Roseau, Dominica

The largest and most mountainous of the Windward Islands, Dominica is often dubbed the “nature island” because of its natural landscapes. Scenically diverse, it offers volcanic peaks, mountain streams and rivers, black sand beaches as well as waterfalls and forests.

All of this we had experienced on previous visits. Therefore, it was all the more upsetting to see the damage the September 2017 hurricanes had done to this beautiful but poor island. We were only the second cruise ship to visit since September and they were really pleased to see us. They are expecting only 9 ships this year compared with the 133 in 2016 – the impact on their economy is enormous making recovery from the hurricane even more difficult.

The long pier for mooring off Roseau, the capital, had only just been rebuilt and from the deck we could see damage to buildings was still evident.

I took this next picture from the internet just to show what the main street in Roseau outside their hospital looked like after the hurricane. The rivers simply flowed down from the mountains into the town carrying rocks, timber from demolished houses and cars. How on earth they managed to clear all that to allow traffic to flow again is beyond belief.

We started our mini-bus tour by climbing the steep roads out of the town to look down on our ship and then onto the Botanical gardens. These were a shadow of their former glory but a few plants were recovering and the enormous banyan tree with its hanging roots would survive any hurricane.

We then drove on to visit the Hibiscus Falls but the steps down to the viewpoint and access for a dip in the pool at the bottom was beyond virtually all of us.

Then on to visit the Eco Village and the Carib people who had prepared lunch for us and a show of their traditional dances. The Caribs are the reason these islands are called the Caribbean and there are about 3500 of them left in Dominica including our guide for the days tour. They do still suffer some persecution but are slowly taking more responsible positions in society.

After the show we drove around most of the island and in particular the Carib Reserve. Here we could see the way the hurricane had snapped or bent every single telegraph and power pole with power lines all broken. Even now only 2% of the population have any power whatsoever. All the trees had been stripped of bark and snapped and this could be seen for miles across the mountains – so sad.

We did of course make very big tips to our guide and driver as well as buying what local products we could. On our return to the ship passengers had asked for a representative of the Red Cross relief agency to come aboard and in the short while before we departed £4500 had been donated.