Lodge, you'll enjoy a strategic location in Basse-Terre: just steps from the most beautiful ochre sand beaches, the renowned Botanical Garden, and the hiking trails of the National Park. It's the ideal starting point for exploring the butterfly-shaped island while returning each evening to the peace and comfort of a villa with a private pool.
The island of Lowland has on its territory the volcano of the Soufrière , also nicknamed the Old Lady, and the culmination of Lesser Antilles . It is full of waterfalls, rivers, beaches of golden or black sand, and a tropical rain forest covers its mountain range. The island of Big land consists (in the west) of a plain bordered by mangroves since the Gosier up to Port-Louis , from the region of Large Funds (in the center) and an arid plateau, jagged with rocky and wild coasts (from north to east). the littoral south of Grande-Terre, dotted with white sand beaches sheltered from coral reefs , concentrates the major seaside resorts of Gosier , from Saint Anne and of Saint-François . The island of Marie-Galante is characterized in the north by a limestone cliff then, in the east and in the south, by a plateau which becomes “dreary” to tilt down steep slopes towards a coastal plain. To the west of the island, facing Basse-Terre, the beaches and mangroves stretch along the Caribbean Sea and a humid natural coastal environment extends into the bay of Folle-Anse.
Guadeloupe and the Antilles constitute a biodiversity hot spot . Like the others Lesser Antilles , Guadeloupe emerged from the ocean less than five million years ago and its isolation has favored the emergence of a high rate of endemism . The archipelago was completely covered with forest before the arrival of Europeans in the sixteenth century, and this arrival was accompanied by biological invasions and clearing which had a severe impact on the biodiversity . Many species have disappeared from the island such as the Amazon of Guadeloupe , the mondoungue rat , the Caribbean manatee , the monk seal of the Caribbean , the améive of Guadeloupe . According to a report by the DEAL from Guadeloupe and Martinique: 1,260 vascular plants , eight mammals, 14 birds, 11 reptiles four amphibians and four species of freshwater fish were introduced to the French Antilles . Among which the Miconia calvescens , rat , mongoose, lion fish and cassava ants are considered invasive species.
(Source Wikipedia)
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadeloupe