Discovered by Christopher Columbus on All Saints Day on November 4, 1493 on his second voyage to the New World, Ile des Saintes is described in today's French guidebooks as three small rocks and five pebbles! Our zodiacs whisked us through a slalom course of crowded tour boats from the neighboring island of Guadeloupe and landed us safely on the jostling quay at Terre-de-Haut. A visit to Fort Napoleon was the scheduled objective of the morning, however the smart Paris fashions, colorful T-shirt shops and smell of French pastries tempted many to return to the gingerbread trimmed seaside shops before our noon departure.
As we sailed across the narrow strait between Ile des Saintes and Dominica, our thoughts were with the thousands of French and English sailors who fought and died in the Battle of the Saintes in which Admiral Sir George Rodney scored a decisive victory over the French Admiral Count de Grasse on April 12, 1782 - 219 years ago yesterday.
We anchored off of Dominica's Cabrits National Park and hiked up to the center of Fort Shirley - a 250 acre complex which was the second largest British military establishment in the Caribbean. Under the shade of a mango tree, silhouetted against the tropical sea and sky, a group of multi-talented locals put on an amazing performance of traditional music, song and dance. With the melodies still firmly imbedded in our minds, we traveled up to the 3,000 foot level of Morne Diablotin to hike along the Syndicate trail - a new 8,000 acre forest preserve - in hopes of glimpsing the two species of parrots that are endemic to Dominica: Jaquot, (the Green red-necked) and Sisserou (the gorgeous Imperial). While that latter was spotted by the serious birders at the lookouts, the Captain and several guests spotted two red-necked parrots while partaking in the complimentary rum punch back in the carpark - bird watching is a thirsty business! For many the towering gommier trees with their massive buttresses will be the most memorable image of the sanctuary, while the fragrant coffee flowers punctuated our drive back to the ship.
