I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Le Jardin de Balata, a botanical garden in Martinique, is just about the most beautiful garden I have ever set foot in. (What a claim to make, but take a look at the pictures for my reasoning for this drastic declaration.)
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Updated 2023.
A French Caribbean botanical garden
Opened to the public in the 1980s, le Jardin de Balata is no historical landmark. But its setting up in the volcanic mountains of the centre of Martinique makes for a spectacular situation; combine that with the layers upon layers of plants and trees artfully laid out in a vivid explosion of colour, and you’ve got a strong recipe for success.
Opening hours and tickets for le Jardin de Balata
Le Jardin de Balata is open daily from 9am-6pm, with the last admission at 4.30pm. Book your ticket to the garden in advance here.
How to get from Fort-de-France to le Jardin de Balata
Unless you have a car on the island, you have two options for transportation from Fort-de-France to le Jardin de Balata. By taxi, it’ll take about 20 minutes; currency here is the Euro, so bring plenty of those with you. By public bus, you’ll need the L25 which stops right outside the entrance to the garden.
After a highly unsuccessful attempt at haggling a fair deal with a few taxi drivers in the port, we decided the only thing for it would be to keep our fingers crossed that a public bus would be along soon at the nearby bus station.
Well, we were in luck pals.
As if by magic a bus appeared, so we clambered in with a few local ladies laden down with shopping bags and sat eagerly awaiting the start of our journey. Awkward times, as it turns out the bus (which was more of a slightly dilapidated but characterful 15-seater van), could not depart until it was full.
That’s just the way public transport works in the Caribbean.
Fifteen minutes later the driver cranked the gearstick and spluttered the bus-van towards the main road, through the city and onwards up into the steep hills of Martinique. GLORIOUS.
A Guide to Fort-de-France, Martinique’s Vibrant Capital City
Martinique’s Volcanic Past, and the man who lived through the end
The views as we sped uphill were frankly nothing short of spectacular. We were surrounded on all sides by lush forested slopes- down to the sea, and up into the points of the Pitons du Carbet, a mountain range covered in tropical trees which runs through the centre of Martinique.
Nowadays the only active volcano in Martinique is Mont Pelée in the North, although that badboy thankfully hasn’t erupted since 1902. Back at the time of that fateful eruption the island’s capital, Saint Pierre (also known as the Paris of the West Indies, fancy), was completely destroyed, along with 30,000 people who were also in Pelée’s path of destruction.
There were only a few survivors. A girl who had jumped into a rowing boat which was swept out to sea, a man who lived on the very far outskirts of the city, and a chap named Louis-Auguste Cyparis who’d been locked up in jail for getting into fight the night before the disaster. Incredibly, Louis-Auguste’s underground concrete cell was the safest place in the city when faced with a volcanic eruption. Although he was badly burnt from the smoke and fumes that managed to creep in through the cell’s narrow ventilation grate, he was the only person found alive after the eruption.
This propelled the survivor into fame and fortune. He was pardoned of his crimes- having gone through quite enough already- and became ‘Ludger Sylbaris, The Man Who Lived Through Doomsday!’ The miraculous Ludger Sylbaris spent the rest of his life touring the USA with Barnum and Baileys’ ‘Greatest Show on Earth,’ in a replica of the cell that saved him.
It always blows my mind to think that nature can be at the same time exquisitely beautiful and also capable of complete and utter carnage. (Let alone launching one man’s circus career and changing the course of his life forever.)
Le Jardin de Balata’s creole cottage
Upon entering le Jardin de Balata, the first thing you’re met with is a tiny white Creole house. The house has a bit of a Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe effect- walking through the replica old-fashioned cottage and out into the garden is magical.
The sight of the house’s veranda filled with hummingbirds was like being slapped in the face with a big piece of paradise. Several hummingbird feeders dangle from the overhanging roof, hence the ten to fifteen of the gem-like birds that constantly flitter around at just above eye level height.
I don’t think I’ll ever find the sight of hummingbirds boring, that’s for sure.
A Caribbean garden paradise
Every section of Le Jardin de Balata is completely different from the next, and the general lack of signage (there is some, don’t get me wrong, just not enough to be obvious), almost made me forget that this place was actually designed and landscaped by someone. Parts of it feel like a happy and beautiful accident rather than an intentional garden.
It’s all a bit ‘Garden of Eden’ if I’m honest.
Winding pathways through groves of palm trees, swathes of colourful leaves carpeting the floor, and thick gargantuan leaves like blankets towering upwards. An entire tree has been encased by another even bigger and taller tree, a knotted boa constrictor of bark that stretches up so far into the sky that it’s hard to see the leaves of the poor little inner tree poking out defiantly at the top. Down low, roots weave their way across the floor, with finger-sized green lizards jumping between stems of cloud-like fluffy flowers and hanging seed pods. Around every single corner there is something different.
Adventures of the rope bridges
At the far end of the Jardin de Balata, a series of rope bridges stretches across the steep downwards slope, leading a pathway across the trees and giving an even more amazing view of the rolling forested mountains out towards the sea.
There are a few ground rules regarding the rope bridges. No more than two people on each bridge at a time, no pregnant people, and lastly absolutely no hugging whatsoever.
It’s an intriguing set of guidelines if ever I’ve seen one. Thank goodness none of us were preggers. I loved being able to see everything from a different perspective, as fearful as I was of losing my iPhone over the side of the rickety bridges.
We were incredibly lucky with the clear skies we had; on the way back down to Fort-de-France our taxi driver (who was an all round marvellous chap), explained that normally the view tends to be completely obscured by clouds covering the lower ground. Our day at le Jardin de Balata was brilliant, and this is one of the most beautiful and most tranquil places I’ve ever visited.
Before you visit Le Jardin de Balata
- Being a French island, currency in Martinique is euros.
- The price of the local bus from Fort-de-France to Le Jardin de Balata is normally around €2.50 per person. Although this fluctuates depending on the driver’s mood. (True story)
- Entry price for le Jardin de Balata is €16 (2023) for adults, although we managed to negotiate a cheeky group discount.
- A taxi worked out at somewhere between €10-15 per person, but as a few of us had to get back to the ship to work we decided it would be safer time-wise. To avoid being fired.
- It’s probs a good idea to brush up on your French before hopping over to Martinique; my French is extremely basic and although it’s still possible to get by I regretted not knowing at least a few more words to help me have a good old chinwag.
- Saying that…the locals are a highly laid-back and friendly bunch! So don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it.