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Sunday June 19, 2005
Our trip to Dominica, (Dom-i-neeh-ka), started at dusk when
we left my store and hit the road for Miami. Miami is a
fitting portal to start a trip to a very different country.
We stopped for wings and a couple of cold ones at “Uncle
Al’s” Bar and Grill in Weston. We were very excited about
this trip. This wasn’t a group trip that I take I take from
my store. This wasn’t an all guys trip, fishing and diving.
This was a trip for two. Katie and I were going on our
honeymoon. The small island of Dominica, not to be confused
with the Dominican Republic, was our destination. Two weeks
of diving and land tours. I don’t want to worry my readers;
this story is about the sights and not about my honeymoon.
Dominica is a small island in the windward island chain,
right in sight of Guadeloupe and Martinique on a good day.
It is considered by many to be the scuba diving capital of
the eastern Caribbean. OK, so now you know the real reason I
choose this destination. The official language is English,
although Creole is widely spoken. Dominica is known as the
“Nature Island of the Caribbean”. Its terrain is colored by
rainforests and waterfalls, volcanoes and rivers. It is a
beautiful combination of land and water sports.
We "overnighted" at the Amerisuites in Miami, just 15
minutes from the airport. I have to mention this experience
to travelers and give credit to my friend Terri from Aqua
Dreams Travel. Terri set the trip up for me. Our flight out
was scheduled for 8 am on Monday. We would have to wake up
very early to travel to Miami and make an early departure.
Couple that with the huge expense of car storage for two
weeks at the airport and it would take a small piece of
enjoyment out of the trip, Terri saved the day. We did the
“park and fly” at the Amerisuites. We booked stay the night
before and the night after our trip and the truck stayed at
the hotel for free. It cost a little less for the two nights
than the parking would have and made it much easier.
The flight from Miami was uneventful with the exception that
several people were excited to share the plane with actor
Mario Van Peeples. I know he looked familiar, but couldn’t
place him until I was told by the New Jersey passenger
sitting next to me. I had two Miller Lite beers in the San
Juan, Puerto Rico Airport during our layover. This would be
the last time for two weeks I would taste American Beer.
It’s amazing what some people miss.
Well, the flights didn’t have anyone sick as far as I could
tell, but the drive was different. After landing at the
Melville Hall Airport in Dominica, we met our minibus
transport outside of Dominican Customs. The baggage handlers
were extremely pushy for tips, as often is the case in the
Caribbean. We met the other passengers that would ride with
us; Rick, Cindy, Julie and Allison were a fun and wild group
from Texas. Dan and Jesse were also a fun and enjoyable
(maybe not as wild) couple from Texas. We were all staying
at the Fort Young Hotel in Roseau (Rose-o) and we would be
diving together. The Texas 6 would be with us for the first
week and we made quick friends with all. Now back to the
ride. The car ride was a little more than an hour through
winding, steep roads. The roads were very narrow and in many
cases one car had to pull over to let the opposing car pass.
Several times during our stay, I saw several Americans sick
from the car rides. No, I was not a victim. I do recommend
that travelers take motion sickness medicine if it suites
you before land tours on Dominica.
The Fort Young Hotel was actually a colonist fort but little
of the original structure is part of the current structure.
The hotel caters to Americans but during the course of our
stay we witnessed quite a few international business
meetings in the hotel meeting rooms. Our room was located on
the fifth floor, the puttering rain could be heard on our
wood roof. We had no glass windows, instead wooden jalousie
slats with mesh screen behind and Mahogany floors
overlooking the Caribbean Sea. Many of the rooms were much
more modern and comfortable though less charismatic.
The rain came frequently throughout our time on Dominica,
but was short lived and never lasted long. The rain produced
steam on most of the island and the visibility could change
from clear to nothing at all in a heartbeat. The small
native birds could be heard at all times, the mosquitoes and
no-see-ums were strong in some areas and yet non-existent in
some areas you would expect. As far as the sights and things
to do, well…
The Food:
The food was pretty good but at the end of two weeks, I was
longing for American food. There is a lot of Indian and Thai
influence on the food and curry, pepper and coconut milk is
found plentiful. Fish is common, but lobster and shrimp were
a rarity and expensive. Chicken was pretty common. Beware of
any drinks that come from an old pickle jar. I’m not one to
leave a drink unfinished but this trip challenged my
reputation and I left many on the bar. Strong, very strong,
cinnamon and pepper is common in the drinks, including the
rum punch. This is the first place that I have been where I
could not drink the rum punch. The local rum ‘Soca” is good
and so is the local beer “Kubuli” (Katie pointed out that it
tasted like “Rolling Rock”). I found a duty free and bought
some Captain Morgan.
The Diving:
The rainforest and sloping terrain of Dominica spills right
over from the land and into the water. Beautifully alive
reefs that drop off into the deep. We made ten dives in our
first week and enjoyed it completely. I’ve done many dives
in the Caribbean and I put this up close to the best of
them. The reefs swell with parrotfish, snapper, wrasse and
other reef fish. I was surprised not to see many larger fish
considering the amount of smaller fish. I saw many Rock
Beauties (a type of angelfish) but no Queen or French
Angelfish that I have seen commonly throughout most of the
Caribbean. I did see schools of Yellowtail Snapper of extra
large size on several occasions saw the largest Jaw fish I
have ever seen. I also observed several Seahorses and
Frogfish on my dives. One of my favorite dives is called
“Champagne.” This site was unique to my experiences: a
gorgeous reef near shore with a bonus. Closer to the shore
the sand releases many tiny bubbles and looks like a glass
of its namesake. The water also looks contaminated by oil.
These effects are caused by an underground hot spring. This
causes the hot gas bubbles to rise through the sand and warm
fresh water to seep through. The difference in density
between the fresh and saltwater causes the oily appearance.
“Dive Dominica”, the one dive operator we went with did a
fantastic job. We also learned that Johnny Depp went
snorkeling on our boat when he was on Dominica for Pirates
of the Caribbean parts 2 and 3.
Titou (tee-to) Gorge:
We really liked Titou Gorge. This is one of the many tours
arranged through any of the tour operators. We used a tour
operation called “Khatts”. Our tour guide was Kent, a native
Carib Indian, and we requested him for all future tours. A
short walk from the van brought us to the small basin with a
rock entrance. Stepping in, the water felt very cold. I have
to say that the water at this as with the others was not as
cold as we initially thought. I think it was all comparison
to the hot air because we got used to it quickly. I’m a
pansy in the coldwater without a suit so trust me on this. A
small waterfall there in the basin dropped down warm water.
We swam into the bushes and into the gorge. The gorge is a
natural split in a solid rock terrain. The swim was short
and amazing. The current pushes at you in this lava formed
gorge. The walls on either side are twenty feet tall. The
water is fresh and clean. At the end of our swim you look up
at a waterfall, the cause of the current. Getting out was
easy, get up and let the current take you.
Trafalgar Falls:
The Trafalgar Falls were spectacular. A 15 minute walk put
us in a rocky area looking way up at the “mother” and
“father” waterfalls as the locals say. Kent expertly told us
the way to step through the rocky water trail to the basin
at the foot of the falls. Unfortunately, I was towards the
rear of the group and couldn’t hear Kent’s low voice. I
still enjoyed my swim in the basin with my swollen ankle
courtesy of and algae slick rock.
Indian Creek Canoe:
This was a great trip also. Very relaxing! A guide took a
group of us up the Indian River from the Caribbean shore. We
were able to see great areas of natural beauty, fantastic
trees and birds along with large schools of Mullet. We were
also able to see several sites where filming had just
completed on Pirates of the Caribbean parts 2 and 3.
Cabrits National Park:
This is a must for any land photographer. An uphill hike
puts you at a colonial fort started by the French and
finished by the English. Many trees regarded for their wood
value are found all around such as Mahogany and Teak. A huge
Mango tree is just one of the many fruit trees on the
property. Like most of the many well laid out fort preserves
in the United States this fort is full of placards
describing original designs and ideas of the now
deteriorated fort. An amazing view of Dominica and the
Caribbean Sea is offered from the top of the hill.
The Emerald Pool:
A short walk through the rainforest puts us at the Emerald
pool. The sun shining through the green rainforest foliage
makes the pool water an emerald green. Like Titou Gorge, the
cool water became comfortable quickly. I stood under the
waterfall feeding the pool and let the water pelt my head.
It felt great!
The Snake Staircase:
This was a little tougher as far as hikes go. A long walk
down the eastern cliffs means a really long hike back. The
vegetation was beautiful, fruit trees, bay leaves, and
bright flowers. Kent gracefully led us a long and told us
the Carib Indian legend. As we looked at a large rock
formation jutting out into the ocean, I could picture the
legend happening as he said. Kent explained that according
to the Caribs, God had created the earth smooth but the
snake slithered from the ocean overturning the rocks as he
went. The snake climbed up the mountainside and into the
rainforest. Up further it went into Dominica’s high
mountains and there it rests in a cave. The snake became a
counselor to the Carib Indians. When needed they would climb
to its cave and do a magic dance. The snake would come out
of the cave, taking the form of man, to see the Carib Tribal
Leaders. He would then offer the necessary advice or
medicine needed and requested for.
The snake steps also could judge a human. If a man of evil
heart stepped out on the steps the waves would rise up and
take him away. We never put a foot on the actual snake
steps. It was a good thing because I was concerned for some
of the people with me. The Snake Staircase is located at the
edge of the Carib Territory.
The Carib Territory:
The tour booking agent at the Fort Young Hotel set us up to
go to the Carib Indian Territory. When Kent picked us up he
laughingly joked with the agent, “You call my nation a
village!” The Carib nation is 3,000 strong, that out of the
74,000 Dominican residents. The Carib Territory was much
cleaner than the other residential neighborhoods we went
through. We were not pestered by any beggars like we were in
Roseau (this may have been in part to Kent’s presence). We
bought some native crafts here and would recommend the same
to other travelers. The Carib village produces more
interesting and authentic souvenirs. We got to take a tour
through a local Catholic church by its priest. Their
religion is a mix of Catholicism and Indian tribal beliefs.
The altar was a canoe; depictions of Jesus were that of an
Indian. We saw locals weaving baskets of thatch, tending
their fruit farms, and cutting away at citronella to burn.
Mangos, pineapple, passion fruit, star fruit, breadfruit and
coconuts were plentiful among quite a few others. We stopped
by Kent’s modest house and met his wife and grandson. He
shared his passion fruit and mangos with us. I fell asleep
on the long drive back to the hotel.
Whale Watching:
With my love of the water it’s no surprise that this was one
of my favorite tours. I brought the ice bucket from the room
along with some sodas and a bottle of rum. It was a relaxing
and beautiful afternoon on the water with just a couple of
sun showers. One of Dominica’s great features is that whales
can be sighted just off shore all year long. The group of
watchers was large but the 55 foot Catamaran was spacious.
They were equipped with a homemade hydrophone consisting of
a piece of metal conduit with an underwater microphone at
one end. Shielding the mic was an aluminum bowl layered with
old wetsuit neoprene. They were able to use this as
primitive directional finder for the whales and after about
an hour we had our first sighting almost 3 miles from shore
and further north. Captain Jerry expertly put us up next to
the whales. We were able to watch 5 different Sperm Whales
up close in the following few hours. These amazing creatures
seemed to be showing off for our cameras and we even
witnessed a feeding calf. On the way back we witnessed two
large Green turtles, mating.
Fishing:
I picked up a sign advertising fishing charters in the dive
shop and the manager threw it away. Apparently the only
charter sport fish had up and left the island. I was
persistent however. Capt. Jerry ended up coming through with
a local. His 21 foot homemade wood boat seemed like a big
canoe. It did have a 40 hp Yamaha and Marvin, the owner,
fished for a living. I was satisfied. Lucky for me Katie was
a great sport and ended up loving our trip. Marvin and his
first mate, whose name I never got, picked us up at 7 am at
the hotel dock. We motored slowly through the chop to our
fishing ground 3 miles off shore. The ride was wet to say
the least. Our site was a “F.A.D.” which stands for Fish
Attraction Device. The device is made of plywood wrapped
with old fishing nets. The device is suspended somewhere
between the seafloor and the surface (I never could find out
the depth) and it is marked by two small and one large float
balls. The F.A.D. allows growth, which attracts bait, which
attracts the big stuff. We trolled two hand lines which
Katie and I held on to. Tree limbs were put on either side
of the motor to keep our lines apart, makeshift outriggers.
White plastic tubing the size of a golfers pencil was our
bait. It was definitely fun pulling in Tuna on the hand
lines. We caught close to 15 small Blackfins and three
Albacores. Marvin and his mate set two of these out on large
floats as bait for the really big stuff. There were plenty
of other small fishing boats around us and we witnessed two
Marlin caught on these tuna baits. The captain or mate would
beat the Marlin to death with a machete and then pull them
in for the market. Our boat did not get any hits on the
floats. We were very lucky to get right on top of two
Humpback whales though. They were bigger than the Sperm
Whales we experienced a few days prior. Marvin cut the
engine and shared some stewed Blackfin Tuna with us that he
had made the night before. It was another great day!
Well there’s not much to say about the return trip. It was
uneventful and who wants to hear about coming home. Dominica
is a very diverse place and offers more than most islands.
It is beautiful and deserves is nickname “The Nature
Island.”
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