In Dominica

This morning we were woken around 9:45 am by the cruise director’s announcement over the PA system, telling us that we had arrived at the port of Roseau in Dominica. Dominica (not to be confused with the Dominican Republic, which we visited a few days ago) is an island country in the Caribbean. It is the youngest island in this area, having been formed around 26 million years ago by volcanic activity. The volcanic nature of the island means that there are fewer sand beaches than on a lot of the other Caribbean islands, so beach-based tourism has not developed here.
However, the island is blessed with lush forests and a diversity of natural attractions. Though, with a population of only about 70,000 and not much infrastructure, few cruise ships stop in Dominica and tourism is still a relatively small part of the country’s economy.

Before heading out to explore Dominica, we went to the cafe on deck 6 to grab a very light breakfast.

We then disembarked and joined a small group to look around the island. We all hopped into our minibus and headed off.

From the cruise ship berth, we headed north along the coast and then up the winding Imperial Road to get to our first stop, Emerald Pool. After a drive of about 45 minutes, we parked and then walked on a trail to get to the beautiful Emerald Pool in the Morne Trois Piton National Park.

We then hiked back along the trail, hopped in the minibus, and headed off again. We made a quick stop for a drink (where we sampled some local fruit juices) on our way to the next point of interest, Trafalgar Falls, on the west side of Morne Trois Pitons National Park. Again, we had a small hike in but it was pretty easy.

As we walked along the path to and from the waterfall, we saw a lot of cyriques (the local freshwater crab) scuttling about, as well as a few Dominican anoles (a small lizard).

The flora in the area was also quite interesting. In particular, the Balisier plant stood out. The leaves of this plant are used for a multitude of purposes (including thatching, making baskets, as a wrapping for baking, amongst other things).

From Trafalgar Falls we headed back towards the town. We drove through the Dominica Botanic Gardens, which sustained a lot of damage from Hurricane David in 1979. Also damaged in the gardens by Hurricane David was a school bus that was parked in the gardens at the time the hurricane hit. The bus was crushed by a huge boab tree and remains in the gardens.

Crushed school bus in the Dominica Botanic Gardens.

We left the gardens and drove a short distance up Elms Hall Road to the Morne Bruce Garrison, where we had a nice view over the city of Roseau.

Looking over Roseau (with our ship in the background).

Our minibus then returned to the dock, where the tour concluded. We decided to take a short walk around Roseau on our own before returning to the ship.

The Anglican church, not yet rebuilt after being destroyed by Hurricane Maria in 2017.

The Neg Mawon Emancipation Monument, a symbol of freedom and emancipation, and a tribute to all the enslaved Africans who suffered and were executed in Dominica.

Looking along Dame Mary Eugenia Charles Boulevard.

The "Dominica" sign at the cruise ship berth.

When we got back on the ship, we went up to deck 11 take a few photos looking back to Roseau.

Since we had not yet eaten lunch, we decided that our next stop would be for afternoon tea in Galileo’s Lounge.

Full up to pussy’s bow after a very nice afternoon tea, we headed back to our room for a short rest before getting ready to go to dinner. We stopped for a champagne (for Keith) on the way, and got to the Compass Rose restaurant just before 6:30 pm.