On been politely turfed out of Marie Galante we headed back to Dominica and made our way to the Capital, Roseau, where we picked up a mooring buoy. Having booked our PADI diving course, we decided to stay ashore. Amanda contacted Celine at Charlotte Estate (see previous Dominica blog) and made a reservation there for us from Sunday.

Friday 20^th March

We tendered ashore and walked into Roseau to explore.  The fruit and veg market was great with piles of fabulous produce including many unfamiliar items.

After lunch at Petit Paris, the restaurant owned and run by Celine and Marcel, we returned to Ernestina for a quiet afternoon and started the e-learning part of the PADI diving course.

Saturday 21^st March

E-learning, paddleboard, swim, more e-learning.

Sunday 22^nd March

We took a water taxi ashore with our bags and walked the short distance up to Charlotte Estate. Celine kindly drove us down to Soufriere where we were to do our PADI Open Water Diver course, starting the next day. We stuck our heads in at the dive centre, Nature Island Dive, and met the owner, Simon who made us coffee and chatted about diving and Dominica.

From there we walked round the bay to Scott’s Head, the southern tip of Dominica. Soufriere Bay and Scott’s Head are part of what’s left of a volcanic crater; there are many reefs and several excellent dive sites. We got drenched half-way up the hill but soon dried out and got great views of the Island and some of the dive sites.

         View of Soufrière Bay from Scott’s Head

Stopping for lunch at a café that had decent Wi-Fi we did some more e-learning before walking to the centre of Soufriere in the hope of picking up a local bus. The Sunday bus service is generally limited but today proved to be non-existent. We were chatting to a couple of local guys at the bus stop who were attempting to thumb a ride from passing cars (this is pretty standard and it’s normally easy to get a lift), but with no success. This was perhaps a sign of people starting to practise social distancing with Covid-19 increasingly in the news here. After a while a pick-up truck came by and stopped, so the four of us jumped in the back and had an al fresco trip back to Roseau.

A delicious dinner on the veranda at Charlotte Estate rounded off the day.

Monday 23^rd March

Following yesterday’s experience with the local buses we decided to rent a car to get us to and from Soufriere over the next three days for our dive course.

The car was an old Honda HRV. It was grubby, with 2 bald tyres and one headlight, but did the job.

At the dive centre we met Desi (short for Desiree) our American dive-master and instructor (diving since the age of 12). After some paperwork and chat we donned our SCUBA kit and over the course of the day and three separate dives we worked through all of the “confined water” drills and skills. These were done off the beach down to a depth of about 5 metres.

Tuesday 24^th March

News from home, Dominica and around the Caribbean is all about Covid-19. It is becoming increasingly clear that we will be facing unknown but potentially severe restrictions on our movements. We had by now ruled out continuing north to the US or Bermuda with the option of sailing back to the UK in the coming months, and decided to leave Ernestina in a safe boat-yard in Grenada for the 2020 hurricane season. So the general plan is to head south over the coming weeks, get the boat tucked-up ashore in Grenada and then figure out how to get home. The avalanche of Covid-19 news overnight makes Amanda somewhat anxious.

And today is the first of 2 days of “open water” dives to 18m depth – about 60ft.

We were taken out to the first site and started dive 1. Amanda was having trouble “equalising”, that is releasing the pressure in her ears as we descended. This is not uncommon with new divers and can be very painful. After a while Desi agreed that Amanda should finish this dive early. Nick carried on with Desi getting down to 18m and completing dive 1. After the required surface time between dives (to allow nitrogen build up in the blood to dissipate and avoid any risk of the bends) Nick did the second dive of the day.

Desi then took Amanda to Bubbles Beach, a few yards from the dive centre, where underground gas escapes into the water lightly aerating it. Entering from the beach Desi slowly took Amanda under water down a gently sloping sandy shelf to an inshore reef, equalising all the way. The required drills, including taking off one’s mask underwater and removing and recovering the regulator, were all done without any problems. Amanda saw lots of brightly coloured fish, corals and sponges before returning to the surface and coming ashore. She was incredulous when Desi told her that she had done the drills at 18m – yes 60ft!! - underwater. She was also relieved and excited.

Back at the dive centre we all celebrated with local Rum Dogs rum and Coconut punch from Bubbles Beach Bar.

Returning to Charlotte Estate, we found that Celine and Marcel had had a long day closing up their restaurant and had not had time to prepare dinner so we went out in search of somewhere to eat. Everywhere was closed except the Fort Young Hotel in Roseau where we had the 100-seat restaurant to ourselves.

Wednesday 25^th March

The last day of our course - open water dives 3 & 4. We were taken to two separate reefs which were both stunning. A few drills including underwater navigation (with a compass!) and the CESA or “Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent” had to be done but it was mostly about enjoying the dives and the other-worldly wonder of being underwater in such beautiful surroundings.

      Desi and Amanda  - getting ready for the CESA on our final dive 

We surfaced from the final dive as qualified PADI Open Water Divers! Both of us very pleased and grateful to Desi for her patience, encouragement and enthusiasm.

We said our fond farewells to the team at Nature Island Dive (Simon & Wendy, Desi and Vaughn) and to an American couple Alex and Debbie who were on the boat for all of our open water dives.

Thursday 26^th March

One of the many arrows in Marcel’s quiver of skills is that he a mountain guide, so we had asked him to take us to the Boiling Lake.

The Boiling Lake Trail is THE hike that must be made in Dominica, or so all of the guide-books say.

We left Charlotte Estate at 7am and Marcel drove us to Titou Gorge to start the walk at 8am. Along the way he told us the names of most of the plants we saw and on the numerous tricky sections he advised the best route/footholds.

                             On the way to Boiling Lake

As the walk progressed the faint whiff of sulphur became stronger and after nearly three hours we faced a particularly steep descent into the “Valley of Desolation”. Trust me, the name is very apt, and if you look at the pictures (link below) I’m sure you will agree.

Not long after that we reached the Boiling Lake itself, also aptly named. Rather like our recent diving experience, but in a very different way, it was other-worldly, a mix of the route to Mordor and a lunar landscape.

We eat lunch at the lake. We had the place to ourselves. Marcel said that usually there would be at least 20-30 other people there.

On the return leg we stopped at one of several hot streams that we had passed on the way in, bathing in the slightly sulphurous water, the temperature of a hot bath with a small waterfall providing an excellent in shoulder massage.

        Hot pool and shoulder massage

After 7 ¾ hours including stops we got back to Titou gorge where we went for a refreshing cold-water dip.

We had seen two other people all day.

It was without doubt one of the best hikes we have done.

Friday 27^th March

Our last day on Dominica (for now).

Marcel gave us an extended tour of Charlotte Estate, including the area beyond the formal gardens. Here he is rehabilitating ground that has not been touched since Maria and planting trees and crops that will make Charlotte all but self-sufficient for fruit, vegetables and herbs.

Celine took us to the veg market to get some last-minute provisions. We also visited her shop, Meeting Point, under the Petit Paris restaurant, where Amanda found a few Dominican essentials.

Then back to Ernestina and a nice sail south to anchor, in the dark, off St Pierre on Martinique.

 More pictures here........

https://photos.app.goo.gl/G2HaERTHFwGzrXRe6

Dominica is very special. A beautiful and resilient island with warm and friendly people. It a place we are sure we shall return to.