Carbet Falls
Chutes du Carbet
Interesting facts
- The Grand Carbet River that feeds the falls is only about 12.9 km long from its source on La Soufrière to the sea.
- The river's name recalls an Amerindian village of carbets, large open-sided communal shelters, that once stood near its mouth.
- The word carbet is thought to come from Tupi-Guarani, brought to the Antilles from Brazil; the Kalinago later adopted it in place of their own word, taboui.
- The second fall lies at about 660 metres above sea level, some 240 metres lower than the start of the highest fall.
- After the 2004 earthquake a large mass of rock broke away from the cliff behind the second fall, reshaping its face.
- Torrential rains in November 2009 set off a landslide that filled in the pool at the foot of the first two falls.
- Wildlife around the falls includes the Guadeloupean anole, the brown trembler, the Lesser Antillean bullfinch and the freshwater crab Guinotia dentata.
- The forest along the path passes stands of big-leaf mahogany before turning into dense evergreen rainforest on the way to the falls.
Why it is worth it
On the rain-soaked eastern flank of La Soufrière, the volcano that dominates Basse-Terre in Guadeloupe, the Grand Carbet River leaves the mountain in a staircase of three waterfalls set deep in tropical rainforest. Together they drop some 245 metres, and they are among the most visited natural sites in Guadeloupe, with around 400,000 visitors a year. They lie within Guadeloupe National Park, in the commune of Capesterre-Belle-Eau.
The first and highest fall plunges about 115 metres, high on the mountainside around 900 metres above sea level; the river's source lies only two kilometres further upstream at about 1,300 metres. The second fall, some 110 metres high, is the most frequently seen, reached by a paved path through the forest from the road below. The third and lowest is only about 20 metres tall but carries the greatest volume of water of any waterfall on the island. Several hot springs rise in the forest nearby.
The falls are often linked with Columbus, who reached Guadeloupe on his second voyage in 1493 and is said to have noted them in his log. The island's earlier Kalinago name, Karukera, is usually translated as "island of beautiful waters", a name the Carbet cascades illustrate as well as any place. Columbus renamed the island after the monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe in Extremadura, honouring a promise made to its monks.
Getting there
Carbet Falls lie about 9 km from the town of Capesterre-Belle-Eau, from which a road climbs into the national park. The nearest airport is Maryse Condé International Airport (PTP) at Pointe-à-Pitre, about 28 km away in a straight line.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
Carbet Falls is a series of waterfalls on the Carbet River in Guadeloupe, an overseas department of France located in the Leeward Islands of the eastern Caribbean region. Its three cascades are set amid the tropical rainforests on the lower slopes of the volcano La Soufrière. The falls are one of the most popular visitor sites in Guadeloupe, with approximately 400,000 visitors annually.
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