Cabrits, Dominica and Terre de Haut, Iles Les Saintes
The ease of stepping off the ship onto a dock rather than via Zodiacs was enjoyed today as the vessel carefully ‘backed into’ her mooring at the cruise terminal in Cabrits, Dominica. Following breakfast mini vans took us to the Syndicate Trail Nature Walk high in the mountains and deep into the rain forest. Here a local naturalist led us on an amazing walk through dense rain forest (and boy, did it rain!) explaining the complex and diverse flora and fauna we encountered along the way. It was nice to get out and about stretching our legs as we traipsed through the rainforest nature trail.
The drive back to the ship following this enjoyable morning excursion was in the usual warm Caribbean sunshine and took us through several very active, bustling communities along the way. We were able to see many of the farm products that Dominica is famous for including pineapples, bananas, oranges, grapefruits etc growing in the fields. Dominica has a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables available which may explain why this island enjoys an amazingly high number of centurion citizens. So eat your fruits and veggies!
Dr. Lennox Honeychurch, native Dominican historian, joined us onboard after lunch and gave us a short talk about the 18th century Fort Shirley which loomed over us on the hillside above our mooring. He has been responsible for restoring this important early defense of the island and following his brief introduction to its history and significance he then lead us up the old, original causeway to the fort itself where he pointed out and explained what each building had been, how the lengthy restoration project is going and what life would have been like for the British soldiers garrisoned there over two hundred years ago.
Back on board, Emma Ridley gave a presentation on the geological formation of the Caribbean and we cast off headed toward– the European Union! Yes, we sailed to our evening anchorage which was off the little island of Terre de Haut, part of the Isles Les Saintes group, and part of France and, hence, the European Union! Many of us took the opportunity to shuttle ashore tonight to enjoy French Caribbean hospitality.
The ease of stepping off the ship onto a dock rather than via Zodiacs was enjoyed today as the vessel carefully ‘backed into’ her mooring at the cruise terminal in Cabrits, Dominica. Following breakfast mini vans took us to the Syndicate Trail Nature Walk high in the mountains and deep into the rain forest. Here a local naturalist led us on an amazing walk through dense rain forest (and boy, did it rain!) explaining the complex and diverse flora and fauna we encountered along the way. It was nice to get out and about stretching our legs as we traipsed through the rainforest nature trail.
The drive back to the ship following this enjoyable morning excursion was in the usual warm Caribbean sunshine and took us through several very active, bustling communities along the way. We were able to see many of the farm products that Dominica is famous for including pineapples, bananas, oranges, grapefruits etc growing in the fields. Dominica has a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables available which may explain why this island enjoys an amazingly high number of centurion citizens. So eat your fruits and veggies!
Dr. Lennox Honeychurch, native Dominican historian, joined us onboard after lunch and gave us a short talk about the 18th century Fort Shirley which loomed over us on the hillside above our mooring. He has been responsible for restoring this important early defense of the island and following his brief introduction to its history and significance he then lead us up the old, original causeway to the fort itself where he pointed out and explained what each building had been, how the lengthy restoration project is going and what life would have been like for the British soldiers garrisoned there over two hundred years ago.
Back on board, Emma Ridley gave a presentation on the geological formation of the Caribbean and we cast off headed toward– the European Union! Yes, we sailed to our evening anchorage which was off the little island of Terre de Haut, part of the Isles Les Saintes group, and part of France and, hence, the European Union! Many of us took the opportunity to shuttle ashore tonight to enjoy French Caribbean hospitality.
