Dominica

My Dominica travel summary:

Visited: November 2017

Duration of visit: 4 days

Capital city: Roseau

Population: 72,000 (2017)

Dominica travel blog reading time: 6 minutes

• Visiting Dominica two months after Hurricane Maria wiped it out.
• Almost impossible to find a place to stay, eat and transport around the island.
• Painful and slow recovery in the capital, Roseau.
• Navigating Indian River – the scene of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Dominica is different than most of the Caribbean islands, because there are very few sandy beaches. The massive tourism has not arrived there yet.

Furthermore, it was the first country hit by Hurricane Maria in 2017.

The deadly Category 5 hurricane struck and devastated Dominica, St. Croix, and Puerto Rico in September 2017.

I visited Dominica only two months after Hurricane Maria wiped it out. I tried to enjoy the trip as much as I could, although in such unusual conditions I probably didn’t get the country’s real picture. The hurricane damaged all exciting places to visit and landmarks and left many of them inaccessible.

Maria caused catastrophic destruction across all of Dominica, leaving the entire island without communication. The hurricane left most of the housing and infrastructure beyond repair, and it practically eradicated the island’s lush vegetation.

Nearly every tree was touched – thousands snapped and strewn across the landscape – and the island was stripped of vegetation. It looked like the rainforests had vanished.

Dominica was part of my Caribbean Islands Trip in 2017.

Two months after Hurricane Maria hit, the country still looked as if the storm had just happened. I arrived in the capital, Roseau, on a passenger ferry from Guadeloupe. The moment I stepped ashore, I realized how huge the disaster was.

I didn’t find any other tourists on the ferry, and I didn’t see any on the island either. Just locals and family members that were coming home or immigrating somewhere else. All hotels were either destroyed or closed for reparation.

I met Ezra, who helped me find a place to stay – one of the very few available. Helpful staff also offered me food and provided the information about the current situation.

As soon as we walked through the capital, Roseau, I could see the damage everywhere. Passing the botanic garden and driving along the river, I noticed that every single tree was down, broken, or leafless. Most of the simple wooden houses were totally destroyed or simply teared down. The river stream was twice as wide as usual and the road was washed away. I walked on a temporary road that had been improvised along the river’s southern bank.

I found people still in shock, unable to believe what had happened to them.

First came the hurricane, then almost no international help. On top of that, all cruises for the next year were canceled.

Of course, it wasn’t the most appealing place to travel to Dominica after Maria. But I felt that supporting the local economy as a tourist was one of the best ways to help the people recover from such hardship.

I decided to explore the island as much as possible, though most of the roads were damaged and closed. The eastern side of the island was completely cut off. I caught an irregular minibus to Portsmouth, the second-biggest town. The ride took almost two hours, and I saw hardly any other passengers.

Portsmouth, the former capital of Dominica, felt more like a large village with about 3,000 people. Most residents rely on fishing and tourism to make a living.

I walked the last part to the embouchure of Indian River to Caribbean Sea. It didn’t look like a place where Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed, and there were no signs of the luxury Johnny Depp might have received while in town.

It was still before noon, when I was shaking hands with a group of bored fishermen in a local bar. After listening to their story about how the hurricane destroyed their boats and damaged their houses, I asked if it was possible to navigate the Indian River.

“It’s very expensive my friend. No boats, no captains, no tourists. 50.00 US$ for you only,” was a serious offer by one of my new drinking buddies.

“The river had only been partially cleared. You can only navigate the lower section!”

They didn’t convince me and I knew that there should be another – cheaper option. I had a pre-arranged plan with a local fisherman, set up through my hotel’s owner the night before. But he was already two hours late, and I didn’t know what to do. I was definitely not going to pay 50 bucks for this ride.

It was already 1:00 pm, and I was getting hungry. I managed to persuade the bored waiter at a bar to cook fish with rice and beans. Shouting from the bar grew louder after every beer poured down the throats of unemployed fishermen. When I noticed the smell of cannabis growing stronger, I realized I needed to find a solution quickly before the fishermen got too aggressive.

I was already thinking about walking back to the bus station when a tall guy with a torn hat approached me and asked:

“Are you taking a boat up the Indian River?

I was surprised and at first denied my interest, but he immediately explained that he was a friend of a friend of my hotel owner in Roseau. Great! We quickly agreed an all details and pushed a small boat off the dock, up the Indian River.

The navigation was difficult, since the river was still covered with branches and small trunks of fallen trees. What was supposed to be an ideal way to enjoy the quiet beauty of the river and forest, where parts of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest were filmed, had turned into a war zone.

I couldn’t believe how much damage the hurricane had caused to this top Dominican travel attraction.

I saw very few birds, iguanas, fish, or other animals, but I found the ride serene and peaceful.

After half an hour we arrived to the end of the navigable part of the river. I gave a couple of Caribbean dollars to workers that were cleaning the path. They were convinced that nature will recover quickly. I hope tour groups will be back next season to help revive the local community that depends on tourism.

When I got back to Portsmouth, I realized no more minivans were traveling to Roseau. I decided to try hitchhiking. It didn’t take long before a pickup truck stopped and offered me a ride halfway to St. Joseph area.

From the back of the truck I had a great view and opportunity to observe how strong and harmful nature can be.

The Dominican mountains, once covered with trees as far as the eye could see, now looked like fields of dry corn. Many electric poles had fallen or were leaning dangerously over the streets. I constantly had to lower my head in order to avoid hitting them. We saw very few cars, but they got so close that I feared we might bump into them.

I arrived in Roseau late, and walking around at night felt dark and unpleasant. The streetlights didn’t work, and the city had no electricity. Only luxury houses and businesses could afford their own power plants.

I stopped in front of the town’s only place with open Wi-Fi. I used the public connection in the best-stocked grocery store to check messages and emails on my phone. The connection worked better at night, but walking half an hour back to the hotel was uncomfortable.

The full moon was illuminating my path on the last evening, before continuing on a ferry to Saint Lucia next morning.

I left Dominica with mixed emotions. I found it in extreme conditions just after the worst natural disaster in its history. People were fighting to survive and restarting their lives, rebuilding their houses, infrastructure and basic necessities.

The country was hit so hard, it will take years for its population to recover. Nature will recover quickly, and the countryside will turn green and beautiful to welcome foreign travelers again.

Although I didn’t have many things to do and most popular places were closed, my Dominica travel adventure was unique.