When we last left our heroes, they were seeking a good night’s sleep after two long tour days in Dominica (see my post from 3/12/25 if you missed that). They got that good night’s sleep and were ready for the rest of the rendezvous. Let’s rejoin them on Day 4.
Day 4- A glorious down day
Sunday is the day of rest, right? So, the PAYS folks built that into our itinerary. Can I get an amen!
We had a lazy breakfast that morning and did a little laundry. (We were running out of undies. Is that TMI? Sorry!). Our new friends, Jim & Barbara on Complexity, came over to see our solar-electric systems and to just visit for a bit. Early that afternoon, Dave and I went ashore for some Mexican Train Dominoes. We thought we’d play a round or two and go back to the boat early. What we didn’t realize is that cruisers take their Mexican Train very seriously, and this was a thirteen-round commitment. So, we committed, had a great time, and got to meet and spend time with some other Dawgs we hadn’t yet. Before we knew it, it was almost 6pm. We had just enough time to return to Lady, take quick showers, and return for the Sunday night BBQ. We even stayed to dance to a couple of songs before heading back for bed. We enjoyed our down day.
Day 5- Fort Shirley Historical Tour and Indian River Tour
In the morning we had a guided tour of Fort Shirley, which is in the Cabrits National Park. Our guide was Dr. Lennox Honeychurch, who was born and raised in Dominica and whose family goes back a ways here (some of those European settlers). He is the reason the fort has been renovated and became a National Park in 1986. He is very knowledgeable and a great storyteller. Our short, 2-3 hour tour turned into a 4+ hour tour, but it was excellent!
Fort Shirley was started by the British in 1765, in an old volcanic crater. They cut down every tree on the Cabrit mountains; have to see the enemy coming, after all. The fort was added onto by the French, who held it briefly, then finished by the British after that. It was abandoned in 1854 but remained British-owned until they turned over ownership to the Dominican Government in 1901. A handful of the central buildings were restored by Dr. Honeychurch’s crew starting in 1982, the rest are being reclaimed by the forest that had been razed to build it. Full circle.
The fort was part of a network of defenses along the Lesser Antilles. For you Lord of the Rings fans, there’s that scene in Return of the King where Gondor calls for aid by lighting a series of beacons along the mountains. One fire is started, and when seen by the sentries on the next mountain, they light their fire, etc. The network of Lesser Antilles defenses was like that, only they used flags. The fort’s position was fortuitous. Due to the prevailing wind and sea conditions, it was nearly impossible to pull into the bay without being within range of the guns at the fort. For those rare instances when it might be pulled off, there was a smaller battery of cannons on the southern shore of the bay.
We hiked up East Cabrit, viewing additional ruins along the way, those left to the forest. Dr. Honeychurch was just talking about how they’re always finding stuff on the ground, like grape shot and such, when Dave looked down and picked up what turned out to be the trigger lock for a musket. Wowza! He presented it to a very grateful Dr. Honeychurch, who later cleaned it up and brought it to the final rendezvous dinner to thank Dave in front of everyone and let him get a picture with it all nice and clean.
Not only did Fort Shirley play a role in the war between the British and French, it also played a roll in changing the size of the island of Dominica. The Cabrits, twin mountains volcanically formed, used to be a separate island from Dominica, separated by a stretch of water with volcanic rock below the surface. When the British denuded the Cabrits for the fort, and also an expanse of land opposite on the mainland for farming and sugar cane, years of runoff deposited enough soil over the submerged volcanic rock to join the Cabrits to the mainland. This low-lying area is mostly marshland and until recently was also part of the National Park, as was Douglas Bay abutting it. Sadly, Douglas Bay and the marshlands were removed from the National Park area this past June and the land sold for the construction of a marina that, according to Dr. Honeychurch, is destined to fail because of the underlying volcanic rock and the sea swell that enters that bay. Of course, the land is not owned by a Dominican but rather some wealthy dude from some other country. 😠
We got back to the PAYS pavilion with only about 30 minutes to eat lunch and prepare for the 3:00 pm Indian River tour, but PAYS graciously moved the start time to 3:30. Phew! The three of us going on that next tour raced back to our boats, sucked down lunch and made it back to PAYS in record time.
A bunch of us loaded into five boats and headed for the Indian River. We quickly took a left up a side branch that took us to the set of Calypso’s hut from Pirates of the Caribbean 2. The set was built by locals for the movie and left to them afterward for tourism purposes. You can’t go inside, but it’s neat to see from the water. Then we turned around for the main river again. Only rowing is allowed along the river, starting just before that side branch to the movie set. Our rower was Kelvin, who told us a lot about the history, flora and fauna of the river. We saw rock crabs and doctor crabs, egrets, three types of herons, kingfishers, and even jacko parrots in flight. Hurricane Maria in 2017 changed the river. Many of the old-growth trees, that used to form an enclosed overhead archway across the river, were blown down, opening most of the river to direct sunlight. Hopefully, over time, that natural archway will reform. The hurricane also made the river shallower when landslides and runoff filled it in. The tour goes about a mile up the main river, stopping at the Bush Bar, owned by one of the Indian River Tour operators/PAYS member. It was a lovely trip, so peaceful, with only the sounds of nature, the splash of the oars, and the soft talking of us tourists. We spoke in quiet tones for the most part; it just seemed appropriate for the setting. It was a glorious way to spend the afternoon.
That night’s dinner was lionfish, courtesy of the local fishermen and a few Salty Dawgs who opted for the lionfish dive that morning. Lionfish, though beautiful, is an invasive species to the Eastern Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean, with no predators other than humans. Their appetite for reef fish is voracious and they reproduce quickly, an unfortunate combination. Fortunately, they’re easy to spear, the poisonous spines are not difficult to remove (I’m told), and they are good eating. Our lionfish fillets were accompanied by breadfruit salad, green salad, and baked banana. It was another delicious meal! It was also movie night, featuring… Can you guess? Pirates of the Caribbean 2! We didn’t make it through the whole movie, but we did see the part with Calypso’s hut. 😁
Day 6- Nature Island Water World Tour
As the name implies, we visited several water features this day. We started with Titou Gorge, another Pirates 2filming site. We swam through the gorge a short distance to some falls, though I didn’t make it all the way; the current was much too strong. I was able to lean around the corner of rock from the quiet side and snap a picture of the falls, though. We had lunch nearby, then continued to Trafalgar Falls, an easy walk to a pair of lovely waterfalls. We then went to the Roseau Valley Hot Spring Baths. Dave and I were expecting natural springs, but what we found was a series of cement pools with the hot spring water piped into them on a private owner’s land. The charge to use the pools was $10 US each. The water was warm, but not hot tub hot. Still, it was nice, because it had been raining on us off and on all day, and the water at the Gorge had been chilly, so the springs warmed us up a bit. It was nice to try once, but I wouldn’t go back to those “hot springs” again. The tour was supposed to include going to Champagne Beach to snorkel the underwater fumaroles. Two of the vans, ours included, were tired of getting in and out of the water and decided not to go. Besides the snorkeling conditions weren’t great for seeing much. Instead, our driver took us home via the Roseau botanical garden and some lovely views.
Dinner was the regular Wednesday night BBQ of chicken, rice and salad. However, this evening we were treated to a Mardi Gras performance by a local youth organization. Their homemade costumes and their sheer joy of the dance was infectious. They got many of us dancing as well.
Day 7- Community Service
This was a day for the Dawgs to give back to the community. There were three volunteer activities to choose from. Dave & I joined the painting group. About 7 of us painted the two main exterior walls of a building that houses a nonprofit that teaches women sewing and craft skills so they can make a living with them. We painted between bouts of light rain. We didn’t quite finish, because the ladder we needed for the higher parts showed up a little late. Four of us went back the following morning to finish, though.
The evening brought the final, farewell appreciation dinner. This one was funded by PAYS and catered by one of their female members. Dinner was delicious! There were a couple of speakers there who thanked us for our attendance and interest in Dominica, and hoped we would return. Then there was music and dancing, which we did indulge in for a while. This was our final event together, so it was bittersweet. Many would leave within the next two days to continue their cruising north or south. We thoroughly enjoyed the rendezvous and hope we will be able to attend next year’s. We certainly hope to encounter our new friends as we continue to explore the Eastern Caribbean over the next few years.
My cousins would join us the following day and we would continue to explore Dominica for a few days together, before we all headed to Guadeloupe. I will tell you about our two weeks together next time.
Until then, stay safe and take care of each other!
Life on Lady 