Maison de la Mangrove

Mangrove - Les Abymes

La Maison de la Mangrove, located in Belle Plaine, is also known as “Project Taonaba,” which means “flooded swamp and forest” in Creole. The site aims to interpret the many natural environments surrounding it, and also serves as a platform for the environmental and tourist development of the area. It contains a museum, the Natural History Museum of the Biosphere Reserve of Guadeloupe, which provides a mixture of scientific and technical information concerning the coastal wetlands, i.e. the mangrove, marshes, bayou forest and prairie wetlands. There are clearly marked duckboard walkways through the bayou forest, mangrove and prairie wetlands alongside the canal, allowing visitors to get a closer look at the wealth of flora and birdlife. A Welcome Center, currently under construction next to the Perrin Canal route, is due to open in 2016. It will house a ticket office, a shop and a restaurant with panoramic views. The Center will also be the starting point of a 1.5 km path along the right bank of the Belle Plaine Canal. Plans also call for a boating center, where you will able to take a trip along the canal and learn how it was once used as a means of transport. On the trip you will also discover many different landscapes, including plains full of sugar cane, prairie wetlands, a bayou forest, a mangrove swamp, and on out to the waters of the Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin.