Day trips to Dominica

Advantages: Beautiful scenery, very friendly people and whales
Disadvantages: Not really a beach island.

...We've been twice, both times were via Cruise Ships, and late in the year. These were not big, fancy ships, just average Joe UK ones. Dominica is a beautiful, lush, green, uncommercialised island that the locals should be very proud of. The locals themselves are very friendly and polite. On our first visit we braved the enslaught of taxi drivers that rush to greet Cruise passengers. You just say where you want to visit and they tell you their price. We got together a small minivan (approx 10 passengers) to go to the Falls. Our taxi driver was a young man who rented the vehicle. He took us up the very windy roads, stopping frequently to either point out things like pineapples growing by the roadside or local houses to explain their way of life or at a roadside shack so we could buy a cool drink. He spoke to us all the time...

NibblingFudge 02.06.2006 · Read review
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Review of General: Dominica

Comfortable, congenial accomodations

Advantages: Clean, comfortable, quiet, proximity to amenities
Disadvantages: You will either need to hire a car or use the local bus service to get beyond Soufriere.

...We spent nearly two weeks with Mr. Francis Charles at the lovely Ocean View Apartments in Scott's Head, Dominica. By virtue of its being 1/2-hour by car from Roseau, the capital, Scott's Head is a small, peaceful fishing village located at the end of the Western coast's main road. Further adding to the peace and quiet, the Ocean View is located several hundred feet up the road above the village proper. From this vantage point, we saw sperm whales in the Scott's Head Marine Reserve and observed the daily comings and goings of the local fishing fleet. We occupied the Southern-most apartment, which is pictured at http://www.avirtualdominica.com/oceanviewapts/pix1.htm . The apartment consists of two bedrooms, a serviceable kitchen, a small indoor sitting area and - perhaps most important to us - a generous outdoor sitting area that was...

NekVTster 26.03.2009 · Read review
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Review of Oceanview Apartments, Dominica

bask in nature?s simple pleasures

Advantages: scenery, beaches, waterfalls,
Disadvantages: none

...So not to confuse you, this isn't the Dominican Republic. It is located between the French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Eastern Caribbean. It's a volcanic island. It's 26 million years old. The carribbean name for Dominica is Waitikubuli. The most visited attraction in Dominica is it's waterfalls, and the most popular is the twin waterfalls at Trafalgur. It's very beautiful. You can go into the lake that it falls into and stand under the waterfall. Because of the tropical weather, the water isn't that cold. Also, the world's famous lake, The Boiling Lake can be found in Dominica. To get to the lake, you have to walk a 7 mile trail. It takes roughly 3 hours to walk each way, but it's well worth it. A word of warning, be prepared to get very dirty and wet, as it's very muddy. You of course can't go into the lake...

madhatter7880 23.07.2004 · Read review
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Review of General: Dominica

Back to Nature

Advantages: Unforgettable Experience
Disadvantages: Very Expensive

...On November 3rd, 1978 Dominica gained its independence from Great Britain and became an independent republic within the Commonwealth. Dominica is also known as the Nature Island of the Caribbean and is situated between the French speaking islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique it is the largest and most mountainous of the all the Windward Islands. Some people tend to get Dominica mixed up with the Dominican Republic, which can really makes me angry, as they are completely different places. People fail to remember that one is in the Caribbean the other is in South America, which is a good distance away. The main airport on the island is Melville Hall, which, is in the north part of the island, is about 38 miles from Roseau the capital city. There is also another airport, which is Canefield in the southwest part of the island, which is...

Lorriee 29.06.2001 · Read review
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Review of General: Dominica

The music made me relaxed

Advantages: One CD has musics from all world
Disadvantages: I haven't found yet

...Telac published It newly. It?s a newest one of Jazz Relax series . Many famous musicians were invovled in this cd. I should say it's fantastic piano music with beautiful love stories. When I listen to it on my way home, I always feel relaxed and happy . Atfer my typing, you would find some your favorite palyers in it. Cyrus chestnut, the new Jazz pianist of Jazz field referred by Keyboard Magazine. Just see the music name -The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face , you can feel it's so romantic and so moving. When you relax you can figure out the piano sound so clear, so deep in your heart and so impressive. Oscar Peterson, he made his name for many years. This time he played She has gone that is so active and moving. Last but not least, Michel Camilo from Dominica with fantastic and mysterious Latin music...

happysh2009 20.03.2009 (30.03.2009) · Read review
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Review of Breathe - The Relaxing Jazz Piano - Various Artists

Housemates which never change

Advantages: a few good characters remain
Disadvantages: is a bit slow and lacks a lot of interest.

...the dog could very well be put down and Dominica has a new flat mate. An old friend. These events are situated in Edinburgh, all in the same surrounding area. Whilst at the beginning the characters were all closely linked through the power of time they have started to move off into their own walks of life. Despite my new found love of Alexander McCall Smiths books I did feel a little bit disappointed with this effort. I do put a lot of this down to the fact that I have skipped on books 2 and 3 which would probably of filled me in on a few places. Whilst Bertie is still being pressurised into learning the saxophone and taking yoga lessons it does get a bit repetitive. His Mum tells him to do something, he doesn't really want to do it but goes ahead, his Dad disagrees but he's soon put back into place. The same goes with Bruce. I know that he...

crezzie 09.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of The World According to Bertie (44 Scotland Street) (44 Scotland Street) - Alexander McCall Smith

The first Mrs Rochester

Advantages: Excellent, engaging story
Disadvantages: Sometimes challenging, hard to understand if you haven't read Jane Eyre

...attacking her step brother Richard Mason. We all know how her story ends, but the build up to it is engaging and dramatic. JEAN RHYS Rhys herself was a white Creole, born in 1890 in Dominica. She was inspired to write WSS when reading Jane Eyre. Rhys wrote WSS after a 20 year literary abscene - indeed, the BBC reported her as dead. She once declared "I have only written about myself", which can be seen in the rich descriptions of Jamaica and Dominica. WWS won the 1967 WHSmith Literary Award. WHAT DID YOU THINK? If I have any compliant it is that the third part, when Antoinette is locked in an attic, feels too brief for me. I would have really enjoyed hearing more about her being locked away. I would have also have liked to read about the "other side" of attempting to burn Rochester in his bed, and ripping Jane's wedding veil. Indeed...

ring_of_roses 05.08.2008 · Read review
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Review of Wide Sargasso Sea (Penguin Modern Classics) - Jean Rhys

Wild Wives in Wide Sargasso Sea

Advantages: atmospheric, fullydevelops Mr Rochester's mad Wife
Disadvantages: Difficult to read in parts,

.... I know Amazon stocks a student?s edition of the book for £6.39. Despite the thinness of the book I found it a very challenging and very dense book full of long paragraphs and vivid description of the geography, customs and traditions of Jamaica and the Windward Islands. The book is divided into three sections. The first one is set in Jamaica and is narrated by Antoinette Cossway (Mason) which is Bertha Rochester?s real name and tells of the events of her childhood including a fire in her house which kills her invalid brother and subsequently her mother going mad. The second section is more confusing as it alternates between Edward Rochester and Antoinette Cossway. This section is set n the Windward Island of Dominica and recounts the events after their marriage including the break down of it and Antoinette?s descent into madness...

duskmaiden 09.03.2004 · Read review
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Review of Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Ehys

The AA and the Caribbean? Surely not...

Advantages: Bright, colourful, great pics, good text
Disadvantages: £12.99 less to spend on Rum!!

...I must admit, I wouldn't instinctively turn to the AA (Automobile Association) when it comes to guide books, especially not one for the Caribbean! However, the AA do produce a good range (300 or more) of guidebooks, and the Explorer series is really rather good. Softback, handy travel bag size (not pocket), around 300 pages of a mixture of text, full colour photographs and useful maps. This book covers all the major islands including: Anguilla, Antiga, Aruba, Barbados, Barbuda, Bonaire, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Grenadines, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Martinque, Montserrat, Nevis, Puerto Rico, Saba, St. Croix, St. John, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Martin, St. Thomas, St. Vincent, Tortola and Trinidad & Tobago. Whilst perhaps each island could command a book in itself, this is a great introduction...

Kingseany 16.06.2004 · Read review
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Review of AA Essential: Caribbean - AA Publishing

Oh! We're going to Barbados..

Advantages: See loads of the Caribbean
Disadvantages: Not the cheapest holiday

...My partner and I went sailing the Caribbean in January for 2 weeks aboard the Ocean Village - our second cruise. We like cruising not just for the floating hotel but also as a way to easily see a lot more places in one holiday! We stopped at 11 (give or take!) Islands on this cruise - highlights being Dominica, St Lucia, Antigua and Barbados (not to knock the other 7 places!). The boat was fantastic, and I preferred it to the Thomson Spirit. It is a more relaxed atmosphere, aimed at younger cruisers (20 to 50 rather than old folk with zimmer frames). The dining, entertainment and many of the excursions reflected this. The flight to Barbados is 8 hours - we upgraded to premium seats as our way of coping with that long a flight. Great part is you don't have to go through the airport or pick up your baggage on arrival - just...

Gemma_and_max 14.02.2005 · Read review
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Review of Ocean Village Cruise