WHat to do in Dominca

[CruisinMama27]

We will be on Carnival Destiny in May. What are the best excursions to go on in Dominica?:D

[Stillfloatin']

Lucky you! We were on the Destiny 2 years ago and this is my review of our day in Dominica. Hope it helps:

 

Again, thanks to cruisecritic recommendations, I had arranged for Augustine Pascal (just call him Bay-no), to be our tour guide for the day. We wanted to take advantage of the fact that Dominica is still an unspoiled beautiful under-developed rain forest island and really see the non-tourist part of the island before it gets discovered and all the condos are built, so Beno knew that we wanted to go to the Carib Indian territory which is on the northeast part of the island and requires about 2 hours of driving through the rain forest to get there. And be warned, this is a narrow winding road. Beno was just an amazingly sincere and knowledgeable local who just got so much pleasure out of showing us his island. He began the tour by handing each of us hand-made miniature sandal keychains.

 

The drive to the Carib territory was incredibly beautiful. Everything was so lush and green and colorful flowers grew wild everywhere. Beno told us all about the local flora and fauna, and he even identified some unusual birds for the bird-watcher in our group (and it wasn’t even boring for the rest of us!). For much of the ride, we followed alongside a stunning river, with frequent stops to get some great photos. Everything grows in this lush forest. We got some cool photos of bright red coffee beans on the trees, just growing wild by the road. But the best part was when we stopped at Moses’ home. Moses is a Carib that Beno has known for many years and he graciously shared his family history with us and explained the process of the weavings that are known world-wide for their unusual and distinctive patterns and technique. He had a few he sold to us and they are just amazing. Then, Beno went in to the forest and used Moses's machetes to cut down some coconuts so we could get our first taste of “jelly juice” which is the sweet water that is only found in the young coconuts. Then, using the top of the coconut as a scoop, we were able to taste the coconut in its soft form. They also cut down ripe coconuts so we could refresh ourselves with the coconut water and then chew on fresh coconut pieces. Now THIS is why I love going on independent tours!

 

On the way back to the ship, we told Beno to take us to a good local restaurant where we could buy him some lunch. This time, I ordered chicken cooked in a local sweet and hot sauce that was amazingly tasty. This was accompanied with the typical rice and “peas”, fried plantains, and a sweet cabbage and cucumber salad. Again, no tourists.

 

Finally, Beno had been telling us about the local “jing ping” music and we wanted to get a CD, so he took us to see “rasta man”, otherwise known as Loftus Emanuel, a local music promoter in Roseau. Between the 2 of them, they picked out some great CDs that we listened to on our portable CD player, out on the balcony as we sailed away from beautiful Dominica.

 

If you want to hire Beno, here are his numbers: Augustine Pascal , 39 Solomon Lane, Goodwill, Dominica. Email: benox265@hotmail.com. Tele: 1(767) 235-2625 or 1(767) 448-0625. I did all my arrangements through email. Give him a day to respond to emails.