Another day in Paradise! part 1
Moonbeam
David and Lynn Wilkie
Fri 4 Feb 2011 21:06
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Monday we went ashore and walked to Fort Shirley
which overlooks Prince Rupert Bay. The whole fort which goes back 3 centuries is
gradually being restored but there are still ruins that have been reclaimed by
the jungle and there are cannons lying about which strangely did not seem rusted
which made me wonder if they were bronze. The history is interesting as
it has mixed English and French occupation and indeed was the scene of the
first revolt by slave soldiers which led to all slaves being freed from the
British Army.
 Fort
Shirley Wonder
if we can make it go bang?
 An idea to have a " quick " lunch with Paul and
Janie in "Big Papa's Restaurant" did not go according to plan as despite
relatively few clients they took 90 minutes to serve us and it was 4.00pm before
we got back to the boats. Nevermind- Caribbean Time !
Tuesday we swam from the beach and had a walk down
the town which really showed this was the poorest island we have been to so far;
the buildings are very crude and the street highly disorganised but very
friendly. The shops are basic and there are stalls selling just a few items of
fruit; amusingly the police station has a notice at the door- " Come in we are
open" ! Chickens and their chicks play 'last across' on the main street
and try as I might I could not work out why the chicken crossed the road----
unless they have an inborn death wish.
  Wednesday was up early to join Paul and Janie at
7.00am as we had hired Stanley and his mini bus to take us to the SE corner of
the island for a hike to the Victoria Falls. Stanley's claim to fame is that he
was Orlando Bloom's driver while they were filming Pirates of the Caribbean 2+3.
in Dominica ; you soon realise that it seems everyone you meet in the
Caribbean was involved in the making of the films one way or
another!
Stanley gives you a running commentary on aspects
of news and history as we drive along and while the distances aren't great the
average speeds are low and most of the time is spent in 2nd + 3rd gear.
All taxi drivers and guides are well trained and he even has to do a 2 week
refresher every year on everything from history to first aid. Both the coastal
belt and the interior are rich in plants and trees and the island is self
sufficient in most fruits and vegetables. Bananas are the main crop and exported
to the UK as " Windward Island Bananas" which is ironic as Dominica is really
one of the Leeward Islands!
  After a couple of hours driving we arrived at the
trail for the Victoria Falls and started out with our young guide Riki. To get
to the falls involves scrambling up the sides of the river and fording it 4 or 5
times. However Riki decided that after the heavy rain during the night it was
not safe for our party of 5 to cross so we should wait an hour for the level to
go down. However at this point another group, this time of 8 arrived with
their guide and it was decided that by making a human chain we could cross the
river. I noticed that one of the other group had a cap on with "Quicksilver of
Clyde" on it so I introduced myself as "Moonbeam of Argyll" to which the
response was - "Oh yes, Bob Fleck said to keep an eye out for you!" It is funny
who you meet in the jungle!! The trip involved plenty of scrambling up slippery
rocks and crossing the river which in places was 4' deep but luckily not
cold!
     Victoria Falls |