Discovering Dominica

The group of folks Roland collected for his taxi!

This is the only island on our itinerary that Alan and I have not visited before.  And, thanks to Freedom Dining, we have met a couple from Glasgow who were also interested in discovering Dominica!

Although the ship’s newsletter clearly states nothing of interest is within walking distance, the map appears to show otherwise.  So the four of us decided it would be a relatively easy walk to the Botanical Gardens.  

As you leave any cruise ship in Caribbean, you have to run the gauntlet of private taxies offering tours of anything of interest in the island.  Alan and I have done this many times, it is much more economical than going on the on-shore excursions offered by the ships.  After successfully getting out of the port and heading to town,

Dominica is known as the “nature island”  and is relatively unspoiled by tourism.  We docked at Woodbridge Bay in Roseau, which was about one mile from the town.  This was on Sunday so most businesses were closed but that did not deter us.   

However, after about 40 minutes or longer, we realised we were no longer in our comfort zone. There is quite a lot of poverty and the roads were getting more and more congested with people and cars. Another couple on their own, walking, told us someone had accosted them and expected money, another story was told of necklaces being grabbed…….

After a few offers of taxies passing us by asking if we were ready for a taxi yet, we were literally herded onto Roland’s taxi! With him offering to cut his fee and we only had to pay what we felt his tour was worth!  (His tour was so good, we ended up paying the full fee plus a tip!  How’s that for a rescue?)

We made it to the Botanical Gardens, which had been decimated during Hurricane David in 1979, I think.  They have come back, but still are pretty sparse.  But three things stood out, the 200 year old Banyan tree, the Baobob tree which had fallen on a school bus during that hurricane, thankfully no one was in it a the time, and the bamboo Hilton!

the banyan tree

The crushed school bus

The bamboo Hilton!

We drove through the village of Trafalgar and had  a peak of Trafalgar Falls, Roland was good to keep us out of places that were chargeable, but it did mean we had to use our imagination a bit when begin shown the wonders of this island!

We then went into the Valley of Desolation, where there are pools of boiling grey mud, pockets of steam for what appeared to be no reason at all, little geyser in the boiling mud, and even a vent from the earth with such hot air coming out I am certain you could bake bread in it!  (If it were a bit bigger though).  

Quite a slippery walk to the pool of sulphur water

If you look closely and use your imagination,
you can "see" the little geyser and grey
sulphur mud from the volcano

Roland then took us back to the ship where we spent some time with other passengers enjoying the local Rum Punch, or - in Alan and Colin’s case - the local beer. Kabuli.  I had tried one earlier and it was good too!

A bit of pool time, then the first formal evening of this trip, a bit of evening entertainment by the Headliners.  (we had actually seen this show on our last cruise, but these dancers are so talented, they are always a pleasure to watch! 

Just docking in Granada now, we will see what adventures await us on this Spice Island!  

“The mountains of Dominica rose from the sea in spikes, and the clouds that overhung their summits were loosened into gap through which, over a pale disc of sea, the moon split a silver cone.”  

Patrick Leigh Fermor, “The Traveler’s Tree"