Dominica

Dominica is a less affluent island than some and has its share of crime. A group of water tour guides in Prince Rupert Bay formed a security association that is funded partly by rental fees collected on mooring balls that they maintain. Rather than anchoring here, we tied to their mooring ball so we could support their efforts (and benefit from their security patrols!).









Each day, we were astounded at the size and number of turtles that we saw swimming about. They were plentiful and were the biggest turtles yet. The bay also featured a nice snorkeling area, a fort, and beautiful swimming beach. There were also many vendor boats who came by regularly to see if we needed trinkets, fruits, vegetables and various services. One of the vendors was the Antonio Banderas fruit boat. I could not find limes anywhere (even at the big Saturday morning local produce market in town). The day before we left, Antonio was coming back from his delivery run to various boats at 5:30 p.m. When he passed by our boat, I asked if he had limes. He said "not on me, but I can get you some" I told him not to make a special trip. However, at about 8:30 p.m, in the dark, we heard a boat approaching. It was Antonio with 12 of the most fragrant limes I have ever smelled. He apologized for being late! I paid his price and gave him a tip, thanking him for providing such beautiful limes. He said, "that's why I am the fruit man".









The building on land, in the middle of the picture, houses Big Papa's Restaurant. One night, Big Papa (who hails from Switzerland) had a birthday party for his son who was turning 18 years old. We were warned that the music would be loud, but loud does not begin to describe the sound! It BLASTED, BLASTED, BLASTED from about 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. Happy birthday, Little Papa!





Andrew "Dede" Nicholas rented us our mooring ball. At that time, we arranged for him to take us on the Indian River Tour. The scheduled day happened to be the day after the birthday party. Andrew, when he picked us up at 8 a.m., told us that he had been at the birthday party and had only one hour of sleep. In spite of that, and the fact that no motoring is allowed on the river, Andrew gave us a great tour - rowing the entire way while describing flora and fauna and telling us all about his country.

The river gets quite shallow and narrow at spots. We happened by a group of women doing with wash at this spot. Interestingly, while St. Kitts has no rivers, Dominica has over 350. In travelling down the coast of Dominica, we found it the most beautiful of all the islands. Less developed than some, it is the most dramatically beautiful. Lush and green, its topography is a fantastic mix of valleys, gorges and mountain pinnacles.

This area on the Indian River was used as the site of a small house with a witch in residence in the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie (I think that is the one Andrew mentioned-I don't remember the movies well enough to know). We have seen lots of places on various islands where Johnny Depp and the filming crew have been! We have a new appreciation for the actors who had to brave this heat and humidity with all those clothes on!