TravelTalkOnline Forums Trip Reports (Read Only) Trip Report and Photo Archives Day 8 Anse La Roche, Carriacou

Feb. 8: Anse La Roche
I made myself some breakfast and cocoa tea, it came out pretty good for my first try, and then went over to Off the Hook for internet; they leave their wifi on even when the bar is closed. I loaded my backpack with the necessities for the day and started out for the point at the end of the beach. There is a trail through the mangroves, it runs along the edge of the water, there are a lot of holes in the ground, and hopefully from lizards and not snakes; some are as big as the ones the woodchucks dig on my bottom land. After a while the trail became hard to follow and looked as though it went through some heavy brush, so I went into the water and waded around the point. The wind was blowing hard so there was some surf, but the water never got more than thigh high and that was only from having to go further out to avoid trees overhanging the shore.

Hillsborough Bay

When you come around the point with the sun just right it provides a beautiful vista of Hillsborough Bay, the water many shades of blue and turquoise. Once around the point the last obstacle is an old ship that has run aground right into the mangroves, I got back on the trail to get around it. There is a small park here with a few picnic tables; I put my stuff down and went in for a swim the water was crystal clear. When finished I continued my walk into town, the sand is soft here making walking difficult so I went along the road to make better time.

An old boat aground in the mangroves

I went to the ferry office to pay for Kim’s ticket, but the boat had just arrived and no one would be there until all the passengers and cargo was unloaded. I walked around town a little bit and sat by the beach for awhile, then went back and got her ticket sorted. I had heard about the beach at Anse La Roche before, it was said to be beautiful; Kim and I had planned to check it out this trip. I loaded up with water and a couple beers then got on the bus to Windward. The turnoff for the beach is in Bogles, there is a kiosk on the side of the road showing all the different flora and fauna that live on the island. My first clue of what was ahead of me should have been the sign that read “High North and Anse La Roche”. The road starts out paved for a short way then turns to a dirt road as it continues steadily up the hill; there is heavy woodland on both sides and an abundance of lizards scurrying around as you walk by. I hadn’t planned on doing any major hikes but it took me about 25 minutes to reach the trailhead for the beach. I had walked pretty far up the hill and I knew the beach would be even farther down, meaning a good hike back, but I came this far and wasn’t going to give up. The trail starts out as a gentle down slope with thick woods on either side. There weren’t any palm or banana trees in the forest so looking around it could have been a trail through one of the parks back home; the smell of the woodlands brought back memories and when the breeze came from the direction of one of the cow pastures I could almost close my eyes and imagine I was back home in the summer. Towards the end trail gets steeper and it becomes more difficult as the soil has eroded away and the lava is exposed. Someone had told me that the trail looks like a washed out gully, if they hadn’t mentioned that it would have been hard to figure out which way to go as it could be confused with some animal trails that crisscross the area. There was a rental jeep parked at the trailhead and I hoped I wasn’t intruding on anyones romantic interlude, but I figured there would be room for all of us.

Anse La Roche

I reached the beach and the bay is tucked away to the point that you can’t see Union Island or PSV/PM. There were three yachts anchored in the bay, just a lunch stop I guess as they all left before I did. The beach is a nesting site for turtles so there are no fires allowed and they ask that you don’t dig in the sand or stick umbrellas in so as not to take a chance of destroying turtle eggs. The couple with the jeep was at one end of the beach so I went to the other and picked a nice pot high up on the sand dune. The water was nice, a sandy bottom that drops off quickly and it looks like a relaxing place, but I still prefer Petite Carenage in windward; the sand is whiter, the beach is much longer and it is easier to get to, just a short walk off the road along the Mangrove Trail. I swam and lay in the sun for a couple hours before making my way back up and to the junction. The walk up wasn’t as bad as I had imagined it would be, I stopped to get some photos on the way so that broke it up. It’s a good thing I tried this beach myself, Kim doesn’t care much for hiking and the walk wouldn’t have been for her.

The most difficult part of the trail

Once at the junction it wasn’t long before a bus to town came by, I got off at the terminal and went for dinner. There is a restaurant just down form Ade’s Dream that has a second floor patio, so I went there for some jerk chicken and a gin and tonic. They had some large speakers up there and the Soca music was playing in anticipation of the Carnival festivities that begin tonight. We are booked into Ade’s on Sunday, not knowing beforehand that the celebrations would be going all weekend (should have seen that coming) and in hindsight it would have been better to book in on Friday since the major events are in Hillsborough. I picked up some stuff for breakfast tomorrow and then grabbed a bus back to the hotel. The Soca competition is in town tonight but I didn’t feel like going there by myself, so I took a little rest and headed over to Off the Hook. I figured that since I wasn’t going anywhere tonight I would try some Jack Iron, the strong rum. It isn’t too bad when mixed with coke and a splash of bitters. It was another gorgeous night with the sky full of stars so I sat on the beach and had a few drinks before turning in.