TravelTalkOnline Forums Trip Reports (Read Only) Trip Report and Photo Archives Day 16 Dominica sunshine, Dominica moonshine pics

15/2/11 Tuesday
Dan, Em and Deb had made arrangements with Sea Cat to make the hike to Boiling Lake today, I passed as I am only going to climb one mountain a year and Kim is not a hiker. I dropped them off at the dock behind Sea Cats’ house and then walked down to a little bakery with a wood fired oven to pick up some rolls for dinner.

rustic bakery with wood fired oven
Kim and I took the bus into Roseau; our primary mission was to find more smoked saltfish and some Mountain Dew. We failed on the first point but I am glad to report we scored on the second. Now the Mountain Dew we were looking for didn’t come in a green can, but in a wooden barrel. One of the vendors we chatted with yesterday told us about a shop where they sell rum that is made in the bush. Apparently many of the small towns in the hills have someone who brews homemade rum in the old fashioned way. We found the shop and the lady there lead us over to a couple barrels back in the corner, the prices for the rum are posted on the end of each barrel. At her recommendation we chose the one made from sugar cane molasses. I tried a small sip and it was smooth, though very strong.

Barrels of fun, just what the doctor ordered.
With our prize in hand we checked out some of the vendors stalls to find a souvenir shot glass for Kim, and also stopped at the visitors center to pick up a brochure on hiking Dominica for future reference. A very pushy taxi driver, with blue lipstick, tried her best to convince us to let her take us to Champagne Reef. We repeatedly told her we were going to take the bus rather than pay the $20 US she wanted for the trip, even after we had told her we were not on the ship that was in port. We found the bus we needed and a short ride and $5 EC each later we were at the Irie Safari. There is a $5 EC admission to snorkel there which we happily paid. They call it Champagne Reef because there are underwater vents that send bubbles up form some geothermal feature beneath the earth. The bubbles are not massive but they do tickle as you swim over them. After some time in the water Kim laid out on one of the few sandy spots among the cobble covered “beach”, while I had some $5 EC Kubulis at the small bar located at the entrance. The sand, where you can find it, is black and it didn’t take long for her to want to move on as it was very hot on this clear sunny day. We waited by the road for a bus to Scots Head; the first bus that passed was full so he didn’t stop, the second was also full but he wasn’t going to pass up a fare. School must have just let out as there were a lot of school children on the bus; the conductor moved people around until there was room for us to board. The trip over the winding roads through the country side was pleasant as we got to see more of the lush beauty of Dominica. We had asked the driver if there were any restaurants in the town of Scots Head and he dropped us off in front of Chez Wan, a nice little local place right on the small bay. To my surprise they had pealau on the menu, which I hadn’t seen anywhere other than St. Vincent prior to this. It was nicely prepared with tender pieces of chicken mixed in with the spiced rice; served with a side of salad it cost $12 EC a plate. We walked through the small town which is an actual fishing village. All along the road men were engaged in some aspect of the fishing trade, whether it be working on their boats, cleaning the days catch, mending nets or building traps. The tour buses from the ships seem to go right to the point of Scots Head and the tourists miss out on the chance to see the daily life in a small Caribbean town. Everyone we stopped to chat with was happy to tell us all about whatever it was they were working on. One man, who builds traps, explained how they worked and were set and showed us how he gets the fish out; he had some miniature ones that I kick myself for not buying while we were there. The exposed side of the point is strewn with small rounded cobbles and the waves crash with great force on the shore. The bayside is nice and calm though there was a slight current running. I snorkeled for a bit while Kim relaxed on a seawall along the cove. A man, Cecil, rode up on his bicycle selling coconuts to drink. I purchased one and told him the only thing better than coconut water is coconut water with rum and proceeded to take my bottle of homebrew out of my backpack. He was very happy to join me for a drink or three and gave Kim a coconut that was at the perfect stage for eating.

Drinking homebrew from a coconut cup
From what I have seen coconuts go through many stages, they start out just full of water, then they develop some jelly on the inside and finally end up with the hard dry meat we are used to. Well there is a time between the jelly stage and the hard stage that they are perfect to eat. The meat is firm but supple and so good. Between us we finished the whole thing.

The fishing village at Scots Head
We walked down to the bus stop to get a bus back the Roseau; I wanted to pick up another bottle of rum and also some ingredients for my rum punch. We also bought some very fresh tomatoes and cucumbers to go with our dinner. We took the bus back to Sea Cats to find Em waiting on the porch, Deb had left her camera on the bus after their hike and she was waiting for the driver to bring it back. He arrived shortly and we dingied back to the boat. Dinner was Mineo and Sappio Italian sausage that I had brought from buffalo. I cooked them on the grill and Kim made a tomato cucumber salad, Debs fantastic potato salad rounded out the meal. We were all pretty wiped from our busy days so after looking at the pictures of the Boiling Lake hike, which were stunning by the way, we all headed off to bed.