Coasting down the Indian River, Dominica

     At 6:30 am we all leaped out of bed and hurried to get ready for our 7 am tour of the Indian River. Charlie was a bit late and we quickly ripped over the glassy water as roosters ashore had a crowing competition. Several rusted old wrecks sit along the shore of Prince Rupert Bay, evidence of the fury of hurricanes in these parts. One particularly rusty ship commands the entrance of the murky green river. Charlie soon shut down the motor and began to paddle and pole us at a relaxed pace along the shady waters of the tropical river.

     Along the calm water, three hundred year old bloodwood trees cling to muddy banks with huge folded roots. Charlie spoke to us of iguanas, small herons, parrots, and boa constrictors that frequent the river. Although the boas here only grow a few feet long and are not poisonous, he said they often climb trees and on occasion drop down into boats below. At one part of the river Charlie gestured to a gap where a shack once stood for the filming of a scene in the second “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie. 

     While explaining that his solid boat is made from the wood of a white cedar tree found on the island, Charlie pointed out an iguana perched in a tree and a red land crab along the shore. Further along the river the vegetation became denser and formed a canopy of dark green overhead. A sense of calm settled over the boat as we absorbed the tranquil surroundings and I found myself imagining us deep within the interior of Africa along the Congo River. Dominica is covered in plants of such huge size that you’d think there would be bugs and insects of similar proportions, but surprisingly this is not true. I didn’t see even one mosquito along the Indian River.

     As we rounded a corner where mud was silted up, a bright blue boat came into view with a man collecting bamboo. As we came near he held up an iguana for us to see and spoke to Charlie in a version of Creole. After he dropped the iguana in the water so it could swim off, we suddenly noticed that something else had found its way into his wooden boat. Tucked beneath several large pieces of bamboo was a boa constrictor, curled up and ready to lash out at the slightest provocation (which it did as we pulled right alongside the blue boat!) About six feet long, it snapped at us, opening its mouth so wide that I might have seen straight down into its belly if I wasn’t so busy trying to move as far away as possible. Luckily it stayed in the boat, but that didn’t stop my heart from pounding for a few minutes after. Charlie explained that the man was going to remove its fangs and wear it around his neck for the Carnival celebrations. I hope it doesn’t strangle him…I certainly wouldn’t trust it!

     After our exciting episode the trip up the river resumed its calm and the only sounds were doves hooting like owls and droplets of water falling around us as the breeze stirred. Eventually the river narrowed to the point of inaccessibility and we climbed onto a dock to begin a short hike through agricultural fields ripe with bananas, pineapple, papaya, cocoa, ginger, and passion fruit. Charlie plucked some grapefruits for us and we stood on the muddy trail eating the freshest fruit of our lives. What a treat that would be to walk into your yard in the morning and pick breakfast straight off a tree. Along the trail he pulled fresh ginger from the ground, peeled the bark from a cinnamon tree to smell and snatched a sprig of bay leaves to take back to the boat with us (when fresh it lends a lemony flavour to cold drinks and dried it makes a tasty tea). 

     The return trip was relaxing. We saw several small herons, iguanas and an egret. Back at the dock by the river’s entrance the man with the blue boat had his snake tied up with a frayed rope beneath an overturned boat. A group of locals stood at a safe distance and one lady said that she could sell its oil in Guadeloupe for a good profit. When a group of tourists gathered around they started charging money for pictures of the poor snake.

Nicole.

An Iguana- he threw it into the water just after this.

A boa constrictor, only 6 feet long though!

Fresh ginger root right from the earth.

Cocoa

Eating grapefruit right off the tree.

Dominica: “Nature’s Island”

     Sailing to Prince Rupert Bay in Dominica on Thursday we caught sight of mountainous green peaks touching the clouds and small villages spread along the rugged coast. Before entering the bay we were greeted by Charlie in his long wooden boat “Charlie Love,” a member of the PAYS (Portsmouth Association of Yacht Security) with a friendly shout of “Welcome to Dominica!” After anchoring among boats from Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Canada, we shared a Carib with Charlie as he told us about tours of the mystical Indian River, a day-long taxi tour of the island, a Sunday night BBQ at a waterfront restaurant called the Purple Turtle, and the fact that the island celebrates Carnival next week. We assured him we’d be sticking around for Carnival and set up a taxi tour of the island for Saturday.

     As the day went on other men in boats approached, either other PAYS members, or individuals selling local produce and collecting garbage. Our guidebook has extensive coverage on things to do in Dominica and recommends giving business to the members of the PAYS as they have many links with other businesses on the island and are reliable and accountable as a group. They are easily recognizable from the names painted on the sides of their boats with a “VHF Channel 16” note alongside. The first day here we became familiar with other members, including Laurence of Arabia, Providence, Sea Bird, and Cobra—who greeted us as he pulled alongside in his colourful wooden boat shouting a loud and friendly “Cobra’s here!” 

     On Friday we made two trips into Portsmouth intending to hike to the source of the famed Indian River. It would seem the world didn’t want us to go hiking however, as our directions led us astray both times, but we did manage to familiarize ourselves with Portsmouth, find a bank, and buy fruits and vegetables from the small market by the town dock. Portsmouth has lively streets with lots of people lounging and enjoying the day, market ladies, dilapidated but colourful concrete houses with roofs made of rusty sheet metal, makeshift bars and restaurants, and lots and lots of interesting noises (music blaring, people shouting and talking, school children chattering like hundreds of little birds in a school yard).

     Amazing tropical vegetation grows freely in yards and gardens, tumbling here, there and everywhere. We encountered several men asking if we wanted tours of the Indian River, but it was easy enough to refuse them with the magic words: “We’ve planned tours with Charlie.” The ladies in the market spoke a form of Creole and little English, and since there was just a few stalls Mom felt she should buy one or two items from each lady to be fair. At the end of the day we returned to the boat with papayas, tomatoes, pineapple, a huge watermelon, lettuce, bananas, oranges, and grapefruits, all grown on this astoundingly green island.

     Here are some facts about Dominica that to help explain how magical a place it is and why I’ve wanted to visit it more than any other island in the Caribbean: It’s pronounced DOM-i-NEE-ka, not to be confused with the Dominican Republic, and is often called “Nature’s Island” for its astonishing natural beauty. The local economy is largely based on agriculture, with bananas as the most significant export, and has a developing ecotourism sector. The population is around 70 000 with a varied Creole culture. A small Carib population still remains on the island and has lands on the eastern side of Dominica (the Caribs originated from South America and lived on many Caribbean islands before being massacred by Europeans during the Colonial period).

     The national bird is a parrot, and palm trees grow wild all up the mountainsides (on other islands we’ve only seen palms concentrated around beaches). Dominica has seven potentially active volcanoes, 365 different rivers, several waterfalls, hot springs and the second largest boiling lake in the world. There is even a beach in the south where you can dive to experience hot bubbles boiling up from an underwater volcano. I’m pretty sure we’ve arrived in heaven on earth!

More to come soon,
Nicole.

Hiking Riviere Deshaies

      In the leeward chain of Caribbean islands (which includes Saba, Statia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla, St. Martin/Sint Maarten, Antigua, Guadeloupe, and Dominica) you can often see several of the other islands in the distance while sailing from one to the next. On the sail from Montserrat we could see Antigua in the distance and part way through the day Guadeloupe emerged from the white haze ahead. After a sunny day trip we arrived in a sheltered bay by the small fishing village of Deshaies (pronounced Day-ay). Red roofs are framed by green hills and the town has the feel of a small European village accented with the bright colours often associated with the Caribbean. Guadeloupe is a territory of France and has a population of about 330 000, making it the most populated island we’ve visited so far. Deshaies is on the western island of the two islands that form Guadeloupe, comically named “Basse-Terre” (low-land), despite being higher than “Grande-Terre” to the east. It is of volcanic origins and consists of many towering green peaks.

     During the first night here winds funneled down the hills in a constant stream, often gusting to 40 knots. It was quite different from White House Bay in St. Kitts because there the wind would come in large swirls then calm down again, whereas here it is constant like a wind tunnel. Yesterday we chose to hike up Riviere Deshaies into the mountains. It was the most strenuous and rewarding hike we’ve done yet, requiring us to clamber over rocks of all sizes for several hours. Vines hung from trees all around along with monstrous spider plants. Everywhere we looked was green: green vines twisting around trees and bushes, green elephant ear-shaped leaves clinging to cliffs, green moss coating the rocks of the river, even bright green geckos hiding on old logs. Scrambling through the bush, Sarah and I got scraped by a plant that made our legs sting and my knee began to swell until I doused it with cool river water. 

     Higher along the river we passed two local men carrying small wooden traps, perhaps to catch crayfish. The river cascaded into shallow pools of clear water and the slate blue rocks had a rusty red buildup below the surface. After a few hours a road appeared on our left side, but we continued on as our guidebook suggested, and came to a beautiful pool of cold water before a cave. The water made for a refreshing and well-deserved swim. Jamie and I decided to scale a huge boulder blocking the way into the cave and came out into the end of the cave where the water cascades down from a slide-shaped crevice above. I tried not to think about what might lurk in the deep pool behind the rock, but standing there beneath the isolated beauty of the cool waterfall was so exhilarating and well worth the long hike. The cave was beautiful and captivating in an all-to-yourself kind of way and the difficult climb into the cave (requiring some decent wall-climbing skills) made us wonder how many people had experienced its beauty before us. The lovely waterfall, refreshing fresh water and quiet rainforest all combined to create the perfect traveler's experience.

Nicole.