By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

We’re returned to the very green, volcanic island of Dominica, one of the more interesting and less-developed islands of the Lesser Antilles.

I wrote a bit about Dominica in a post on February 7.

On the current cruise, we are celebrating music. Dominica is most certainly off-off-off-Broadway, but like many of the islands of the Caribbean it makes its own important contribution to the background sounds and rhythms of the region.

Among the musical styles is Cadence-lypso, locally grown and now popular on Dominica and the nearby French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe.

The other local music is called bouyon, which is a mashup of calypso, reggae, soca, zouk, and a bit of rock and roll.

And like other French and French-influenced islands, local folk dance incorporates a flirtatious version of the quadrille, usually accompanied by a musical ensemble called a jing ping band. A jing ping usually consists of a boumboum (boom pipe), syak or gwaj (scraper-rattle), tambal or tanbou (tambourine), and accordion.

A really hep group might add a double bass or a banjo.

As a result of its history—just out of the mainstream battles of the Caribbean and hemmed in by sheer mountains—Dominica possesses what is probably the most pristine wilderness in the Caribbean.

The first people were the Ortoroids, about whom we know very little. We believe they came to Dominica and some other islands about 3100 BC, and were gone by about 400 BC.

The Arawaks moved in about 800 years later, roughly 400 A.D. and then came the Caribs—also known as the Kalinago about 1400 A.D.—just ahead of the European invasion.

Island by island, the Carib populations were killed, enslaved, or driven off. One of the few places where they were able to take refuge was this island we now know as Dominica.

The island was not considered a high priority for the Europeans and they mostly left it alone in the first century of colonization.

Dominica was the last of the significant Caribbean islands to be colonized by Europeans due chiefly to the fierce resistance of the natives. As a result, Dominica has one of the few remaining groups of Carib or Kalinago people, a population of about three thousand.

Text and images copyright 2016 by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution image, please contact me.

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SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

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Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

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Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS,  PLEASE CONTACT ME.

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By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

We’re docked  at Roseau, the not-all-that-handsome capital of the island nation of Dominica. (Not to be confused, although it often is, with the Dominican Republic, the comparatively huge country that occupies about half of the island called Hispaniola near Jamaica and Cuba.)

Dominica sits midway along the Eastern Caribbean archipelago, just a few miles from the French islands of Martinique to the south and Guadeloupe to the north.

It holds a relatively small population of about 72,000 people spread over about 290 square miles or 750 square kilometers.

It’s a volcanic island, very green, with tropical forest covering two-thirds of the land. There are relatively few beaches, and they are not blessed with acres of pillowy white sand.

There’s a lot of rain, which means many waterfalls, rivers, and lakes.

And to their credit, the people of the Commonwealth of Dominica have decided that much of their future lies in eco-tourism. There are a lot of parallels to Costa Rica, and that is a meritorious comparison. 

We’re going to be returning to Dominica on 14 February, and I’ll have some comments about the music of the island in the blog I will post that day.

Text and images copyright 2016 by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution image, please contact me.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

————-

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS,  PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

First about the name: Dominica is often confused with the much larger country of the Dominican Republic which occupies about half of the island of Hispaniola near Jamaica and Cuba.

Silver Cloud  at the dock in Roseau, Dominica

While the Dominican Republic was named (by Columbus) after Saint Dominic, as in the Dominican Order, by the time Chris got to this smaller island he was apparently running out of saints. Dominica got its name from the Latin word for Sunday (Dominica) or the Italian equivalent (Domenica). Columbus spotted the island on November 3, 1493, a Sunday.

Here in the Caribbean, it is pronounced DOH-men-EEKA in a sometimes successful attempt to distinguish little Dominica from the huge Dominican Republic.

Dominica sits midway along the Eastern Caribbean archipelago, just a few miles from the French islands of Martinique to the south and Guadeloupe to the north.

The island was not considered a high priority for the Europeans and they mostly left it alone in the first century of colonization.

The Arawaks and the Kalinago/Carib tribes were already hiding when European settlers got around to paying attention to Dominica. They did not fully escape; there is a waterway on Dominica called the Massacre River. It is said the river ran red with blood for days after incursions by French and British settlers.

Nevertheless, Dominica has one of the few remaining groups of Carib or Kalinago people. About three thousand self-identified Caribs live on Dominica; some have intermarried with other races or cultural groups.

Today the descendants of the Caribs have a six-square mile (15-square-kilometer) territory on the east coast of the island.

The island is perhaps the youngest of the Lesser Antilles; it is still being formed by geothermal-volcanic activity. If you’re truly interested in things like that, on Dominica you can visit the world’s second-largest boiling lake, about 7 miles or 11 kilometers east of Roseau.

What we have is a flooded fumarole, an opening in a planet’s crust usually found near volcanoes, which emits steam and carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen sulfide and other gases. Superheated water turns to steam as it emerges from the ground and its pressure suddenly drops.

On Domenica, Boiling Lake is about 200 feet or 60 meters across; it is filled with bubbling greyish-blue water that is usually enveloped in a cloud of vapor.

You can read more detail about Dominica in my posts from previous visits this season: http://blog.sandlerbooks.com/?p=2725  and  http://blog.sandlerbooks.com/?p=2922

All photos copyright Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution image, please contact me.

————————-

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or by downloading the Kindle App to your WIndows or Mac computer or laptop, or to most tablets and smartphones.

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

 

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

We arrived in Dominica on a Tuesday, which is two days and 522 or so years after Christopher Columbus sailed by.

The island got is name from the Latin word for Sunday (Dominica). By this time, it seems, Columbus was running out of saints for the many islands of the Caribbean.

Dominica sits midway along the Eastern Caribbean archipelago, just a few miles from the French islands of Martinique to the south and Guadeloupe to the north.

Dominica is a fairly large island with a small population: 72,000 people spread over about 290 square miles or 750 square kilometers.

Most of the population is in and around the capital city of Roseau with the remainder in tiny settlements.

It’s a volcanic island, very green, with tropical forest covering two-thirds of the land.

There are relatively few beaches, and they are not blessed with acres of pillowy white sand. There’s a lot of rain, which means many waterfalls, rivers, and lakes.

And to their credit, Dominicans have decided that much of their future lies in eco-tourism.

There are a lot of parallels to Costa Rica, and that is a meritorious comparison.

We were last here on January 23, and you can see my blog post for that date for additional information.

Dominica has still not fully recovered from the devastation wrought by Hurricane David in 1979. At the botanical garden in Roseau, a school bus lies below a fallen tree; it was empty during the storm. 

Today,  though,  I went with a group of guests on an expedition to an unusual place on this extraordinary island: the Bois Cotlette plantation at the south end of the island.  This is the oldest remaining plantation on Dominica,  dating from the 1720s.

Dominica was never a success as a colonial plantation island and it appears that Bois Cotlette was,  in the end,  an unsuccessful real estate and agricultural project. It offers,  though,  a fascinating glimpse of the real Caribbean.

Bois Cotlette sits at the end of a long pathway…it’s not reasonable to call it a road…at the southern end of the island.  The remains of the processing plant is framed by a huge poinsettia tree. A large stone windmill might have been used to crush cane,  although archaeologists question whether it ever was out to use. 

Bois Cotlette  (named after a species of tree,  the Cotlette,  that grows there) was purchased several years ago by an American couple who now live there with their for Cookeville and hope to restore it to a working plantation and a demonstration of old times.  The future may lie in cacao: gourmet chocolate from local trees.

All photos copyright Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution image, please contact me.

————————-

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

 

 

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant

We are arrived in Dominica, a place whose name often gets confused with the much larger country of the Dominican Republic which occupies about half of the island of Hispaniola near Jamaica and Cuba.

Silver Cloud  at the dock in Roseau, Dominica

Dominica got its name from the Latin/Spanish words for Sunday (Dominica) or the Italian equivalent (Domenica).

Here in the Caribbean, it is pronounced DOH-men-EEKA, in a not-often-successful attempt to distinguish the place from the much larger and unrelated Dominican Republic.

At the market in Roseau, a small port town that retains much of the flavor of the Caribbean before many islands were invaded by massive cruise ships and relentless armies of tourists.  We are the only ship in port today. 

The bestower of the name was Christopher Columbus, who must have been running out of saints on November 3, 1493; he named the island after the day of the week on which he spotted it, Sunday.

Dominica sits midway along the Eastern Caribbean archipelago, just a few miles from the French islands of Martinique to the south and Guadeloupe to the north.

The island was not considered a high priority for the Europeans and they mostly left it alone in the first century of colonization.

The Arawaks and the Kalinago/Carib tribes were already hiding when European settlers got around to paying attention to Dominica. They did not fully escape; there is a waterway on Dominica called the Massacre River. It is said the river ran red with blood for days after incursions by French and British settlers.

Nevertheless, Dominica has one of the few remaining groups of Carib or Kalinago people. About three thousand self-identified Caribs live on Dominica; some have intermarried with other races or cultural groups.

Today the descendants of the Caribs have a six-square mile (15-square-kilometer) territory on the east coast of the island.

The island is perhaps the youngest of the Lesser Antilles; it is still being formed by geothermal-volcanic activity. If you’re truly interested in things like that, on Dominica you can visit the world’s second-largest boiling lake, about 7 miles or 11 kilometers east of Roseau.

What we have is a flooded fumarole, an opening in a planet’s crust usually found near volcanoes, which emits steam and carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen sulfide and other gases. Superheated water turns to steam as it emerges from the ground and its pressure suddenly drops.

On Domenica, Boiling Lake is about 200 feet or 60 meters across; it is filled with bubbling greyish-blue water that is usually enveloped in a cloud of vapor.

All photos copyright by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution copy of any image please contact me.