History of Dominica

Dominica is not the same place as the Dominican Republic. Dominica (dah-mah-nee-kah) is an independent country made up of a single island, located in between the French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. The Dominican Republic (Doh-min-ick-an) shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, several hundred miles northwest of Dominica. Dominica is 290 square miles and has a population of 72,400. It features the highest mountains in the Eastern Caribbean. It has fertile soil and plenty of rainfall, making it the “bread basket” of the Caribbean.

The first inhabitants on the island are believed to be Continue reading

Deep Bay, Fort James, & Exploring the Northern Coast of Antigua

Today we explored the northernmost regions of the island. The first place we went to was the beach at Deep Bay. You may remember that we attempted to anchor in Deep Bay when we first arrived from Barbuda. We remembered it was beautiful and thought it would be a nice beach to go back to. Getting to Deep Bay was a little hairy. We went to St. John’s, then headed west. In general, the roads in Antigua aren’t well maintained, but the road west was worse than usual. Near the bay, we turned off on a small side road that was nothing but a giant pothole. We think we Continue reading

Taking John to St. John’s, Antigua

Yesterday, we were quite surprised by our carpet quotes. Both owners came out personally. One company was very professional. They gave us a written quote at a reasonable rate. The other company was less professional. They quoted almost double the price and didn’t put it in writing. We also got an uneasy sense that the final bill would be more than the quote. Needless to say, we hired the more professional company. They arrived first thing this morning to start work.

It was a relief to get the carpets and upholstery done. Ever since Continue reading

Island Tour and Flipping the Dinghy

Continued from yesterday”¦ After we were done eating, our new friends continued to roam the town while we went back to immigration. It was once again very simple. Just one form, and no fees. This agent was also causally dressed and professional, but curt. Our new friends rejoined us as soon as we were done, ice cream cones in hand. Christi thought Eric might die of jealousy.

The town is cute. It is very small, probably all of 6 or 7 blocks in total from what we can tell. Most of the buildings are low bungalows with metal roofs. Most look to be in good shape, with none appearing especially weather beaten. You definitely get a strong sense that everyone knows everyone else, and that they view themselves as a big family.

We took a dirt road east. It looked like mostly undeveloped land to us, though we did pass a few small farms. We also passed a few shacks in the middle of nowhere. They were kind off odd anomalies since pretty much everyone on the island lives in Codrington. The taxi driver explained that these are real Rastafarians, who choose to Continue reading

History of Antigua and Barbuda

The country of Antigua and Barbuda is made of two main islands, Antigua and Barbuda, located about 25 miles from each other. Barbuda is a low, flat island that is 62 square miles big, with a population of about 1250. Antigua is hilly, 108 square miles big, and home to 72,000 people. Antigua also has several little satellite islands surrounding it very close to the mainland.

Remains have been found on Antigua that indicate that a hunting/gathering Amerindian people group inhabited the islands prior to the Arawaks. These remains include tools made of shell and stone that are quite different than the typical Arawak tools. Once again, we get conflicting information on Continue reading