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Friday, February 22, 2019

February 5 - 12, 2019 - Portsmouth, Dominica - Paradise Survives

Dominica-nica-nica what a beautiful and resilient island! As news reports stated, Dominica was “Knocked to its knees” by hurricane Maria’s direct hit, claimed as her first victim in a rampage that tore through the Caribbean in late 2017. This island was an agricultural giant, supplying & supporting much of the Caribbean. The canopy of the island was sheered off by the storm leaving the perfect environment for an abundance of Morning Glory to grow over the island claiming a large portion of the trees and vegetation. There are still areas that resemble a war zone but for the most part, the people of Dominica who have trickled back to the island are rebuilding with the help of foreign and domestic aid. We were happy to see widespread evidence of American relief. I’m so proud of our citizens who, in the face of our own disasters, continue to generously support others in need. What nature destroyed of her own will take much more time to regenerate. 

We enjoyed a fairly decent sail from St. Pierre up to the bottom of Dominica but then lost our wind in the lee of the mountains and ended up motoring to Prince Rupert Bay at Portsmouth. We called ahead to the P.A.Y.S. office and were assigned to Eddison a founding member, a soft spoken, gentle giant of a man who took good care of us during our weeklong stay. Locals who were former “boat boys”-cum-certified guides and business owners have joined together to establish P.A.Y.S., Portsmouth Association of Yacht Services. They help yachts onto a mooring on arrival, provide 24/7 security, guided tours, arrange transportation, fuel, propane, water, laundry services, etc. They make it real easy for visitors to want to stay for a while. Prices here are very decent and amenities are close at hand. We immediately booked a tour of the whole island for the following day.
Self explanatory mural at Portsmouth

crystal clear waters (view from one of our hikes)

Paul, our tour guide was a native resident of the island, a veritable "herbologist" and had the most incredibly positive attitude. As he drove us about, pointing out areas that had once provided abundant cultivated crops and wild-grown fruits and vegetables, he also pointed out the path of destruction of Maria and noted areas of natural re-growth already beginning. We were heartsick hearing the stories and seeing the devastation. Even living for nearly 40 years in a hurricane zone, I couldn’t get my head around this virtual Garden of Eden that was nearly wiped from the face of the Earth. Just as a river will re-route itself however, the people of Dominica have returned and are rebuilding with the resources they have at hand. We saw a lot of homes that had once been glorious, patched together with anything at hand just to provide a shelter for the time being. Many have managed to replant gardens and what they don’t consume goes to a roadside stand to aid their subsistence. Faith is very strong around the island. Some of the Churches that were taken by Maria have been restored in the form of a lean-to with an awning and folding chairs or hand-hewn bench seating. They greeted us with a smile and a blessing, wherever we went. We never heard a complaint or witnessed any form of self-pity or begging. They don’t beg. They just look forward with pride, courage and optimism.


Our tour took us to the island’s chocolate factory where we not only toured; we tasted and bought a large variety of chocolates with exotic ingredients. From time to time, Paul would stop on the roadside to point out wild fruits and berries, and herbs such lemongrass, and would pick some for all of us. He loaded us up with Bay leaves, cinnamon and so on. Just about every exotic fruit is /was grown here. We drove to the Atlantic side where the hurricane first hit, seeing how the beach was moved back several hundreds of yards. We also visited the original Caribe Indian village site where descendants still make handcrafts. We stopped for lunch at a lovely little mountainside café that featured great homemade local dishes. Of course we stopped at a waterfall for a swim. The tour was amazing.
Vernie (SeaBreeze)


Frank's Island drink

plantain chips with curry aioli dip - yum!






Our second day on Dominica we were visited by a couple rushing by in their dinghy on their way to take some local people to Guadeloupe for the day, but who stopped long enough to introduce themselves as Joanne and Ken Reed aboard a catamaran called Allicat, from Oriental, N. Carolina. Again, we instantly bonded and spent most of the rest of our time on Dominica with them. Meanwhile, while they were away, we hiked the trails up around Fort Shirley – fantastic “get your heart rate up” hike with panoramic views of several bays from atop the heads – highly recommended! In the afternoon, we took the boat tour up the river into the most amazing natural habitat that, although not far from the main town feels as though we were deep into the jungle. This river is where several scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean II were filmed. We passed by the old swamp witch’s cabin that was built by the film company. Unfortunately, the cabin was torn up during the storm but you can still see remnants of the pier and shack. Truly this is the most amazing and tranquil river trip we have ever been on.
on the river






swamp witch"s shack


OOPS!

The beach at our anchorage

Ken and Joanne returned and swept us up like old friends, introducing us to several locals and transplants from the US, Canada and the UK, who own and run businesses in Dominica. We lunched with them at a lovely little seaside Café called Keeping It Real, where we stuffed ourselves on massive grilled local lobsters while enjoying live jazz performed by yet another friend of theirs. Another day, we taxied over to SeaBreeze (one of the stops on our tour by the way), where Vernie had rebuilt her little beach café/country store. She cooked up the most delicious Caribbean chicken curry. She also makes and sells flavored rums. Her specialty is peanut rum. It apparently sells like hotcakes!


Eating and touring…we finished up our week with another hike with Ken and Joanne, followed by dinner (for the 2ndor 3rdtime), at Seadog’s restaurant in the bay. The morning of February 13th, we sailed with Allicat up to I the Island of Terre-de-Haut in the Iles des Saintes, Guadeloupe.

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