Good Times in Dominica

Serai
Jason and Emily Willis
Tue 2 Jan 2007 02:00

15:34.81N 61:27.80W

Dominica has 365 rivers within it's 290 square miles and peaks that soar upwards of 4000 ft. It exudes an air of possibilities and adventures. Serai and her team of explorers arrived at the main bay of Portsmouth on 27th December with high hopes of a good time. What strikes you almost immediately is the poverty which exists here. It is made more shocking after coming to it from down the island caribbean chain. The BVI's are so rich in comparison. However what also hits home when you spend time ashore is how poor the BVI's are in everything else but money. Dominica has a soul. Its has a pride in itself. It is self-sufficient, producing an amazing assortment of fruits and vegetables. Everyone we met wanted to make sure we had a good time in Dominica. The tourist industry there is just getting off the ground. They realise what a fantastic natural resource they have and want you to go away with fond memories and good experiences. We came away with all of that and more.

Portsmouth is a huge bay. We had 400 ft under us most of the way in. It wont win any prizes for its beauty, but then you don't come to Dominica for picture postcard beaches. Its about what's on the inside of Dominica. Once anchored, the boat boys descend. I am lead to believe this can be really annoying in some places, but here in Dominica it all seems very friendly. Some of the services they offer are useful and not overpriced and they do take no for an answer..well in most cases! One lad came over saying his name was Anderson and he was the flag-man. I said that I wanted to go into town myself as we had not had a chance to explore and would get a flag myself. He said OK and left. Half an hour later he was back with a flag! I told him I had been looking forward to my shopping spree (I don't get out much it seems!) and now he had spoilt it. He told me flags were not that easy to find and this would save me the trouble of looking. 20 EC later, I think I became the proud owner of the most expensive courtesy flag in Dominica! Oh well.

So the first night, we settle down to an early night and prepare ourselves for the adventures to come. Imagine our dismay when the boat began to move sideways to a small swell that was coming into the bay. How could this be - it had been a flat calm anchorage all day, and yet now we were being thrown from one side to another. I lost it at about 4 am muttering that I might as well read as i could not sleep through this roller-coaster ride! It was a dreadful night and suffice to say the next day I put out a stern anchor (much to the consternation of one French skipper who came in to anchor) to hold us into any swell that might decide to enter again the following night.

Yachting in Dominica seems to be governed by government approved boat boys. They gain training as guides and know quite a bit about local forna etc. We hired Martin and his boat Providence to take us down the Indian River, in search of a rainforest experience and perhaps a sighting of one of Dominica's native parrots. We got the former, but sadly not the latter, despite a 6.30 am start! We had the river to ourselves and the atmosphere was magical. Martin was informative and friendly and we were able to pick his brain about life in Dominica as well as about all the stuff we were seeing along the way.

These guides would have you believe that you can do very little in Dominica without a guide. You need them to do all the hikes and trips to waterfalls etc. They do not come cheap for this in my opinion. I am sure you gain more from the experience by using their knowledge, but at what cost! We waited a couple of days for Martin to organise a couple of trips with other people (so that we could share the total cost) but the 'deal' never seemed to come off. I got a bit fed up with it in the end. We felt that there was so much to see and yet we were being held back. In the end Martin gave us an island map and talked us through finding a couple of the sites. We hired a car for $60 and set off. We found all the places with very little trouble, with all sites being really well sign-posted. With Martin, this same trip would have cost $160! There are sooo many waterfalls in Dominica that it is easy to become slightly blasé. We had decided in Guadeloupe to make it our goal to swim in a waterfall. We finally got to do it at The Emerald Pool. We had it to ourselves. It was wonderful, if a little cold, and a magical moment that we wont forget for a long time. After this we checked out a Thermal Springs set right in the rainforest, which we had read about in Lonely Planet. It was Screw's Spa and one might imagine its business being very different! Screw was really friendly and showed us down to his thermal spring. It consisted of 4 pools of various temperatures and all heated naturally. The water was full of Sulphur, so a bit smelly but wonderful for the skin. We relaxed for 45 minutes with the sun beaming down through the rainforest canopy, reflecting on just how lucky we were. There was no-one else there! We had it all to ourselves, just like the Emerald Pool!

I hate coming away from places saying "i wish we had more time", but Dominica was one of those places. We did not do any of the BIG hikes. I think they would have been very feasible without a guide despite what they say. We got a great insight into what the place had to offer and just wish we could have stayed longer to do more. Unfortunately we had to get to Martinique to continue with some boat stuff and get a front crankshaft oil seal replaced, as the engine is leaking more and more oil.

If anyone reading this fancies a week of hiking, and is not the least bit interested in beaches, then head to Dominica. Its a wonderful culture shock and a reminder that people can be rich is so many other ways than purely monetary.

We have put all our Dominica pictures in a separate email. Hope you enjoy them.

To all our friends and family - hope you had great New Year's Eve celebrations and that 2007 fulfils all your dreams.

Lots of love

J and Ems xx