Dominica

 Sunday January 28

Today we docked in Dominica, an independent (since 1978) island nation that was at different times a colony of England or of France. Dominica is the most mountainous and least developed of the Lesser Antilles, with over 60% of the island still “wild”. We spent the morning on a nature hike through one of four national parks, and were successful in seeing one of two endemic species of parrot. 

In the afternoon, we toured Fort Shirley, an English Fort built in 1765 to protect the harbor, mostly from the French. Dominica sits between Guadalupe and Martinique; the French wanted all three islands to form a wedge between English colonies to the north and south, so of course the English wanted Dominica to be a wedge between the French possessions! Dominica was an important supply location for ships traveling to the mainland north, west and south. In fact the original Jamestown settlers stopped here for provisions in 1607.  Fort Shirley used the natural terrain of a volcanic caldera, minimizing the need for defensive wall construction. The English abandoned the fort quite abruptly in 1854 leaving many artifacts and all the cannon behind. It had fallen into complete ruin until a historian born on Dominica and trained at Oxford made it his life’s mission to restore the fort. Only a portion is complete, but it is still impressive, and having him personally take us around was a treat.

Later in the afternoon we snorkeled in the harbor. While we were close to shore and the water was shallow, we saw many beautiful small fish, three squid, a spotted snake eel (yes that is really a species, in the same family as the morays) and a large school of mullets that swirled all around us. It was wonderful to be in the water! 

Pictures: Red-throated Parrot, Antillean Crested Hummingbird, Spotted Snake Eel