And ever onwards....Les Saintes to Dominica..

Our trip from Les Saintes to Dominica did not take too long.....after 12 hours in one day what could be long!!  I think it fell into the 3-5 hour timeframe!

Dominica should not be confused with the Dominican Republic!  It is its own country.......
and it was where Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was filmed!  At Portsmouth, where we were staying the first night. The locals really liked the actors!

We arrived in Portsmouth, at the north of the island, early afternoon and soon afterwards were in a boat to go up the Indian River.  I should point out that this was a more stable boat than the dingy!! And once we were on the river the engine was turned off (noise not allowed!) and we were rowed/punted upriver.

This was a fantastic experience ........ to be recommended definitely! It was eerily silent apart from the noise of the oars..... and the mangrove tree roots were superb.....

Sorry....it was very difficult to cut out any photos!! And now I actually would really like to see the movie!

 We did get to see a hermit crab....... there were lots of crab holes along the banks of the river....

Our meal that evening at the Blue Bay Restaurant was not to be recommended, although I suspect it would have been the same at the few other possibilities!!

We sat outside, overlooking the beach.......good... but had to wait 2 hours for anything to eat. This coupled with the fact there was no white wine........ in fact one of the 'friends' of the restaurant went to a local supermarket to get some for us! ( he brought back 3 bottles, all different, all indifferent in taste!!)

Next morning we were picked up to drive to the south of the island.......

yes......... his Dad was with him........

The skipper and a friend would meet us in Roseau at the south end of the island....... quite civilized, and less time on the boat ( for those of us who were not sailors!!).....

We drove to the other side of the island, passing through the Carraibes reserve..

and stopped for lunch... with a view.....

The bottles at the back had all sorts of concoctions.........think snake oil for aches ( we were offered that at a local stall!)......

Actually they seemed to be different flavoured rums..........

The choice was chicken or fish with local veg......we chose fish but then learnt that the head was a much appreciated delicacy, locally!

However the dessert was good...... first time to have fresh sugar cane...

 .......as was the local beer.......

We visited the   Emerald Pool......a World Heritage site.......

I didn't know about the 3.6 metre Boa non poisonous snakes there.... before we took a stroll through the rainforest to get to the Emerald Pool!

Not quite sure why it was a World Heritage Site!! But it was interesting.......
But I definitely think the Indian River should be elevated to being a Unesco site........

Dinner was in a hotel in Roseau ( next to the Anchorage Hotel) ..... and was not so great! Typical hotel food, catering to foreigners! And again very slow.......perhaps that is something to be expected in Dominica!