Beautiful Views on the Water Highlight Day 3 & 4

The view of Dominica’s gorgeous coastline from our whale watching cruise

I was super-excited when our third day dawned bright and clear. It was our whale watching tour day, and I was hoping the third time would be a charm for me. Twice before, I had taken boat tours to see whales and twice been disappointed. I felt the weather was a good omen. The tour wasn’t until the afternoon, though, so we had decided to fill the early part of the day with sightseeing in Roseau, the capital and biggest town on the island.

The view from atop Morne Bruce of Roseau spread out beneath us

I have a mantra when I travel about scenic views. If the place I’m visiting has a hill overlooking the city known for its views, or if there is a church tower stretching to the heavens, I am flexible about scheduling what day to visit it. The first sunny day I usually seize the opportunity and make a beeline to that place. So, with today being sunny, our first stop was driving to the top of Morne Bruce and its scenic overlook. The town of 25,000 was spread out in an arc along the Caribbean. The bright blue sea had a few boats clustered near the shore, but today’s floating hotel of a cruise ship must have been docked further away, on the outskirts to the north. Buildings seemed clustered together tightly, white and pastel colors jostling one another for the highest rooftops. The soccer stadium and botanical gardens were patches of green stretching to the base of Morne Bruce, the hilltop where we stood. There were less than a dozen other tourists taking pictures and admiring the view.

A huge and ancient banyan tree deploys its multitude of roots over the course of the years in the Botanical Gardens

After we had taken all the photos we wanted, we drove the twisting road back downhill. Our first task was to find a parking spot (always a challenge in Roseau with its narrow streets), hopefully near the ferry port where our whale watching tour would pick us up at 1pm. We scored a spot a minute or two walk away. Where to next? We decided on walking to the Botanical Gardens, which I had read some good review of during my research. Unfortunately, it was a long, hot walk away through Roseau’s streets. There is no visitors center, no placards, or walking guide to help you navigate and identify the best sights. However, it was hopping with tour groups from the cruise ship. Each had their own guide leading a couple dozen tourists of all ages and many nationalities. They were stopping at the same spots and giving their several minutes spiel about each tree or plant…in English. Hey…! Yep, we did that thing tour guides probably hate and bounced along the edges of several different groups, listening in on their description. We saw the baobab tree that had flattened a school bus way back during Hurricane David in 1979, and is still alive and growing. We listened in as the guides described the “Tarzan Tree” (an ancient banyan tree with dense clusters of roots that had dropped down in an ever-widening circle). And we walked inside the clusters of bamboo, marveling at how dense and thick its vegetation is (as the guides described helpfully recited facts about the wood).

The monument to Dominica’s escaped slaves and their war for freedom from the European planters

Next, we made our way into town, checking out various sights along the way. The Neg Mawon Emancipation Monument is dedicated to the escaped slaves who waged war as Maroons against the English and French plantation owners. A heroically proportioned slave stands proudly in the middle of an intersection with his chains broken, signaling an attack by blowing on a seashell conch horn. Continuing on, we found all of the more interesting churches were undergoing renovation after the devastation of Hurricane Maria in 2017. So, we couldn’t visit them. We took an indoor break from the heat and visited the Dominica Museum. This small museum is located in a thick-walled, colonial era building. It traces the geology, history, and culture of Dominica’s people, from the earliest aboriginal inhabitants to the African slaves, mixed ancestry Creoles, and European planters. We were the only visitors at the time, so it was nice to take our time and learn more details about this interesting island.

Our small tour boat and passengers and crew ready to hunt whales…the giant sperm whales…!

It was still hot out, so we ducked into an ice cream shop to cool off and have a snack and refreshing drink. It was about time to head to the ferry port to meet our tour. This was done fairly easily, and the six of us who had signed were soon listening to the captain and guide explain to us how they would attempt to find on of the twenty or so pods of sperm whales that stay year-round in Dominica’s waters. We would first head two miles out to sea, then they would deploy a listening device to hear the clicks the giant cetaceans communicate with. Another boat with a different group would head out and do the same thing several miles away. Each would call the other if they had contact. If nothing, we would move north along Dominica’s coast and try again. And again. I hazarded a question: Had the morning tour seen whales? Everything we read estimated our chances of spotting sperm whales as 75-90%. My heart sank when the captain shook his head no.

No whales were sighted, but we did see this pelican hanging out!

I had brought along a hoodie and rain coat, expecting the wind as we buzzed along in the boat to be cold. I even wore a long sleeve wicking shirt and long pants. I definitely over dressed! It wasn’t chilly at all (or at least I didn’t feel cold), but it wasn’t very comfortable either. The small boat bounced along the waves at high speed, throwing up spray regularly. Guess who was sitting in the front of the boat with the wind in his face? Eventually, we stopped, and the crew deployed their listening gear. I deployed my camera with its 300mm telephoto lens. We waited, enjoying the sunshine and being on the water. Bad news, though. No clicks. They reeled everything in and we set off for what seemed like easily a half hour bouncing across the choppy water. Eventually, we reached the desired location, stopped, and watched the crew hopefully. About 10-15 minutes later, it was no dice, or no clicking again. We set off again bouncing across the waves.

Bright and colorful homes dot the slopes all along the island’s coastline

The crew had encouraged us at the start to stay vigilant and look for signs of whales (or other sea mammals). So, the whole time we were racing along, I was being a good little lookout and keeping my eyes peeled. My neck was sore from craning around to scan the surface of the water. My hands were soar from gripping the wet railing. It was definitely not comfortable Caribbean cruising on a sunny day! When our third stop turned up empty, we headed back, albeit more slowly. I think the crew felt sorry for us, so we motored close to the shore so we could enjoy Dominica’s beautiful coastal scenery. Although it wasn’t sperm whales, the villages and communities along the green, rugged coastline are stunning. I flipped my camera to the motorized “sport” setting, where a push of the button fires off a burst of shots. Intended to catch athletes in motion, I figured it would also work for a moving boat. At each scenic view, I snapped shots. The captain noticed, and began slowing down when I was taking pictures. Soon, most of the passengers were getting in on the act. The captain turned our voyage back into a scenic coastline tour. I love taking pictures of beautiful scenery, so this made up a bit for my disappointment at not seeing any sea life - no dolphins…nothing!

Rocky sections alternate with jungle clad slopes all shining in the afternoon sun

We finished off the day with pizza and beer at a “dive bar” - a waterfront snack bar attached to a very expensive hotel frequented by scuba divers. It didn’t help they were excitedly talking about all the fish they’d seen on their day of diving! The pizza was good, though, and after we finished we drove back to the hotel as darkness fell. We got a small taste of why travelers are warned not to drive at night on Dominica! The next morning, though, we were back in the car headed to the far northwest part of the island. We started off by visiting Fort Shirley, a stone fort on a hilltop overlooking the tiny seaside town of Portsmouth. It was built by the British in 1765 when they controlled the island. Half of its 32 cannons or mortars are still in place. The battery walls had a wonderful view of the harbor below and the surrounding countryside. It had been raining off and on all morning, and for a change, the sun came out while we walked around the fort.

Built in the 1700s, English Fort Shirley guarded the harbor from French invaders or pirates

Next, we fired up our All Trails hiking app and took the Bluff Point Gun Battery hike. It was a relatively short hike even further up the wooded hill looming over the fort. The way up was fairly steep at times, and either the rain swept through again or the wind dropped previous raindrops from the leaves onto us. There was one viewpoint about halfway up, with a nice view of the Atlantic coastline. Then, it was back under the trees for the final bit of this nearly two mile hike. The path was easy to follow, but fairly muddy and slick. Eventually, we made it to the top and were rewarded by a stone platform with another cannon guarding the view. We marveled at the men who had to drag this hunk of iron on wheels up the wet, rocky slopes. We enjoyed the sweeping views of the ocean, and caught our breath, and savored the breeze. This was a “there and back” hike, so we began trudging carefully downhill. Apparently, I wasn’t too careful, though. At one point, my footing slipped and I fell forward. I landed on my knees and palms. Unfortunately, in a case of awful placement my mouth smacked into one of the larger rocks on the trail. I was okay, essentially just having been punched in the mouth by Dominica. My knees got some minor scrapes, but my palms were just muddy. Needless to say, I was even more careful the rest of the way down!

View from out hiking trail that climbed the forested hill overlook the fort

Next up was an Indian River boat tour. We booked a local fisherman to paddle us along Dominica’s deepest river about 30-40 minutes through the marshlands and forest. Aza pointed out the local plant and animal life. A half dozen times or more a rain shower would pass over us. It really rains a LOT here in Dominica! Still, we saw a green iguana in a tree overhanging the river. There was a blue heron, white crabs, and more. The surface of the river was still, and the only sounds were of Ana’s commentary or his oars dipping into the milky green water. As we rounded turns, we wound our way further back into a green tunnel - green vegetation beside and above, and green water below.

View from our rowboat along the Indian River

One of the sights we stopped by was the “Witch’s Hut,” a small wooden cabin built for one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. A lot of the scenes were filmed on Dominica, and various places around the island have connections to the movie. The structure is slowly crumbling, so there is no getting off the boat to explore it. The setting is perfect, though, and you can see why the film crews chose it for its creepy jungle vibe. Aza pointed out as we left the marshlands and crossed into rain forest. Sometimes, the overhead branches hung so low we had to duck to pass beneath. He gave us a little History, too, how the Carib Indians (referred to as Kalinago now), used this river to trade with the Europeans. He also pointed out the sad, concrete remains of a railroad bridge pier. The British established a teak plantation upriver, only to have it fail and be abandoned. Our final stop was a little wooden tiki bar and garden of various local plants. We enjoyed a drink, watched another rain shower pass through, and took some photos of the blossoms in the garden.

The Witch’s Hut from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies

Finally, it was time to head back. The paddle back with the current took a lot less time, of course. We asked Aza the most times in a day he did the trip up and back, and he said about six times. He agreed that the increased cruise ship traffic was good for his business. Still, in our entire hour and a half on the Indian River, we saw only three other boats with tourists. The river is fairly narrow, so there probably is a limit to the amount of tours that can be going at once before it spoils the quiet and solitude. I enjoyed the experience, though I would have liked it more without the constant rain! Of course, I could probably say that about the four days so far in Dominica! There is always tomorrow, and the hope it dawns clear and sunny…

Last look at the Indian River scenery