One of the ways that I tried to keep Lilly's spirits up as we made the sometimes rough 1600 mile winter open ocean passage to the West Indies from the East Coast of Florida, was to describe some of the great fun we were going to have once we got to the Caribbean. I usually did this as a form of cheer leading and morale boosting after emptying her Little White Bucket from the latest round of Mal-de-mer. Perhaps my favorite bunk-side story was how we would enjoy Carnival in the French West Indies. This colorful event is celebrated in New Orleans (Mardi Gras), Trinidad (The Trini's call it The Greatest Show on Earth), and Rio (CARNIVAL!) as a precursor to Lent. It is fêted in many areas of the world whose people have a Roman Catholic heritage, and each Carnaval has its own flavor based on the history, culture, and spiritual beliefs of the people. We decided to spend Carnaval 2012 in the hustle and bustle of Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe. We anchored Tiger Lilly just off the downtown waterfront at Quai de la Darse, in company with the British tall ship Tenacious, the busy Harbor Pilote boats, and the French cruise ship du jour. (If you go to www.jst.org.uk you can learn more about Tenacious and the important work she does. Tenacious is a 178 ft. barque rigged tall ship built for enabling the disabled to experience the sea - people in wheelchairs are actually hoisted aloft into the rigging.) We enjoyed starting our day out each morning with a brisk walk up to Boulevard Chanzy (Lilly, why do we have to RACE everywhere we go?) to our favorite Mom & Pop bakery, Boulanger Patissier, for hot baguettes, French pastries, and cafe espresso that is strong enough to knock your hat off. (The French pastries were only for Tom of course - Lilly is always in training for something-or-other.) We had a great time touring the town, and visiting several venues presenting Carnaval events. We attended the Grande Parade du Dimache Gras (Sunday), Children's Carnaval (Monday), Town Parade du Mardi Gras (Tuesday), and Podium D'Animations at the Place de la Victorie each evening (singing and dancing at the town park stage). On Wednesday evening, we had quite a surprise. Although we had maps, and Carnaval schedules, and French dictionaries, with which we created a detailed Carnaval Plan Of Action - with Milestones (Lilly sez: Can you imagine how exhaustive this man planned out what is supposed to be a FUN time?), it seems we (read that "we" as Tom-Tom) were too clever by half - "we" forgot to read the BACK of the official Carnaval Schedule. So, on Wednesday evening while below deck aboard Tiger Lilly quietly reviewing and editing our Carnaval pictures on the computer, and thinking that the wild week of Carnaval was over, we were VERY surprised to hear aerial bombs suddenly going off just over the masthead! As two wide-eyed sailors popped out of the main companionway, the town waterfront was aflame with a huge bond fire - although Carnaval was over, Lent was started, and the citizens of Point-a-Pitre were burning the devil and celebrating his demise with a rousing fireworks display! Another colorful party, complete with drums and marching and loud music was underway! We scrambled into the dinghy and rowed to the quai to witness the joyous celebration - sometimes the best things are unexpected :-) While the Devil was still burning, fire engines began racing through the crowds in the downtown area - there was a major structure fire just two blocks south of Victorie Park - thankfully, no one was hurt. Never a dull moment! To see some of our pictures of Carnaval Guadeloupe style go to the PHOTO GALLERY on the upper right side of this page, click in, and navigate thusly: PHOTO GALLERY / PORTS OF CALL / CARIBBEAN / GUADELOUPE. See you there!!