The Trip Back

Dominica is only 1/4 the size of Rhode Island and yet has a chain of mountains along it's length reaching heights of 4747 feet! There is no direct route between two points located on the shores. The building of roads for the island must have been a staggering task. We were about to find out just how staggering today. Our plane was scheduled to leave at 7:00 am and we had to be there by 5:30 am. The airport is about 25 miles as the crow flies but with the mountains and winding roads, it take an experienced driver 1.5 hours to make the trip. I was not about to make the drive myself in the dark over a route I've never driven so we hired a driver. Adding time to get ready in the morning, we had to get up at 3:00 am! The driver arrived mostly on time with a huge bus, it looked brand new. We loaded up and the driver started out on our last Dominica journey.

There was little traffic but we did see about a dozen joggers running along in the dark. However, the speed seemed about as fast as one could possibly travel on those roads! When we headed across the island I counted at least three steep climbs and descents before we finally reached the far coast when the airport was. We were told it's the only flat land on the island. It is hard to describe but also hard to exaggerate the speed of that drive. It was safe but oncoming cars and buses seemed to melt through our right side as they passed at what seemed like high speed. The fact that the side view mirrors didn't' suffer damage was testament to the fast that there was enough room although it didn't seem that way from our vantage point!

Once reaching the airport (whew!), the rest of the trip was typical airport business, very tiring. We had to connect through Antigua before reaching San Juan for our flight to Newark on Continental. Our luggage made the trip successfully and we headed north to the land of snow to be greeted with the view in the photo. It was a joy that our driveway was plowed and a tree limb was removed that had blocked the drive.

It was a great trip! Now it's time to rest up and tackle our kitchen renovation that starts Monday!

Last Day of Snorkeling and Lunch Out

The ocean finally calmed on Monday and so we headed once again to Scott's Head over the same fun road with all the switchbacks and drop offs. Ann wondered how long horns last on Dominica. One of the snorkeling spots was close to a switchback on the road and we constantly heard the honking of horns as buses and cars negotiated the turn. It reminded me of being on a boat in a deep fog when we had to sound the fog horn every two minutes. People with houses near switchbacks must get tired of the noise.

At any rate, the water was indeed calm at Scott's Head and we snorkeled for almost two hours. We saw a school of squid that was fun to watch. Christmas Tree worms were present in bright orange and as we were heading into shore, we surprised a stingray! I swam over it and took a video before snapping a photo. Thewater is so warm that you never get cold and with the calm waters, it was a joy to snorkel in the area. Eventually we had to come out and headed over our adventurous road again.

For celebration we went out to lunch in town and found a cruise ship docked. This one was German and the strange thing was that the entire area was cordoned off. There were security officers at both ends of the street and no vendors were allowed. We asked about that and heard that German ships do not like street vendors and the passengers from such ships make it a point of spending nothing on vendors. They go straight from their ship to, perhaps, a tour bus and nowhere else. It seems a shame that the local people don't get a chance to present their wares. I was told, however, that the locals love the American boats, the passengers always like to tour the vendors and buy souvenirs. Strange about some customs.  The photo below is of Scott's Head snorkeling area.

Too Rough for Snorkeling

There were swells coming in today which churned up the water, reducing visibility but we wanted to snorkel and so decided to head out to Scott's Head in hopes that the water would be calmer since it was better protected. At the risk of being repetitious, I wanted to cover Dominica roads one more time. They are challenging, not because they are so narrow - roads in Europe can be just as narrow. It's not because of the numerous potholes, I've seen roads with just as many in other Caribbean countries and even in parts of the US. It's not because of the steepness of the mountain roads, roads in Colorado can be just as steep (well, almost, we measured 30 to 40 degree upward angles on some of the roads!) The biggest difference is the total absence of a shoulder and the sheer drop offs where the side of the road ends. Put all of the above together and throw in the fact that they drive on the left like the British and the cars have the driver in the right seat - and you can have a very interesting experience. Despite all that, I never saw an accident except for the one I was involved in when I was hit from the rear. Still, the drivers were invariably polite and helpful. In fact, every Dominican I met was extremely polite, friendly and eager to provide help, it's a very friendly country.

Now, back to the roads. We've been out to Scott's Head about a dozen times, traveling over the same road. It is not for the faint of heart since several sections of the road is just wide enough for 1.5 cars and there are no guardrails. The sea side of the road is a sheer drop to the ocean about 10 feet below. There are no guard rails (did I say that before?) Since I was always the driver, I couldn't take photos and there's no place to stop! However, I did find this YouTube video of a couple driving the same road (click on unlined link). He filmed the chicken version, going on the land side of the road. The fun part is on the drive back where you are the car next to the ocean with the vertical drop and another car comes - and you have to squeeze over to the left to let him pass on the land side, the right. I got complaints from the passengers (who sit on the left side, next to the ocean) who had a very good view of the rocky beach just below them by looking down and out their window! According to passenger reports, the left wheels typically got within 6 inches (or choser!) of the drop off when I had to squeeze over for on oncoming car or to miss a pothole.

Another view of a different road in Dominica is in the photo. Note the absence of guard rails and the sheer drop off if your wheels wander too far to the left (as you keep to the left in either direction). The road in the photo is quite good, there are hardly any potholes! You will typically drive a slalom course as you go down a narrow road, avoiding potholes and oncoming cars. Seeing an approaching car, you note ahead where there's a wider section of the road and you continue, head-on, and duck to the left as the car passes. The other car will do the same if you're caught in a strictly one lane section and there's a wide (ha! - wide is a relative term) spot by him, he will stop and pull out as you pass. So the typical progression in Dominica is a pattern of slalom like driving, dodging potholes and other cars while keeping a comfortable 6 inches or so from the road's edge (which ends in either a sheer drop off or a two foot deep, concrete ditch - see photo)

Driving in the mountains presented a different experience. The curves were typically switchbacks with a change of direction of 180 degrees along with a very steep road. In this case, the road ends at the pavement and if you wander beyond it, you will simply depart the road sideways, finding out just how deep that ravine really is! Once again, here's another YouTube video of a road that we've been on but you don't get a good sense of the thrill since no buses were passed. By the way, a tour bus can take up more than one lane and you can't see that far ahead when navigating a switchback so the custom in Dominica is to honk your horn when entering a curve (you can hear it in the video) so an oncoming car or bus knows someone is coming. Unfortunately, some of the worse potholes are on the inside of a curve so the tendency is to swerve out into the middle of the road to miss them, not good!

I've included a section of the road in front of the condo we stayed at, The Titiwi Inn. Note the two foot deep, concrete drainage ditch, if you get a tire in that, it's not coming out anytime soon! Such ditches line most of the roads in Dominica to keep the roads from washing out during the rainy season.

After all the excitement of driving, we had our usual rum punch and watched the sunset for the night. It's excellent entertainment and always a good view, we never tired of it.

Rear-Ended in Dominica!

We were on our way to shop for groceries this morning and heard a screeching from behind and then a "thump" - I was hit from behind by a minivan! The damage to my rental car was minimal but the minivan suffered a cracked headlight assembly and bent metal around the lens. The owner of the condo where we were renting came out and he was instrumental in communications with the driver of the minivan in getting all the pertinent information. I took photos of the damage including the skid marks of the minivan before he rear-ended us. It was very evident that the minivan was going too fast.

Once that excitement was out of the way, we trekked into town for groceries and found it was the last day of the month when everybody got paid - the stores were packed! A 5 minute checkout turned into an hour. Oh well, we finally got through the line and back home.

After lunch we chose to snorkel Champagne Reef.  It's a unique area that sports underwater vents with escaping gas that looks like champagne bubbles rising through the water. It's all very pretty (see photo). We too our usual photos of interesting fish and enjoyed ourselves for two hours.

At TiTiwi Inn we have excellent WiFi access to the internet and so I checked up on the status of the Dutchess County storm. I e-mailed one of our neighbors and found that the area was out of power for 32 hours! We feel pretty helpless down here in Dominica, even telephone service is hard to get - but thank goodness for the internet and the netbook I took along with me. Just to provide further unsettlement, the couple that's with us used to live in the Hudson Valley and were away for two weeks on a vacation in the wintertime and came home to a flooded home after losing power which allowed the hot water baseboard heating pipes to freeze - which thawed after power returned, bursting the pipes and water poured out. They said the damage totaled $32,000 back when things didn't cost so much. Hopefully, it wasn't so cold and we're okay but it's a great concern as you might imagine. With all that, it's time for bed and a new adventure tomorrow.

Back to Scott's Head for Snorkeling

The best place we've found so far for snorkeling in Dominica is Scott's Head at the south end of the island so we took advantage of the calm seas to return this afternoon. As always, the entry is easy with a concrete wall for storing your duffel and a large rock for balancing while putting on your fins and snorkeling gear. The water is amazingly warm this time of year, no problem in getting chilled, even if in the water for 2 hours like today.

There is a wall to explore to the left that extends around the point and another coral wall that's located in the middle of the bay, both are fun to glide over. As usual I took lots of photos with only a very few posted to the blog. The area has an abundance of eels along with the usual assortment of tropical fish although they tend to be small compared to other places we've snorkeled like Bonaire, Grand Cayman and the BVI.

The turtle was back again, I guess he has a home in the bay. We also saw the same school of squid, quite large on average. Perhaps not all would enjoy two hours of snorkeling but we do like it. It's very peaceful and beautiful to watch the underwater life move by. We'll probably be back before we leave.

Snorkeling at Scott's Head

The winds have finally calm down somewhat. We waited out this morning for the wave to subside and headed for the south end of the island, Scott's Head. It's the best snorkeling we've found so far on the island. When we arrived in the afternoon we found the protected area to be as calm as a lake, perfect snorkeling. There is a concrete bulkhead that provides a convenient place for donning and storing your gear and a large rock in the water for balance in putting on your fins and other snorkeling gear.

The area has a coral wall to the left as you head in and another coral bank in the middle of the bay. As before, we saw an excellent assortment of colorful sponges but not a lot of large fish. There were plenty of juveniles but not mature forms. I went around the end of the left wall but didn't see a whole lot and headed back along the shore. Along the way I ran into a turtle! I shot a movie of his graceful swimming, it's magical  seeing his swim so effortlessly and with such grace. Eels were out in abundance and we caught one out in the open (see photo).

However, we haven't seen an octopus yet, still looking for that one, maybe tomorrow.

A Visit to the Botanical Gardens

The wind  roared last night out of the west with the result that the waves that crashed onto our snorkeling beach were even higher than yesterday. The boats moored out in front of the condo were violently rocking side to side as they oscillated with the waves. Part of the day's entertainment was watching people come in to the dock with their dinks and trying to get out safely with 2 to 3 foot waves coming through. We were concerned about one older couple when the wife couldn't get back into the dink for the ride back to their moored boat. A local helped her into his wooden boat and then transferred her to her husband's dink. They are out there right now, bouncing around in the waves as we are watching the Olympics.

With the surf too big for snorkeling, we paid a visit to the Dominica Botanical Gardens. They had beautiful specimens of the local plants and we enjoyed the visit. One thing to get used to is that many of the plants just grow larger in the tropical environment, larger than you'd expect. On the way back we discovered the best grocery store, the IGA in the middle of town, advice to anyone thinking of coming to Dominica.

Once again we're hoping for calmer weather on Wednesday. I heard over the news that Lagrangeville is getting hit with 6 to 12 inches of snow with another storm on the way Thursday! Nice being down here.