Christmas in Dominica!

We had heard so many wonderful things about Dominica (pron: Dom-inn-EE-kah) that we decided to make it our base over the Christmas holidays. After a great sail from Barbuda to Antigua, we continued south and sailed overnight to accomplish the100nm in 16 hours.

Dominica is a volcanic island with approximately 70,000 inhabitants. It's one of the least developed and visited islands in the chain as there are very few sandy beaches, no flashy resorts and no direct international flights. 

After allowing 2 days of recovery from the sleepless sail, we hired Andrew from Sea Bird Tours to take us into the shady, mangrove-lined Indian River where scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean were filmed. The dense forest and tranquility were the perfect way to start exploring the island.

Buttressed BWA Mang Trees - their roots stretch out laterally along the riverbank.

Beautiful wild flowers

These little guys are everywhere

Mike - in his usual friendly and outgoing manner, introduced himself to a young American couple who are also living on their boat, Marques and Teal. They have been working in the Virgin US Islands for several years and are taking the next 6 months off to travel the Leeward and Windward Islands. They are both really into hiking and the outdoors so we decided to share the cost of a hire car for two days and explore the island together.

First stop was in the north - a 45 minute walk through an old plantation (now jungle) led us to a fantastic fresh water swimming hole called Chaudiere Pool, which we had to ourselves for the morning. That's Mike the daredevil jumping from the rocks.

Spectacular waterfalls abound on this island!

Christmas lunch in Calibishie, a small fishing village on the north coast. There wasn't much open except for this little roadside snackette. They didn't have any food or a menu, but the proprietress was nice enough to whip up some chicken with sauce, rice, salad and taro. At $4 a head, it hit the spot! 

Debating our location...

Dominica is a fresh fruit paradise. Mangoes, pineapples, coconuts, bananas and oranges are so plentiful, they are literally falling off trees by the side of the road. We met Remi, a local farmer who gave us a tour of his land and sold us 100 oranges for $8.00 - deal of the century!

Megan and Marques counting the never ending basket of oranges

Sampling the produce

Our citrus juicer got a great workout! These oranges produce the best freshly squeezed OJ I've EVER had. Add some spiced rum and you've got yourself a nice little aperitif. Thanks Remi!

Christmas Eve at the local beach BBQ. The boat boys in Portsmouth make a living selling their services to passing yachts, including selling fruit, taking garbage or laundry ashore and organising tours. Crime levels against boaters peaked here in 2010 with some night boardings and robberies. In order to protect their livelihood, the boat boys started a night patrol service in the harbour and continually fund it through a Sunday night beach BBQ. For $20pp it's a buffet of chicken, fish, rice, salad and all the rum punch one can muster. It's a great opportunity to meet other cruisers as well as locals. Good times!

Teal - taking on the challenge. You have to pick up the rum punch with only your mouth...

A little too much rum punch for this lady... (the sand on the face is from a botched cartwheel!)

Dominica is home to two endemic (and endangered) parrots. We tried our luck at spotting them on a hike through the Syndicate Parrot Reserve. Unfortunately we didn't see any up close but we did see and hear some very high up in the sky.

It's so green and lush everywhere! 

In typical fashion - we got a flat tyre from the lemon the car rental agency gave us (no horn was also a problem on the narrow, windy roads with many blind corners). We rode the donut all the way home dodging pot holes.  Nice work Marques!

More beautiful wild flowers

My Christmas table centre piece - collected from around the island

Hiking into the Titou Gorge and waterfall

The gorge which we're about to jump into!

This swimming hole is at the foot of a narrow gorge, which ends in a pumping waterfall. It was a bit of a spooky experience - it was dark with vine-clad lava walls on either side of us. 

Small hot mineral spring

Trafalgar Falls - 200ft of sheeting hot water, originating from a boiling lake 

Soaking in the hot springs after all the hiking was bliss. This felt like the garden of eden, so romantic!

The water temperature was about 40 degrees and perfect!

Dominica was a great change from all the beach action we've had in the past few weeks. The inland activities and stunning scenery were well worth the effort. This country should be on everyone's 'must see' list! Up next - a 90nm sail to St. Lucia for NYE!