Roseau, Dominica - Jaco Falls & Carib Indians

First my apologies. I noticed that I never hit "publish" for the the itinerary of our 2024 trip following the Apostle Paul and his letters to the churches in the book of Revelation. Unfortunately it wouldn't let me insert it where it belonged.

Back to World Cruise 2026. 

We had an early excursion so we opted for room service breakfast. Our butler likes to set the table for us even though we insist we can easily eat off the tray. After all, someone else prepared it and brought it to me! 

 

    

Our excursion in Dominica (Dom-in-nee-kah) began with a drive up the hairpin Imperial Road (extreme twisty-turney and narrow) that took us up to the Dominica Botanic Gardens. It's easy to see why Dominica is called the Nature Isle of the Caribbean. The entire island is extremely lush and tropical. On the way up we stopped at a lookout at Morne Bruce for a photo op and as always, an opportunity to purchase souvenirs.

 

lookout point over the city at Morne Bruce 

 

wooden purses for sale

At the botanical garden we were introduced to the Jaco parrot and a number of exotic trees. These parrots are endemic to the island and almost extinct. Unfortunately, we could only see them from a distance. But like cardinals (and probably some other birds) they mate for life. If one of them dies, the other grieves itself to death and dies shortly thereafter. We were also introduced to many local trees, including an elephant tree, a sausage tree and Banyan tree, sometimes called Tarzan or Rastaman tree (because its roots look like dread locks).

 

Sausage Tree

Elephant Tree (fruit not edible)

    

Banyan tree trunk

As we drove along to our next stop, our guide gave us a lot of facts about the island, its people and culture. I took a few notes with my phone as she spoke. She was "all talked out" on the way back so she just had us listening to Caribbean music.

*The island is 29 miles long and 16 miles wide and sits between Martinique and Guadeloupe. English is the main language spoken, although Creole is spoken island wide. Their Creole language is a mixture of French and Spanish. Most of the people are vegetarians and grow their own food. Their national dish is a combination of local foods mixed with coconut milk and chopped taro leaves.

*There are 198 species of birds on the island and 4 species of snakes (boa oil is processed and good for joints, massages, etc).

*The different land areas are divided by rivers. Land is never sold, just passed down through generations.  

*Their man sport is cricket.

*They get 520 inches of rainfall per year. 

*They've just elected their first ever female president, Sylvanie Burton, who also became the island's first Indigenous (Kalinago) president.

From the garden, we were driven to the Jackal Waterfall located in the heart of the rain forest where all who were able climbed down a long set of stairs to the fall which was surrounded by thick jungle. The fall itself wasn't terribly impressive but I managed to get some nice photos.

 

our friendly guide at Eco Village

Jaco Waterfall

After leaving the waterfall, we were taken higher up to visit Eco Village, a cultural community of the indigenous Caribs, the last Carib territory on the island.

They are an American group originally from the north coast of South America, who migrated to the area in the 5th century. Our guide (a Carib herself) tried to dispel some unpleasant myths about her people. After our arrival, we were served a very sweet lemonade and a vegetarian friendly lunch there - rice, lentil and pumpkin soups, sweet potato, a green salad, taro salad and sweet cantaloupe and watermelon for dessert. Afterwards we watched some women perform some of their traditional folk dances. And of course there was another opportunity to purchase souvenirs. 

 

folkloric performance to drum beat only

 

carved coconut shells

seed necklaces for sale

 

 

view from last souvenir stop

We returned to the ship around 4 p.m. I forgot to mention that the high was 84 today, which I assume is pretty typical from the looks of the island.  

But look what we were treated to after returning back to our ship!

 

God's Promise

 

a colorful sail away photo of a beautiful island