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Blogs from Dominica, Central America Caribbean - page 7
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Mango Lodge - finished for now...
Published: February 22nd 2009Central America Caribbean » Dominica » Toucarie
February 22nd 2009
Sunday This morning it is so lovely to wake up with the sound of the sea washing on the shore and the birds singing in the trees. No sounds of drills or hammers and no tools or paint pots in sight. In the next few days we can enjoy Carnival and maybe do a bit of reading and painting (arty type stuff), and snorkel and hang out on the beach. We are now officially finished on the house for this year and really really pleased with the results. All the rooms have had a full on Thorley tart up treatment. The only room we did a ‘temporary fix’ on was the kitchen and even that looks good. Some interesting stats of what was used to renovate the house 300 linear ft of structural pine (4x2) 1000 ... read more
February 21st 2009
Our next stop along the Caribbean chain was Dominica (not to be confused with the Dominica Republic which lies over 400 miles away and is close to 20 times bigger in land mass and population). This tiny island is the southernmost island in the Leewards and is an independent country. It is very green and lush, an unspoiled country filled with spectacular natural beauty, and has the most dramatic landscape of any Caribbean Island with mountains, valleys, gorges, and pinnacles. This often makes Dominica a favorite stop amongst many cruisers. However it is also not as developed as the other islands here in the Caribbean. It is written that if Christopher Columbus sailed to the islands today, Dominica would be the only one he would recognize. Now I don’t know about that, there were multiple cruise ... read more
February 18th 2009
Dominica is on par with Bequia in terms of how much I like the place and how much I enjoyed my time there. The island is gorgeous, it’s one of the taller islands and therefore holds rain clouds rather well, this means that it rains a lot here but also means that there is an abundance of lakes, rivers, waterfalls, rainbows, hot sulphur springs and even a boiling lake. Dominica is known for its rainbows and moonbows, we saw some excellent rainbows and beautiful sunsets, but no moonbows unfortunately. The scenery here is some of the best I have ever seen and I believe Dominica has some wonderful natural beauties that I have been lucky to set eyes on. The island is quite large, so to take full advantage of what was on offer we decided ... read more
February 18th 2009
With time running out, we promised ourselves we would do one of the tourist headline trips before we leave, We chose one of the many waterfalls and Middleham falls because it is 40 minutes each way (not too long but long enough to keep the cruise ship passengers away) and we read it is one of the most spectacular. The start was slow as we combined the day with taking Son to see the eye specialist in Roseau which also involved a drive to the hospital for his prescription. We also took the opportunity to pick up a picnic - a bottle of wine and a Subway sandwich. The drive into the interior up the Roseau valley was steep, narrow and potholed. It was helped by the French couple we picked up who showed us where ... read more
Still lovin' it in Dominica
Published: February 12th 2009Central America Caribbean » Dominica » Toucarie
February 9th 2009
This last week has been full-on. We have worked really long hours getting the house ready for a visit from Carol from Ross Medical University on Thursday. We are considering letting the house to parents of students who visit the island, so we are trying to finish all the ongoing jobs. It is really exciting that all the design ideas we had are now coming together and look even better than we thought. Tonight we have almost finished all the woodwork. Just about 2 days work left. The bathroom now has a stunning shower all tiled by Andy who has become on site Plumber, Electrician, Foreman, Designer, Tiler and Carpenter. I on the other hand have had more man hours with a paint brush in my hand than I care to remember. It is great though ... read more
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February 8th 2009
Today we visited Dominica, this little tiny island is home to about 20,000 people. The island was super laid back, very friendly and had that rastafarian vibe going on. Everywhere we walked around people had Regea music blasting, it was awesome! We had 2 tours booked today, the frist one was sorkeling at Champagne Reef, so named becuase it sits on the edge of a submerged volcano, where vents of hot water bubble up from below. First we snorkeled around, saw some different coral, a few pretty cool fish, and an old ship wreak from the 1700's. Then we headed over towards the bubbles... it was to beatiful!!! it actually looked like little murcury bubels, really one of the most novel snorkel sites i have ever been to. After that we walken around town for a ... read more
Cocktails, sunsets, plumbing, painting and the post office
Published: February 2nd 2009Central America Caribbean » Dominica » Toucarie
January 31st 2009
The work on the house continues. It is time to decide what will not be done so we can finish and enjoy Carnival before we leave. Kurt and Casso come every weekend to make sawdust, lots of sawdust. They have cased in the shutters beautifully, cut pine for all the detailing we want and routed all the picture rail. Son comes 2 or 3 days a week, he has built more steps through the garden, cut more trees, planted a hibiscus hedge along the side of the path and much more. Andrew has continued with the electrics, connected up the washing machine (with the help of Sparrow a local plumber), built a cupboard in our bedroom and is now heavily into finishing the bathroom. Kate has painted and varnished the weeks away and is going stir ... read more
Making a cup of Dominican coffee
Published: January 19th 2009Central America Caribbean » Dominica » Toucarie
January 18th 2009
Our neighbour, Son, grows his own coffee and one day he brought us some beans...... read more
Christmas and New Year in Dominica
Published: January 11th 2009Central America Caribbean » Dominica » Toucarie
January 5th 2009
Lots of work still happening at the house and garden, and everything starting to take shape. We have taken a few days off and made the most of them. Our trip to Chaudiere Pool was fun although our timing was a bit out. It had rained constantly for 4 nights and the river was quite high. The ‘boiling pot’ which is normally great for swimming became quite tricky trying to suck you under. The hike up and down through the rain forest was stunning with all the lush vegetation - we even saw parrots. Managed to get the car stuck in the mud but with the help of a local we pushed it out and then set off for a nice lunch in Calabishie. Went to a wine tasting at Randy’s Bar in Wesley on the ... read more
I'll be home in less than a week!
Published: December 14th 2008Central America Caribbean » Dominica » Portsmouth
December 14th 2008
New pictures: http://brookeroebuck.shutterfly.com/ Hi, Everyone!! I hope this update finds everyone well! Just a quick note to say hi and to share some new pictures with you guys. I uploaded semester 2 powderpuff, our Thanksgiving Dominica style, and some pictures of Kootney and a recent scuba adventure. Hope you enjoy them! I'm in the middle of finals, so I will write again when I'm home. Home on the 20th (less than a week!)!! xoxo, Brooke... read more
