i was surprised how nice the diving was in Dominica. excellent!

[lmorin]

Our experiences and appreciation of Dominica were very similar to those of KathyV, including the frogfish, hiring a driver and sense of Roseau. When we went in 2006??, Dominica could be reached by a two leg AA trip first to Puerto Rico, then on to Dominica. Fairly straightforward and not overly expensive from NYC, at least. That does not figure into our overall sense of the trip.

 

[agilis]

The discontinuation of the direct one day AA/American Eagle connection was a great loss, making getting to Dominica an overnight trip for me. I still go at least once each year, if possible. I never stay at any of the diver dedicated operations. I'm an independent traveler, and have never employed a 'driver' in my life. I rent my own 4wd vehicle and explore remote back roads as much as possible. At one time Dominican regulations forbade issuing the temporary Dominican driver's license to people over 65, so I'd have my younger traveling partner rent the vehicle, but I took over driving as soon as we passed the exit gate. Happily, that regulation has been changed.

When I passed the age of 70 the rental people sometimes seemed worried, and one manager, after I insisted on a standard shift vehicle, had me drive him around the parking lot to make sure I knew what I was doing. To his credit, he gave me a 10% discount as an apology.

I always rent my own cottage or house, and either do my own cooking or eat out. I value my independence and do not need or want people looking after me or setting my schedule. A 6Am drive to a deep inland river pool to watch the sun come up as the parrots awaken and the bats return to their dens is a good start to a day, followed by a 10AM dive or an exploration of some ruins, always my choice. Snorkeling at dusk along some remote cliff face is an indispensable end to the day.

Dominica is the second poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Only Haiti in poorer. The pervasive low mood has been remarked upon by visitors to Dominica since the early 20th century. There are a lot of historical, demographic, and geographic reasons for this, but it is nothing new. Like a few other places in the world, Dominica has that fatal gift of beauty. It can be overwhelming when combined with the isolation and poverty.

Anyone who aspires to be more than a mere tourist owes it to themselves to acquaint themselves with a more than superficial understanding of the places they visit. Dominica's history and culture is fascinating and deeply affecting. The dark mood sometimes detected on that spectacular island permeates the work of her most famous novelist, Jean Rhys. A great writer.
An Englishman who found himself stranded in Dominica after the 1929 stock market crash and stayed until his death 30 years later wrote a wonderful book: "Mount Joy", by Stephen Hawys. It's one of the best things I've ever read about the Caribbean. A magical book.

 

[mikeycanuk]

I recently read a book where a bunch of Canadian white supremacists in the 80's planned to invade Dominica, set up a puppet govt and use the island to get rich.


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[agilis]

I recently read a book where a bunch of Canadian white supremacists in the 80's planned to invade Dominica, set up a puppet govt and use the island to get rich.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

It was a mixed group, mostly Americans and a few Canadians. Prominent among the leaders was a Texas KKK leader named Perdue. Also involved was the KKK leader David Duke, the now famous libertarian Ron Paul, a former governor of Texas, and a bunch of similar scum. Their aim was to overthrow PM Dame Eugenia Charles and install corrupt former PM Johns. The US/Canadian pirates were armed with heavy weapons and planned to defeat the tiny ill equipped Dominica police and establish a gambling/prostitution mecca in an impoverished country that had a tiny population of about 70,000 people and no significant armed forces.

Dominica is very poor with more than its share of political corruption and great desperation among ordinary people. Fortunately these pirates were stopped because their expedition was very badly planned and sloppily executed. Dominica is very vulnerable to outside influences. For the past few decades they have survived mainly on contributions and assistance they get from Cuba, which supplies doctors and technicians, and Venezuela, which supplies oil. China has stepped in recently with massive building projects and now has enormous influence. We give Dominica nothing, preferring to spend our money in the Middle East.

It's very simple:Congressmen and presidential candidates do not get contributions from people who reward supporters of Dominica. We are a corrupt, stupid, and irresponsible nation.

 

[drrich2]

Is the U.S. not handing out enough charity at home & abroad?

Agilis, it's said to hear Dominica even mentioned in the same discussion as Haiti. Reading about Haiti on Wikipedia, it was painful just reading about how desperately poor that nation is; seemed to be the national equivalent of those emaciating starving African children that used to be shown on t.v. during famines. If Dominica is anywhere near Haiti's condition, that's galling.

Ironically, I'd think dive tourism, or most any tourism, would bring some desperately needed funds into the country.

If I remember correctly from another thread, some of that driving you do in Dominica can be rather frightening for your passenger (narrow roads high up, not your driving)? Worth mentioning that it might be 'too rich for my blood' (risky) for some folks.

Richard.

 

[KathyV]

Is the U.S. not handing out enough charity at home & abroad?...If Dominica is anywhere near Haiti's condition, that's galling. Ironically, I'd think dive tourism, or most any tourism, would bring some desperately needed funds into the country.

If I remember correctly from another thread, some of that driving you do in Dominica can be rather frightening for your passenger (narrow roads high up, not your driving)? Worth mentioning that it might be 'too rich for my blood' (risky) for some folks. Richard.

Americans often talk about how much money we hand out in foreign aid, and when you see the total annual figure it seems like an enormous amount, but we a very rich county. When you look at foreign aid as a percentage of our Gross National Income then you will see that we are rather stingy. I got the list below on Wikipedia and in 2013 the US ranked 22nd for foreign aid as a percentage of our GNI, and far below the UN target of 0.7%. I didn't verify these figures but the source given was the UN.

I am not eager to see my taxes increase, but at least I now recognize that we are not such a generous country as we'd like to think.

I have never visited Haiti but in Dominica, although it was clear that it is a poor country, I wasn't as acutely aware of the poverty as I have been in some other places, like Honduras. I am surprised to read that it is almost as poor as Haiti, but maybe I didn't visit enough locations to see it with my own eyes.

Regarding your question about driving in Dominica, I am not an adventurous driver but my husband loves a challenge. When we are in a country that drives on the left side of bad roads - that just adds to the fun for him - and I go along with him "riding shotgun"!

But we didn't rent a car during our visit to Dominica, even my daredevil husband wasn't eager to drive those roads! You travel high in the forest/jungle on narrow twisty, rough roads and often find yourself at the edge of a narrow hairpin turn with a big drop off right next to you - and no fence. But at least there is very little traffic!

I remember the driver telling us that they don't have many accidents but when they do, you have to leave the cars (and presumably the bodies?) where they fell because there is no way to get them out.



Official development assistance by country as a percentage of Gross National Income in 2013; the UN target is 0.7%

1. United Arab Emirates – 1.25%
2. Norway – 1.07%
3. Sweden – 1.02%
4. Luxembourg – 1.00%
5. Denmark – 0.85%
6. United Kingdom – 0.72%
7. Netherlands – 0.67%
8. Finland – 0.55%
9. Switzerland – 0.47%
10. Belgium – 0.45%
11. Ireland – 0.45%
12. Turkey – 0.42%
13. France – 0.41%
14. Germany – 0.38%
15. Australia – 0.34%
16. Austria – 0.28%
17. Canada – 0.27%
18. New Zealand – 0.26%
19. Iceland – 0.26%
20. Japan – 0.23%
21. Portugal – 0.23%
22. United States – 0.19%
23. Spain – 0.16%
24. Italy – 0.16%
25. South Korea – 0.13%
26. Slovenia – 0.13%
27. Estonia – 0.13%
28. Greece – 0.13%
29. Czech Republic – 0.11%
30. Hungary – 0.10%
31. Poland – 0.10%
32. Slovak Republic – 0.09%
33. Latvia – 0.08%
34. Israel – 0.07%
35. Russia – 0.03%

 

[diver 85]

Isn't Dominica great!!!,..called Jewel of the Caribbean for a reason..
(Dominica - The Jewel of the Caribbean - January 2015 - Weaver's Dive & Travel Center)

.......IMO, can go 18/6 & still not have covered it all

Wonder if they are related??..

[/URL]frogfish[1] by GEAUXtiger, on Flickr[/IMG]

2 other real quick favorites(wish I'd have been shooting strobes/WA/ & macro back then...)

[/URL]flying gurnard by GEAUXtiger, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/URL]champagne[1] by GEAUXtiger, on Flickr[/IMG]

more here.....:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/80825593@N08/sets/72157630760240954/

---------- Post added April 3rd, 2015 at 07:00 AM ----------

I recently read a book where a bunch of Canadian white supremacists in the 80's planned to invade Dominica, set up a puppet govt and use the island to get rich.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Operation Red Dog---unfortunately there was a Louisiana connection in there.........too.......
http://www.thegrenadarevolutiononline.com/page17a.html

 

[agilis]

Is the U.S. not handing out enough charity at home & abroad?

Agilis, it's said to hear Dominica even mentioned in the same discussion as Haiti. Reading about Haiti on Wikipedia, it was painful just reading about how desperately poor that nation is; seemed to be the national equivalent of those emaciating starving African children that used to be shown on t.v. during famines. If Dominica is anywhere near Haiti's condition, that's galling.

Ironically, I'd think dive tourism, or most any tourism, would bring some desperately needed funds into the country.

If I remember correctly from another thread, some of that driving you do in Dominica can be rather frightening for your passenger (narrow roads high up, not your driving)? Worth mentioning that it might be 'too rich for my blood' (risky) for some folks.

Richard.

Dominica's population is tiny compared to Haiti, and it has not suffered the devastating earthquakes that have afflicted Haiti. There is enough food to go around, and living conditions are reasonably pleasant despite the very low per capita income numbers.

It would be financially effortless for this country to provide some assistance to Dominica. Its total population is equivalent to a medium sized American town. We made promises after they helped with our invasion of Grenada, but quickly forgot about them when we didn't need them anymore. In fact, we ruined their very small banana export business by invoking international trade agreements with the British that prevented them from paying a slightly higher price to Dominica for bananas because giant American owned agribusiness in Central America complained.

There are a lot of other factors. Dominica was stripped of its livestock assets by the British during WW2 to feed the Free French forces in the Caribbean, and its farming sector never fully recovered. The lack of a jetport means large aircraft cannot fly in and out. The only tourism money of any significance comes from cruise ships. There really is no tourism infrastructure.

There are almost no sunny beaches. One of the few classic sandy beaches that exists is lovely, but the currents there are deadly, quickly drowning the unwary. The last of the Caribs settled nearby because of these protective currents. Their mixed descendants are still there. It is a volcanic island. There are very few exports. The practically vertical landscape and the heavy rains wash out roads on a regular basis, and there is little money to repair them, until the Chinese were able to acquire great influence for a pittance. Our foreign policy in the Caribbean is shameful and self-destructive.

I love the island beyond all reason, but then I don't see it as just a dive destination. I have had vehicle passengers begin weeping at times, but I've never gotten stuck and never had an accident there. I lived in rural Jamaica for more than a year in the 70s and learned to drive on those kinds of roads a long time ago. The rewards can more than justify the risks. I've seen things I will not even try to describe.

 

[drrich2]

Richard, Americans often talk about how much money we hand out in foreign aid, and when you see the total annual figure it seems like an enormous amount, but we a very rich county. When you look at foreign aid as a percentage of our Gross National Income then you will see that we are rather stingy.

I imagine it is difficult to settle on how to assess 'rich.' People in the U.S. enjoy a lot of consumer material wealth at this point in time, but the nation is over 18 trillion dollars in debt, with more piling on hand over fist (I've got a co-worker with a smart phone ap. that shows the estimated escalating total while you watch).

Agillis:

Glad to hear they're not as close to Haiti's condition as I feared. I am a fan of helping people gain the means to help themselves. Perhaps some of the past problems with banana prices & lost cattle will be rectified in the future. One can hope & pray.

Richard.

 

[KathyV]

One of the things I remember about Dominica is that the locals were friendly and pleasant. We have visited countries where the locals were downright rude and in one case - flat-out frightening! And in Jamaica people woke me up on the beach to sell me things that I would "never in a million years consider buying!" but I don't recall ever having that experience or feeling in Dominica.

Rosseau is a depressing place IMO but I don't think that I ever felt insulted or threatened there. At CCL I remember having fun at the beach bar with guests, locals, and dive masters - everybody was friendly. I work everyday in downtown Chicago so I am used to panhandlers and street vendors - but I don't remember anything like that in Dominica.