Dominica

Dominica

Dominica is beautiful, greener than any country I have ever seen. The currency here is in EC (Eastern Caribbean) dollars. One American dollar is equal to 2.68EC much more affordable! We anchored in Portsmouth a real cozy bay.

Even before we dropped our hook a local guide approached us, in a small wooden boat with the name Cobra written in yellow along the side. He explained that here in Dominica everyone uses a guide for everything. My name is Jerome and I’m at your service. The island has many guided tours of all kinds he pulls out a map to show us. Indian River tours, river rafting, Rain forests trips, waterfalls hikes, sightseeing bus rides across the Island to name a few. Anything that we needed we just asked Jerome and he had it done. Carl got the bottom of the boat cleaned and a wooden door fixed for cheap. A guy on a surf board rows up to the boat selling fruit. I love the Mangoes!

We decided to take two tours. The 1st one was down the Indian River. The guide rows us down the river in the Cobra wooden boat, mangroves on the sides with huge swamp blood wood trees with their massive roots sticking out of the soil and down into the water, twisting and tangling into different shapes. Tropical plants, flowers and birds everywhere. Some parts of the movie Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed here. We stop at Le Troquet de Radjah a bar at the end of the river. The owners are great about keeping the place natural and let mother mature do her thing. Its beautiful. Our guide makes us bird and fish out of a palm tree leaf. We sit and have a drink of natural fruit juice and eat a mango fresh off the tree. The boaters from the boat The Bees Knees sits next to us. We net them in Ponce. We are in heaven. The guide invites us to his house to eat land crab fixed the way the locals make it. We went and met his parents, wife and son & daughter. Of course we had to pay for the crab. All-in-all it was nice to see how the locals live. Very 3rd world.

The next day we take the sightseeing trip accost the Island to a waterfall hike in the rain forest. There are 10 of us on this mini van bus twisting and turning up and down the mountain roads. Wile the guide beeps the horn around the steep turns. I just close my eyes as he drives on the left hand side of the road. Our guide stops along the way to explain the different flowers and fruit trees that grow on the island. He lets us taste the different types of fruit as we go. He even breaks open a coconut that he finds along the way. Maybe he hasn’t eaten breakfast yet! The hike to the rain forest was incredible. Long vines dangle over the path large trees form a complete canopy overhead so it is dark and cathedral like. Sprinkles of water drop on your body, its cool and tranquil. The waterfall drops about 200 ft into a large cool pool. We swim and cool off. It’s heaven again! Next stop St. Lucia in the Windward Islands.