By Keva and Natalie
The day began with our breakfast and bus ride at 9:30. Today, our itinerary consisted of a trip to La Savane des Esclaves, the Jardin de Balata, and a boat ride.
La Savane des Esclaves, or The Slave Savannah, is a museum highlighting local Martinican culture and the island’s history relating to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. La Savane des Esclaves is a reconstructed village that takes you through the history of Martinique, including before European settlements, during slavery, and after the abolition of slavery. During the tour, we started with cultivating chocolate by taking the shells off of freshly roasted cacao beans, mashing the cacao beans into a paste, and rolling the cacao paste into a roll that could be used in pastries and desserts.
Samantha, our tour guide, asked us to take the pestle and take turns mashing the chocolate with a challenge — not pausing while mashing the beans so they won’t cool down. We all tasted a piece of the chocolate, and most of us agreed that it was quite bitter and had a slight nutty flavor. We started our tour of the village by talking about the slave trade as well as the native communities that lived in Martinique before the arrival of the French. For lunch, we had crepes with the options of ham and cheese, vegetarian, salted cod, and sausage. We ended lunch with some ice cream in flavors of guava, coconut, and vanilla — all refreshing options! At the gift shop, we bought things ranging from perfume to chocolate and postcards.
We then took a brief trip to the Sacré-Cœur de Balata, which is a 1/10th exact replica of the Sacré-Cœur Basilica in Paris. After that, we made our way to the Jardin de Balata (Balata Gardens), which was only five minutes away from the church. At the garden, we went in small groups and took self-guided tours of the gardens, and took lots of pictures of the different plants.
We ended our day with a sunset boat ride! Following our day in the gardens, we shifted to the sea. Our boat ride began at around 4:30 p.m., where we were seated on a catamaran. Our captain allowed people to sit at the front of the boat as well as on top. One notable moment was being able to feel the ocean breeze and have a pause from reality. During our boat ride, we jammed out to music and watched the sunset. We even had people dancing inside the boat! Although we witnessed the sunset while on the sea, that didn’t stop the rain from coming down on us. Despite the rain, we still persevered and soaked in the moment.