Fort Karl

After a lovely lunch at La Cantina on the seafront, we had a look at the old Anglican Church (nice and cool!) then visited Fort Karl. One of four forts surrounding Gustavia, it was created in 1789 by Swedish Commander Per Herman von Rosenstein and named after the brother of Gustaf III when Saint Barthélemy was in Swedish hands. It is now ruins but worth climbing up the steps (29 metres) to it to see the wonderful views of this picturesque port and town.

We walked past the highly poisonous Manchineel trees (‘the tree of death’) but didn’t eat the berries or even touch the trees, as advised. We also met a tortoise on the way up!

At the top we could see our ship, the Silver Shadow, in the distance on the azure water, as well as a lovely view of Shell Bay. After this I had a swim on the gorgeous Shell Beach, and wore goggles to see the wonderful fish that seem unfazed by bathing humans!Read more