Indian River and the Cabrits National Park
Stream
Darrell Jackson and Sarah Barnes
Thu 17 Apr 2014 00:56
A day for exploring on our own. A short bus trip into Roseau and then the longer bus trip to Portsmouth, over 24 miles for less than £2.50, saw us at the mouth of the Indian River. Whilst on the bus, Adam managed to get a guide,to meet us when we arrived, through the one eyed lady passenger he was sitting next to who had a brother who was a guide. He negotiated a fair price with the river guide, who was introduced to us as Spaghetti or Eric if we're being formal. We were rowed up the river as outboards are not allowed and the banks gradually close in so that you are travelling up a tunnel of tropical trees overhanging the banks. No snakes hanging from the boughs of trees, no ants scurrying along the banks but we did see Fresh Water crabs, Green Back Herons, Moorhens just like the ones we have at home and an Egret. The main attraction was the fantastic shapes of the tree roots along the banks, both buttress roots and aerial and the patterns created by the sun shining on them. These all create a mysterious atmosphere. Along a bifurcation of the river we came across the dwelling of Calypso. This is a remnant from the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and although the skulls, snakes and other ornamentation has been removed it is still recognisable and quite eerie.
The river goes through an old coconut plantation so there are coconuts floating in the river and seedlings growing on the banks. The river gradually gets narrower, shallower and rocky. At this point the boat stops at a jungle bar. It has a delightful garden and trails leading into the forest. The bar serves a range of fresh juices, rums and bush teas. We all settled for a glass of Tamarind juice and explored the gardens. We then returned in the boat back to Portsmouth. Another delightful way to spend a morning, but disappointingly, no parrots.
It was noticeable that Prince Rupert's Bay was decidedly calm in comparison to last week when we were anchored there. After a quick light lunch on the beach, we walked round to Shirley Fort in the Cabrits National Park. On the way we passed a new hotel which is being built, although work seems to have stalled, funded by the Kingdom of Morocco. We had a good chat with the baton wielding security guard from Crystal Palace, who had returned to the island to help his ageing parents run their farm.
Shirley Fort was built by the British and is an extensive military outpost, which housed over 600 men. Dominica was pivotal in British plans for the Caribbean. They wanted to break the chain of islands that were held by the French. Dominica splits Martinique and Guadeloupe, so it was fought over by the two countries and changed hands several times. Fort Shirley is where the West Indies Regiment mutinied, which led to the first major emancipation of British slaves in the empire. The West Indies Regiment was made up of slaves from the Caribbean Islands, the French had banned slavey during their revolution and the mutiny was the slaves trying to join the French. As a result the British freed 10,000 slaves.
Fort Shirley has been significantly renovated over the last twenty years or so, the main complex is finished, but the outlying batteries in the forest and over towards Douglas Bay are over run by the ficus trees and are in a state of ruin that is just as captivating.
Then it was a hair raising journey back to Roseau on a crowded local bus, which was late leaving due to a lady who had loaded several sacks of passion fruit on the bus, but wouldn't get on the bus as she was on the phone. Eventually, the driver got fed up and unloaded her sacks so more people could get on and drove off as fast as possible to make up the lost time. Stiff drinks back on Stream helped restore our equilibrium and another early night saw us well prepared for the next trip with Octavius the following day.