Hiking Through the Fruit Bowl

We departed Iles des Saints at around 7:00 am on June 13th for the 22-mile sail to Portsmouth, Dominica. We had considered sailing higher (further east) to get a better angle on the wind, but Field Trip had left at 5:00 am and radioed back that conditions were great for sailing, so we headed out Passe des Dames just to the right of Grand Ilet, which put us more on a rumb line with Portsmouth. With coral reefs on each side, we carefully threaded our way through the narrow pass and out into the open ocean. We had 20- to 22-knots of easterly to southeasterly wind on a loose close reach with 4 - 5 ft. seas, which meant good sailing.

As we approached Dominica (pronounced do-min-EEK-ah) we could see the mass of clouds pouring over the mountaintops and down to the ocean (it rains 300+ inches a year). Naturally, just as we got close to Prince Rupert Bay the squalls hit us and we sailed in near zero visibility into the harbor. We anchored between Field Trip and Escape Velocity on the far north corner of the large bay and breathed a sigh of relief to be out of the rain.

Dominica and the other Windward Islands have a tradition of boat boys. These are local guys, from 14 all the way up to 45-years-old, who come out in their boats, sailboats, dugouts, and offer their services. We had heard horror stories of boats being overwhelmed with boat boys competing for the business. So with this predisposition, we were somewhat chagrined when no boat boys came out to us. Turns out Dominica, in response to negative comments from cruisers, had restructured their boat boy system and now have an association, called P.A.Y.S (Portsmouth Association of Yacht Services) that regulates the boat boys, certifies the guides, and provides security at the north end of the bay. It's a great idea

It seemed to rain at least once a day in Dominica requiring us to frequently hide under the overhangs of local stores.

We got directions to Customs from Escape Velocity and began the 2-mile trip south along the bay to an industrial area where Customs was located. As is our custom, we simply began asking people where Customs was and eventually honed in on its somewhat hidden location. One guy even said "Ask for Mr. Daniels in Customs and tell him Edward has his lunch outside," so that was our introduction to Customs. The procedure was fairly quick and the payment minimal, so we headed back up the bay to the Fisherman's Dock and explored the small waterfront town in between rain showers that seem to be the norm on this island. The rain squalls only last 10 to 30 minutes so most people simply duck into a storefront until it's over.

Dominica is probably one of the poorest of the Caribbean islands and the downtown area was a far cry from St. Barts or even Iles des Saints, but the people were honest and friendly and made us feel welcome. The grocery stores were mostly small but with neatly arranged shelves displaying limited goods. We had hoped to find 85 feet of 10mm roller furling line but the huge marine store we were expecting turned out to be a one-room affair with very limited supplies. We settled for some spark plugs for the Yamaha outboard.

Mark, Sarah and kids off Field Trip join Flying Cloud and Marce and Jack off Escape Velocity for a tour of Dominica.

The next day Escape Velocity had arranged with a boat boy named Alexis for an inland tour for our group, but when the car arrived we realized we couldn't get eight people in and had to wait for a larger van. Our tour guide was Winston, and although his English was challenged and it was hard to hear him in the back of the van, he turned out to be a very knowledgeable guide once we got out of the van and started exploring.

A New York Times article described inland Dominica as "like walking through a fruit salad" and that was certainly a well-penned description of the island. Since Dominica is still undeveloped, the interior is mostly unchanged from when Columbus visited. Winston turned off the highway and began the long, arduous climb up into the Syndicate Rain Forest towards Milton Falls.

These bananas destined for England get a protective blue plastic bag to protect them from damage during their maturation and shipping.

It seems that every five minutes Winston would stop the car and point out a banana grove (with the banana bunch covered with blue plastic bags to protect them on their journey to England), avocado trees, mangoes, breadfruit, starfruit, bay leaf, cashews, ginger, nutmeg, mace, limes, passion fruit, pineapples, cacao, coconuts, coffee bushes, and so on. At one point he reached out and grabbed some lemon grass, which any Thai food aficionado will readily recognize by the smell. As Alexis later commented, "no one ever goes hungry in Dominica, you just need to walk out your door to the nearest tree."

Winston has us taste the sweet white pulp that surrounds the cocoa seeds.

Winston had Jack reach up and pull a pod off a tree. He then opened it to explain this was the cacao plant. He had us taste some of the slippery covering over the cacao beans, which was very sweet. The beans are later roasted and milled to make chocolate. We also saw a broken down mill from when they used to make rum from the sugar cane up in the hills. It seems the topography of Dominica was so rough that it wasn't conducive to crops like sugar cane that could be easily farmed, resulting in today's patchwork of small shareholder-type plots on the hillsides and mountain slopes.

We then began a two-mile hike up a gentle trail, stopping along the way for more plant identification. One plant he said they ground up when he was a little boy to make a paste (glue) for school projects. He showed us the pod from the banana tree that contains "the little babies" that spread out to make new banana trees.

The hike up to the Milton Falls. 

You could feel the force of the water tumbling down the rock wall as you walked up to the falls.

We forded several streams and made our way up to 80-ft. high Milton Falls. I volunteered to "test the waters" but Winston cautioned me to not get under the direct force of the falls. I totally understand what he meant as the sheer force of the water hit me as I got closer to the falls. It was like being in a washing machine on the wash cycle. Eventually, everyone else made their way into the cool water for a refreshing dip on a hot day. On the way out I noticed a huge sign that prohibited people from going into the pool since it provided the water supply for the town.

Everyone jumped in even though the water was surprisingly cold.

We next drove to another area for a nature hike through a forest of huge trees, most of the names of which I've forgotten. The most striking trees were the towering Banyan trees with the intricate root structures that looked like something out of a "Lord of the Rings" movie.
We returned to the car and drove down the rather steep hill to Morne Diablotin National Park where we hike along the mile-long loop of the Syndicate Trail, hoping for a chance to see some very rare indigenous parrots. The National Park is an 8,500-acre preserve created in 2000 to safeguard the parrots' forest habitat and protect this watershed that services the main town of Roseau.

This is what the Dominican's call the chataigner tree with its huge flying buttress-type roots.

Walking along an easy trail in the cool forest air Winston points out many trees using their local Dominican names, all of which are hard to remember. One interesting tree was the gommier or gum tree. The local Carib Indians would hollow out the tree using an intricate process involving heated stones to make sea-going canoes. We also saw the chataigner tree with its large, buttress-like roots and a fruit similar to chestnuts.

The elusive Imperial Amazon Parrot or the "Sisserou."

Further down the trail, we came to a viewing area that looked over a chasm towards a far hillside covered with trees. Just as we arrived Winston pointed out a flash of color that descended from high in a tree to a lower level. We'll never know, but it could have been one of the rare Amazon parrot species found nowhere else in the world called the Imperial Amazon Parrot and locally known as the Sisserou. The other parrot in this habitat is the red-necked Amazon parrot or jaco, which while not endangered is still a vulnerable species.

Two to three hours in a small van on back roads is no picnic, but we thoroughly enjoyed exploring the forests and trails of Dominica. Definitely worth a longer visit on our return trip this fall.