Dominica

Carib Resident

Dominica is one of the smallest countries in the world with a population of 73 thousand. People live very simple lives here. There is an abundance of fresh water, but not necessarily every body has running water in their households. Water faucets are on every block and that’s where we fill our tanks as well. The nominal GDP per capita is only $5200, which doesn’t mean much, because there is plenty of food and no body starves here. This country grows enough food for millions of people. Many of the islands in the Caribbean import vegetables and fruits from Dominica. Last year, in the mountains in the DR, we bought a water melon from a street vendor, which was imported from Dominica. Dominican Republic and Dominica sound similar and can be confused, they are 2 different countries, both in the Caribbean Sea, but 450 miles away from each other. This land’s soil is extremely

Custard Apple

fertile. Most of the Islands in the Caribbean are volcanic and Dominica has 7! The hills and mountains are lush, green, and almost anything can grow here. The locals joke that you toss any  seed on the ground, it grows. There are many tropical fruits that I have never seen or eaten before, such as the custard apple. A few days ago after dropping off Kelly at the airport, we visited the Carib Territory. A custard apple tree got our attention and the family that lived there invited us to try the fruit, which was very creamy and sweet.  
Caribs are the original inhabitants of Dominica and their territory is on the east side of the Island. Their facial appearance is asian and lighter in color, however, they have been mixed with the Africans over the last couple hundred years.

"Providence" Martin

Dominica has been nicknamed “Nature Isle of the Caribbean” because of its unspoiled nature. There are an extensive numbers of rivers, waterfalls, and springs. We have hiked to several waterfalls and some were totally deserted with not a single soul around.
There are hot springs and cold boiling springs. Last week, we biked to a hot spring that supposedly only locals know about it. The hot water was running out of a cliff into a pool, where we took a dip. It was just like a jacuzzi, but all natural, in the middle of the wilderness, surrounded by tall trees with the sounds of chirping birds and running water. A great place for meditation!
Since the arrival in Dominica, Earthling has been anchored in one spot, Portsmouth. This is the best place to anchor and explore the island by bus or rental car. Most sailors hire a boat boy/tour guide, whom offer yacht services, they bring ice, water, fruits, and they will take you on the Indian

Waterfall,  Carib Territory

river and other tours. We employed Martin who goes by “Providence”. He has been a professional guide for 25 years and has a great reputation. Martin has been telling us where to go or what to visit and during the time Kelly was here, he would come by and check if she needed anything. Moreover, you can do lots of activities on your own. From Portsmouth you can walk or hike to waterfalls, rivers, springs, and so forth.

So far Dominica is my favorite place in the Caribbean, mostly because of it’s unspoiled nature, waterfalls, rivers, springs, fruits, people, and inexpensive food.

Love from Dominica
View the photos Album of Dominica on the fb page.

Fruitful Paradise

 This is a piece of land that looks like a pancake from a distance. Marie Galante is considered flat but still has an elevation between 300-600 feet in various places. It is densely green and the trees and bushes seem taller than other places. During the couple of hikes we did, many sugar fields were observed. Our guest, Nico, cut down  some sugar cane sticks, peeled away the hard skin, to chew and suck on the fibers full of sweet water, just like the locals do. In addition, we saw many fruit trees that had fruits ripened and ready to be picked. Fruit trees are everywhere and before picking any fruits, we always make sure it’s not on someone’s property. Here in Marie Galante we were lucky to find random lemon, banana, papaya, mango, and coconut trees and we collected many of them. 

In Marie Galante, you also see tons of pigs. Almost every mango tree has a pig tied up underneath. Then there are oxes and cows! We have not witnessed so many pigs, oxes, and cows in one single island. The pigs seem friendly and some of them walked toward us like they needed petting! We saw big and small pigs, white, black and spotted. Some of the sugar cane transportation on the island is still on ox carriages. Watch out and make sure you are not in the way because these ox are so big that they could crush anything in their path. Moreover, I found my bamboo stick that was misplaced last year. We use to have a stick that was used as an extension for the outboard handle and dinghy depth finder. Now we have attained a new one made in Marie Galante!

                                                  As a cruiser and traveller, you see the most beautiful beaches on these Caribbean Islands. Some of the islands are surrounded by long white beaches and some have very few beaches. In Basse Terre, which is the mountainous part of Guadeloupe the very few beaches have dark sand. In Marie Galante beaches are more white and soft and long. Based on experience, low elevated islands have beautiful long white beaches and higher elevated islands don’t have as many and they are smaller.  

I mentioned that it’s difficult to connect with locals in the French Islands if you don’t speak French. We finally got to connect with some locals through Nico. Apparently, Guadeloupe has a large Lebanese community. In Point a Pitre, many store fronts are owned by Lebanese that have been settled here for over 50 years. Nico got to talk to some of them in Arabic and we were able to socialize. After all, we are all the same and different languages and cultures should not separate us! Our differences should be attracting us to one another and this is the beautiful part of Earthlings!

Right now we are in Dominica and going to explore this attractive land for the next couple of weeks.

Love from a fruitful paradise

Please check out the photo album of Guadeloupe on the fb page!