Dominica

We have spent two days on the West Indian island of Dominica. Tom traveled here previously (in 1968) aboard the Blaze with Ed Lewis, and Tom & I sailed here in 1977 during our month-long trip with "Unk", J.W. & John Scott aboard the Vulcan. (We later purchased the Vulcan from Unk and lived aboard for about four years and cruised the Bahamas for six months.) Since our last visit Dominica has made much headway in eco-tourism. The people are very friendly and tourist oriented. The highlight of our two-day stay here was a seven-hour tour which first took us to the Emerald Pool and Waterfall. A short hike through the forest brought us to this pristine site. Some enjoyed a swim, but the water was much too cold for we Floridians!! Next we stopped at the Carib Indian Reserve where we spent several hours learning of their life and culture and sampling many delicacies prepared for us by the villagers. A former chief and his wife were our guides. We watched a girl make baskets, a man extracted juice from sugarcane with a press hand carved with a machete, and we sampled many of the fruits which they grow. The village worked hard to prepare a feast of typical dishes including cassava bread with guava jelly, boiled and fried taro, curried salt fish, a typical cheese bread, and coconut ginger candy. The Carib are considered "second-class" citizens in Dominica (as opposed to the Afro-Dominicans), and face many challenges. But they have many modern conveniences including internet and cell phones. Living conditions are simple, including outside showers and cooking over open fire in addition to gas burners. They do have refrigeration and electricity. They grow and use many medicinal herbs with limited use of traditional medicine. We thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with these proud, hard-working people.