We Buy Groceries and Explore

Driving around Dominica is an experience. Speed limit signs are posted here and there but nobody pays any attention to them. The roads are one equivalent to one lane in the US but have to accommodate two way traffic. Just to make matters more interesting, many of the roads have a drainage ditch right at the road's edge, about a foot deep that would catch a tire really well. So you have narrow roads, high speed traffic, pavement that ends in a vertical ditch by the road - and - you're traveling on the left side of the road, like the British in a car with the steering wheel on the right. Adding to the mix, Dominica has 5000 ft mountains and you're constantly going up and down very steep roads with blind curves (you usually honk when you get close so oncoming traffic will get over). So far, so good.

We did find a grocery store with a reasonable selection for the Caribbean, mostly with brand names you don't see in the states. Then we headed out for exploring. Seeing an oncoming car headed towards you at high speed in a road that's barely wide enough and a drop off on your left is exciting. The passengers have learned to keep all hands and elbows inside the car, there's no room outside when passing. We made it to a very pretty location at the end of the island (see photo at top) that promises to have a good snorkeling spot that we'll try tomorrow. One thing we've learned is that if you stop an ask directions or if you listen to someone tell you about the local areas of interest, they expect a tip. They start out at $20, nothing cheap about the local requests! We learned not to ask, besides, we wanted to explore ourselves.

We ended the day with a drinks on the balcony viewing a lovely sunset followed by a shrimp dinner and bridge. A nice day.