On Tuesday at 8:00am we docked at Roseau, on the island of Dominica. We had to be up early as our rainforest tour departed at 8:10am. Dominica seemed to me to be rather economically depressed, maybe because of the smaller number of boats in the harbor or because of the poor condition of many of the buildings.
At the dock we boarded minivans that carried us up into the rainforest. There we were to take the Rainforest Tram for a ride up to one of the lower peaks. I was a little skeptical when I saw exactly what the “tram” was – more like a glorified ski lift. Eventually we decided it was safe enough and boarded. As we left it began raining lightly but the tram cars were covered and we had brought light jackets.
The guide in our car kept pointing out all of the different plants, birds and insects, complete with scientific names and details on their habits. By the time we got to the top I was wishing he would leave a little silence so we could just enjoy the scenery for ourselves. At the upper tram stop we all decided to hike back down to the midway point before getting back on. This took us over a pedestrian suspension bridge which spanned the Breakfast River Gorge.
After we got back to Roseau we did a little sightseeing in town and went back aboard ship for a late lunch. One interesting thing in the harbor was a three-masted barque called the Picton Castle. It turns out this is a training ship for people who want to learn to sail the tall ships. Their web site is here.
Next post – Pigeon Island, Saint Lucia
This is the one island that I felt ‘guilty’ about what we spent for the cruise…just because of the poverty we saw as we drove though the area. We have been to many islands within the Caribbean but this is probably the poorest I have seen.
It is beautiful! The bridge and the sky ride up both sound and look great! I am so glad you all had a great time.