When we planned our trip, we wanted to alternate days that would be active with days that would be…. a little less active. Our trip to Fort Delgres was on one of our less active days. The fort is free to get into, has some amazing views and is packed full of history. If you are interested in reading about the history of Fort Delgres, check out our other post here.
Getting There
I need to mention the issue we had getting to Fort Delgres. We were using Google Maps to get around, which worked amazingly, but mislead us a little bit the first time around. It is probably because we do not know how to speak French.
The address that we plugged into our phones brought us to Fort Delgres, but to…. well, it seemed like the maintenance area. There was a door, but it was locked. There was a road running along side it, but it quickly turned into an offroad scenario, and we decided to not wreck the rental car. In actuality, we were in a dirt parking lot built alongside the back of the fort. If you go here, be sure to go to the front entrance.
To access the fort you need to maneuver down some narrow side streets. There is a small parking lot, but only large enough for a few vehicles. Consequently, the narrow side streets had a good amount of visitors like us, and we ended up parking down the road about a 5 minute walk from the fort.
Being There
One of the hardest things about sight seeing in a foreign country is that the signs are often in a different language. Fort Delgres is now a memorial site, and the signs were no different. Luckily, they had English pamphlets that had a short description of some of the sites at Fort Delgres, which made our experience that much better!
I should mention that after Meaghan was handed an English pamphlet, she said gracias. I don’t blame her, it is harder than you think to respond in a language you don’t know, especially if you are in the Caribbean, and you kind of assume it is Spanish.
Part of the fort consists of an active research facility. Part of the building is accessible, and contains posters and videos about the volcanic activity on the Island. The part of the building you cannot get into contains seismic monitoring equipment and supposedly some scientists, all making sure that they are ready the next time the volcano erupts.
One of the most solemn sites at Fort Delgres is the memorial to Louis Delgres, a free born man of color and French military officer that led a rebellion against the re institution of slavery. For more information on the history on Delgres, check out this post.
Our Takeaway
- When you travel, be sure to take the time to visit some of the historic and cultural sites available. Take time to learn something new and to improve yourself as a human being. Take time to connect to the culture in some way.
- Look at a real map if you are going somewhere, or at least have one with you. Self-guided trips are amazing, but not as amazing if you are lost and trying to figure out where to go (with no internet or ability to speak the language).
- Check out our post about the history of Fort Delgres!