I am writing this entry from a rather nice bar called the Purple Turtle. The lighting is low, there are strange purple lights illuminating the drinkers and music is blaring out. No, it’s not the pub / venue frequented by many of our friends in Camden but a beach bar in Portsmouth, Dominica.
The Purple Turtle bar, Dominica |
Dominica has been a bit of a tourist stinger for us. All
the guides told us we had to go inland to enjoy the country so we did. The
tours were painfully pricey, but as we don’t foresee any more land tours in the
near future, we gritted our teeth and paid. This morning, when James went to
collect a permit to change anchorage, it turned out there was no fee – the chap
who was going to charge him for it last Friday was sheepishly making coffee
whilst the official uniformed lady calmly told us there was no additional fee.
Later, we took a tour up the Indian River in Portsmouth (which also featured in Pirates
of the Caribbean) and were charged twice the amount mentioned in our pilot
guide. This has been an expensive three days.
The river tour was very pleasant – our guide rowed us up
among the mangroves and swamp bloodwood trees (yes – when cut they do ooze a
thick, sticky sap that looks like blood). Matthew took delight in spotting the
crayfish and crabs whilst I enjoyed the birdlife. I had been looking forward to
a trip to the parrot reserve tomorrow, but the guide wanted over £100 to take
me the nine miles inland and back. Ouch!
Great and Snowy Egret, Indian River, Dominica |
Adding to the ‘twitcher’ list were were two species of thrashers
(scaly-breasted and pearly-eyed), snowy and great egret together, great blue
heron, yellow crowned night heron, belted and ringed kingfishers and a random
sandpiper (I’ll look it up later!). The children were treated to coconut water,
which is not the coconut milk that we buy canned – that comes from squeezing
the grated coconut flesh. The water is a natural antiseptic and still used on
cuts, grazes and in the eye for conjunctivitis. The ‘milk’ can be left for a
few hours until it starts to ferment. The foam is then boiled to produce pure
coconut oil which is added to camphor as a “Vicks” cold remedy.
By popular request - photo of the author |
Tomorrow we shall cross to our next destination – Les Saintes
islands south of Guadaloupe, then it’s Antigua on Friday to meet up with Ariane
and John.
if you run short of money I am sure we can arrange something for you - let us know. Thanks for photo - good to see you relaxing - who is the dark skinned man u r with - lol.Tourism was always going to be expensive - it is their lielihood and mistakenly they think yacht owners have serious money.love mum xx
ReplyDeleteWe have not had as much rain as Hilary but taken with the melting snow we have enough water for floods (Low Road closed). It's quite warm ~13 degrees but the rain and wind discourage sunbathing. Stelios is moaning about the planned purchase of 100 aircraft, your CEO? or perhaps Chairman has stood down (not for Stelios) but the firm seems sound and share price healthy. Boeing still sweating over battery problems with the Dreamliner. How did you apply the coconut water to the kids - external or internal? Lots of love Dad XXXX
ReplyDeletePS Best recent sighting here was two White-fronted Geese, standing on the ice at Needingworth on Saturday. XXXX
ReplyDeleteHurrahhh!! Good to see a pic of you Sarah. You both look really well and relaxed! Why is there a dog bowl on the table?!
ReplyDeleteGill
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good to see you both doing well. since you are in sunshine doing touristy things, I am hiding in the dark, wearing black and listening to terrible trashy music - just to keep the universe in balance!
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