Dominica 25.12.2005 - 08.01.2006
None of us really had great knowledge about Dominica nor we had planned to ever go there...it was a decision based on great airfare deals offered by KLM and Air France...we had the time, we wanted to dive and here was a good deal and interesting enough destination.
We flew via Paris to Fort-de-France, the capital of St.Martinique island and spent one night there before continuing to Roseau, the capital of Dominica...I believe that neither one of us has become great fun of FDF - expensive, not too atractive, kind of empty, so we took the ferry to Roseau with no regrets the following day.
The whole trip could be divided into 2 parts - South of the island - in Anchorage hotel and North - Portsmouth.
Anchorage Hotel and Dive Center
Just outside Roseau it certainly was a great place to dive,to relax, to be...I did my PADI certification and Bo did lots of diving. I believe what surprised us on the island was how under developed it was - hardly any restaurants, no options for entertainment whatsoever, everything closes early and the city is almost dead at night. The local beer , called Kubuli and advertised everywhere as - it is Kubuli country- tasted rather weak and I believe Bo was more than happy to have a different one after 2 weeks of Kubuli...I am not sure I could say the same about my Pina Coladas, they were good!!!
Dominica is not exactly area for beaches, as I believe we found only 2 good ones on the whole island...but - when it comes to nature, hiking, beautiful views, good diving - it had it all, probably more beautiful than we thought it would be.The movie - Pirates of the Caribbean also has been filmed there.
We did some lovely things there like whale watching trip and one could indeed see whales as well as many, many dolphins on the way back...drove all around the island, exploring some lovely waterfalls, Middleham Falls being the most beautiful, soaked ourselves in sulphur springs...3 different temperature pools right in the middle of the jungle, lianas hanging right over your head...
Hotel was located nicely right by the bay, our room having balcony overlooking the water and people were friendly in the dive center...diving does make one truly tired, so i believed that as much as I slept during this trip I have never slept on any other ones
Portsmouth
Sister's Sea Lodge was the place we stayed, run by a German women Elsa, lovely place with little cottages, nice sea front restaurant and bar...of course having their special rum punch just like any other place on the island....very good food, one of the rare places in Dominica that has that and all together lovely place to hang out...we found diving in North being not as great as in South, however we saw some huge lobsters and nice turtles, drunk a lot of fresh fruit juice, explored the area and met some nice people in the Cabrit's Dive Center...
Dominica - probably not a place we will return to any time soon, but interesting enough to spend one vacation, good for diving, very relaxed, calm, peaceful and beautiful.Certainly not a place for beaches or big parties and I do not think I would like to go there all by myself either.
I managed to buy medicine against sea-sickness so the ferry ride back was much more pleasant than on the way there, we did not spent another night in Fort-de-France as we had plane same night.Nice escape from snowy winter, cold weather and little sunshine.
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