Anse Couleuvre - Anse des Galets

Leave the car park and cross the river. The hike starts in a wide alley at the foot of the tall trees among which you can notice: the silk-cotton tree, the zamana, the local apricot tree. The path is well maintained by NFB.

At the first junction (1), turn right and go straight on. You will arrive at a small junction at the fork in the path that goes down to Anse Lévrier with a view of the beach of Anse Couleuvre below. Continue to the right on the path that goes down into the tropical forest. On this balcony path, you are never far from the sea, which you can see quite often through a hole in the vegetation. After a good hour's climb, you will reach the summit of the morne à Lianes (2), the first of the four "peaks" to be crossed on the hike up to Grand'Rivière. From there you have a view of Anse à Voile and Anse Lévrier.

The path starts again downhill before winding through the forest. At the bottom of the hill, just before the ravine des Galets, at the foot of an imposing local fig tree (3), take the path that goes left. The path goes deep into the vegetation, then crosses the Galets river several times, indicated by a signpost. At the end of the path, under the cliff, to the left of the beach, there is a large hole in the rock beaten by the strong waves. To the right of the beach there is a very small stream, you are now at Anse des Galets.

As you approach the beach, you will notice ruins covered by vegetation and fragments of a paved path in the river bed. These are the remains of the 19th century village of Anse des Galets which included sugar cane fields, a house, a fort, a prison and a slave market. The beach is not suitable for swimming as it is very exposed to the swell.

A bit of history: the slaves of Anse des Galets were the first in Martinique to join the revolt movement that led to the abolition of slavery in 1848, hence its symbolic significance.

Show less