Dominica, Rosseau.

Rosseau

At first light we sailed towards the island of Dominica faintly on the horizon. The sail was great with the wind on the beam, and the slightly choppy sea pushed us forward.  We had the lures out and were hoping for some fresh fish.  Soon we picked up a mooring for 10US$. Marco stayed on Catlyn, while the rest of us, very lazily took the dinghy to the closest jetty in front of the Anchorage Hotel. 

We thought of flagging down a local bus, but for some reason there was none, and we walked into town.  It was quite a walk in the humidity and heat, but eventually after asking a couple of people we found Customs and Immigration hidden at the back of a building, the Ferry building, with no signage whatsoever.  We stood in a huge empty room with two wooden desks, no chairs and an office door. Luckily a man came out of the door, and we read his t-shirt…Customs and Immigration. The process went smoothly.

On our way to the Customs, we saw the colorful umbrellas of the women with their fresh fruit and maybe some vegetables.  Johan only found a couple of aubergines, chillis and beans, the rest was so expensive that we left without.  I was craving an ice cream again…I could see the sugar cone in my hand, I could smell the vanilla of the soft ice cream, and I could taste the cold against my teeth, I am prepared to forget about the chocolate flake in the middle…

We found a supermarket, and Joe found a box with 8 ice creams inside! Not soft serve, but it will do! I can eat two and they could each eat three before they melt. Sorry for Marco, sitting on the boat. But it was still not my ice cream day..  I almost opened the box before the girl could scan it, only to find a very small bit of previously melted and then frozen again piece of yellowy white in a corner of the little plastic bag. The crusty sugar was all that was left on my fingers, and while looking at Joe trying to eat this tiny piece of ice out of the corner of his plastic, I was disgusted and demanded my money back! I could believe that this old sugar frozen for how many times was to be my ice cream. Joe tried to take another quick bite, but I bundled everything back into the box, and we left with a refund! Maybe next time?

Our next stop will be the Botanical Gardens, Joe decided, just to calm his mom`s spirit and to help her forget about the sugar crave, and maybe to find water to rinse the stickiness of her fingers. Aargh no! Dead tired after miles of walking, and dead craving something cold, we walked into the Gates! Indeed not the Pearly Gates, and indeed not the Garden of Eden! We realized that it is just green lawns with trees and shrubs here and there, and at the first tree Johan decided to lay down for the day.

A beer! I will settle for a beer! And believe it or not, I do not like beer! It is bitter! But we gathered up and walked to the closest bar for a cold beer!

 Joe and Johan tried the local Kubuli, at the Blue Rock café with the skins of the pythons hanging on the wall!

I felt a bit better, knowing that tonight is Full Moon, and tomorrow is a new day!

Rosseau Cathedral

Martinique, St. Pierre.

Mount Pelee

A romantic little town lies at the foot of an enormous overtowering volcano! Mt. Pelee, is today a lush green mountain, but I could see the shape and the mouth of this monster gaping heavenwards. Hundred and ten years ago, almost to the day, on the 8^th of May 1902, this volcano erupted and coughed up a ball of fire, releasing more energy than an atomic bomb, killing 29 933 people! Only two people in this little town survived….Leon Leandre who was in his cellar, and  the famous Cyparis, the murderer in jail, in his stone cell!

We enjoyed a lovely sail, with the wind on the beam and the current pushing us forward, all the way past the Diamond Rock, standing lonely in the ocean.

The British commissioned this rock as a ship, and with a tremendous effort, they  succeeded to put up cannons in the snake infested pinnacle, and roamed the sea for 18 months surprising passing ships. And up to today Martinique is for the French!

We saw false Killer whales today!!! We`ve never seen any before, and were amazed when these black torpedo like fish swam passed us, maybe ten of them!

We dropped anchor in deep waters, about 12 meters,  for a good sleep!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Pierre,_Martinique

Rodney Bay, St Lucia.

Marigot Bay Hotel

The last morning at Marigot Bay, we enjoyed the luxurious beauty  of the swimming pool of just one of the many hotels, Marigot Bay Hotel. The boys enjoyed the bar with the bubbly water while you order a cold drink.

 Another attraction, beside the beautiful marina, is the Dr Doolittle Restaurant, where the very first Dr Doolittle was filmed. 

The sail to Rodney Bay was great! Soon we anchored among some 45 other yachts, in this very protected bay. No wonder the French and the British fought for so many years over this protected bay.  It is quite a noisy bay, with all the restaurants entertaining all the tourists. Americans! This is absolutely their playground, they were basking in the sun on the colorful beach chairs, I think eventually they won the battle!

and Joe found another spot for a hammock,

The floating market came to our yacht early the next morning, because we needed some lettuce, and  he promised to find us some!

 It was wonderful to have the fresh green stuff aboard,

and I was so grateful, I gave the man my christophene, growing from a pip. 

 Maybe one day he will have a tree full of these avocado like fruit, selling it to the yachties.  We enjoyed the white beach,

and the walk to Pigeon Island, to follow in the steps of the pirate, Wooden Leg, or Jambe de Bois!

St Helena Coffee Liqueur at the Fort

At the foot of Pigeon Island, we had cocktails sharing the wonderful atmosphere of this restaurant with all the cats.  I got lost in the reading room, where I could swop my books.

We left for Martinique!

Marigot Bay, St Lucia.

We stayed another day, using the Internet facility to connect with the world, and I cleaned up a bit, moved the boys back to their cabins, but still we couldn`t get used to the emptiness. We realized that we needed a change of scenery soon, and we lifted the anchor for Marigot Bay.

The sail was awesome, and the wind was pumping up to 27 knots and we were having an excellent sail to Marigot Bay. Marco was sailing, standing on a water can, but he enjoyed the thrill of Catlyn`s body moving swiftly through the swells!

We saw a dolphin for a while, and soon dropped anchor in the Bay.

 You can pick up a buoy as well, but we went for the cheaper version. What a beautiful bay! The locals with their fruit or fish or curious were trying to sell them to us every day, some with a good attitude, some not. We bought bananas and mangoes for 15EC, from Santa, a singing guy with his Xmas red hat on!

The snorkeling close to the bay was better than out to sea, with the fans swaying in the current and cup sponges looking like old antique vases in the ocean.

This morning I looked at the locals, with their huge net, more or less at the same spot we were snorkeling yesterday, thinking about the little fish that will be caught in their net, and the beautiful coral and fans damaged by the pull of the net…

Ps. If you like our poem pages, have a look again, Joe wrote a couple… SY Jangles gave us a going away bottle of South-African Raka, and we enjoyed it in the beautiful Marigot Bay!

Goodbye our loved ones!

I have to make this short and sweet, because there is nothing short or sweet about the ache in my heart. Thank you, thank you, thank you…

Luhan guarded their luggage all the way to the docks.

They left just like that, in a red taxi, and left me standing on the dock. `Your wife is crying, Sir!` a man said. But Johan knew better and said, `Hmmm, she is going to cry some more…!`

We walked into town, feeling lost, not really knowing what to do.

 We found a lollipop ice cream to fill the emptiness, while walking the one street little town. It is definitely their fashion mecca, with all the shoe shops and `boutiques`.

I also found a man in a house, who cut glass, and he cut a mirror for me, for Joe`s cabin. Twenty EC`s later, and no credit,

I left his premises with the mirror under my arm. Marco found St Lucia flip flops and donated his old ones to someone next to the dustbin.

We walked back to an empty boat, too empty. I washed all the dishes, but couldn`t wash the two glasses the little ones used every day for their pink milkshake. Minjone`s long champagne flute, and Luhans`! 

We watched their airplane with the AA on the tail, drove over the airstrip, past us, and then turned around, only to be lifted up high in the air. They circled us, as if saying goodbye, and we stood on Catlyns` deck, waving, hoping that they will see the little white spot on the ocean!

Vieux Fort, St Lucia

The time with our family was slipping away. We decided to sail to Vieux Fort to be closer to the Hewanorra International Airport, St Lucia`s largest.

It was a 12-mile beat, with even the current against us. Going slowly again!  `Super` Hardu at some point decided that swimming to our anchorage will be faster.... it was then that our Skipper started the engines to keep all safe onboard.

We found a safe anchorage with only two catamarans in the Bay, and we had a good night`s sleep, ready for another memorable day tomorrow!

It was little Luhan`s Born day!  26^th of April! He is turning 5 years old!

It was only the 24^th, but we decided it was close enough to his born day to celebrate it with him! We told him to stay in his bed the next morning until we will wake him up. Marco woke me up just after 5, and we started decorating Catlyn with the festive goodies we had. He placed the 5 candles on the chocolate mousse cake I baked , the evening before, and he wrapped a couple of his old toys for his little cousin, because only one was just not enough! At the Sulphur Springs we bought him a handmade wooden classic sailing boat as his special present.

He stayed in his bed, with little blue eyes peeking every now and then, until we came down the stairs with silver candles in our hands, singing him a Happy Birthday!

Sheer love and joy was all over his five year old face! We enjoyed our last day together on the beach.

 A white sandy beach just for us, and we snorkeled, and saw huge star fish, the biggest I`ve ever seen.  The highlight of our snorkling was in Tobago Cays, when we`ve seen a spotted eagle ray feeding on the bottom.

Minjone was also spoilt with a traditional doll from St Lucia, 

and Johan planned a feast for his day. He cooked his special chicken, and barbequed lamb chops for dinner! A tired but very happy boy fell asleep that night!

UNESCO, World Heritage site, The Pitons, St Lucia.

Magma pushed up thousands of years ago, some say about 40 000 years ago, and today we picked up a buoy between these magical Pitons. A couple of yachts were swaying  on their buoys, peacefully, protected by these two giants. Marco spotted a yacht, Jangles!  The boys rowed over to say hello, and ended up staying for dinner and a movie, while we were chatting the evening away over our special cocktails. Tomorrow we are going to explore the volcano, Soufrierre!

It was Sunday, and unfortunately no public transport was available, and we were forced to use a taxi. We paid Malcolm, 600EC (230US$) for the trip, (5 adults and 3 kiddies), to the Botanical gardens, the Sulphur Springs, the Mud Baths, and the Waterfall. If you are there during the week, use the local busses, for only 2 EC per person, and then the entrance fees to the sites. A day like we had will cost you no more than 250EC (100 US$) for a group of eight!

Malcolm arrived to pick us up in his boat with the strong 75HP Yamaha engine, and we flew over the water! Quite a bit faster than our 8HP Yamaha dinghy engine!  We felt uncomfortable in the smart taxi, only the eight of us.

Marinata Botanical Gardens was wonderful! It is not the biggest garden I`ve ever seen,  but the tranquility in the garden among the lovely flowers and hummingbirds was wonderful! Since your first step into the garden, through the blue flowered arch, you are entering a special place.

We all loved it, even the little ones. I could stay there for the whole day, sitting under the huge old tree…

We could smell the sulphur in the air, and little Minjone squeezed her nose tight between her little fingers, the way she did in the fish market the other day. Soufrierre, means sulphur in the air, and it is exactly so!

Amazed we looked at the stone grey water from the Earth, boiling hot, 171 degrees Celcius when it comes out in the open. The volcano is a mere 300 meters under the surface, but it will not get angry as long as it can blow off steam through these holes.

We were still in awe with this when our driver, Fernando took us further. While still driving he told us out of the blue that we are going to the Waterfall, and no word about the Mud Baths! We were not happy at all, because this is not what we paid for! He told us that the Mud baths is too hot this time of the year, and especially for the little ones! We were not impressed at all, and after politely telling him that it is not acceptable, he got very upset with us. It ended in him phoning the Malcolm guy, the very trustworthy one, who just as politely told us, that we will have to pay our own entrance fee! Things are never easy in the hands of strangers! We paid the extra 75EC, and decided to enjoy the Mud Baths!

The Baths was a truly black fun experience! The men were fantasizing themselves into action figures, muscular and vicious like in their ‘ previous’ lives! 

Anriette enjoyed the mud bath and sulphur scrub on her own. We were all covered in the black silky smooth mud, with our feet literally burning in the black stream coming from the boiling hot holes.

A man came from the Sulphur Springs, further up, with a bucket filled with grey sticky clay. I saw the locals, not covered in the black stuff like all the tourists, but rubbed down in this grey clay, which turn white as soon as it is dry. They told me, that this stuff is the real sulphur stuff with the medicinal value, and the women gave me a soft ball of clay to keep in my fridge. It cures eccema, acne and all kinds of skin diseases, she said.  Maybe I will try it for eternal youth!

We were smelling like sulphur, even after the open shower at the Baths.

Luckily our next stop was the Waterfall!

 We soaked up in the warm water, also coming from somewhere deep in the mountain.

Even the water coming down the waterfall was warm. Jessica an Rebecca, (SY Jangles) left the boys a hidden treasure somewhere in the Falls, with only a riddle to find it. They loved the search, only to find the `treasure` snuggly hidden underneath the small waterfall. Sweeties and letters for the boys – saying goodbye to dear friends! Four very special people entered our lives…

We weren`t  so smelly and sulphury anymore, and with packets of grilled sweet sugar coconuts, and mangoes we were heading home!

Herewith Joe's video for the day...enjoy and peace....!!!