Le Trou de David
Le Trou de David (David’s Hole), is a large natural hole with two arches leading out to the sea near Baie Rouge. We’ve known about it for years, but only just went out to visit. On the sides of the hole, green iguanas are common, and I even spotted one climbing down the cliff-face on the sea-side of the hole. The hole is located near a couple other interesting spots: Pointe du Bluff, where a narrow isthmus leads out to a patch of forested land and La Belle Creole, an abandoned resort that is rumored to be built beside an ancient native burial ground.
Since we were nearby, we also undertook a reconnaissance mission to Le Grotte de Puits des Terres Basses, which is supposedly a large cave near Morne Rouge that serves as a roost for several species of bat. Unfortunately, due to time constraints we did not locate it this time, but will return soon.
May 23rd, 2010 at 12:40 pm
[…] visited Le Trou de David (David’s Hole) before, but after glowing reports from Robin and Aure, we knew we had to […]
September 4th, 2011 at 8:40 am
Dear Marc, just because I know you are in real love to discover this island from largest things to very tiny details, I have to tell you something about a common mistake.
The one who start doing the mistake is a french man who in the past 70′ had been in charge to collect the local topographic names for the french official government map (IGN). Sadly this guy was not understanding English fluently, also he had commit several mistakes that since are over repeated on maps and people habits.
The original french name given to this natural hole was “Marmite du Diable” or “Trou du Diable” (often used names in France for such “inferno” hole where water sometimes seems boiling). “Devil’s hole” is the correct English translation that must have been used in the past, but “my” french fellow heard and wrote “David’s hole” may be thinking that hole might belongs to someone named “David” !
You can find on IGN maps another “BIG” mistake he had done about a property area name, located above Rambaud (on the way to Pic Paradise).
The well known name “Anse Marcel” is another of his stupid mistakes … and so on.
I like to read your nature observations reports and to look at your beautiful macro photos.
Many thank for sharing worldwide your naturalist involvement.
My very best regards,
Eric
September 4th, 2011 at 10:40 am
Hi Eric! Thanks for letting me know about this. It’s quite interesting. There are definitely some interesting stories behind some of the place names on this island. Apparently Galisbay comes from Gallows Bay because they used to hang people there. Also, Creole Rock is often labeled Crowl or Crole Rock on some maps.
Apparently there was also another cave named Devil’s Hole, about 100 meters away from Simpson Bay, that has been filled in. You can find a description of it in this paper: http://www.scielo.org.ar/pdf/mznt/v14n2/v14n2a03.pdf