DOMINICA . THE CARIBBEAN'S GARDEN OF EDEN .

After being treated to a rare glimpse of Mont Pelee's peak as we motored out of the St Pierre anchorage in Martinique we set sail for Dominica . Our weatherman Chris Parker had forecasted a wind angle of 110 degrees blowing 14-16kns , gusting 20 and he was bang-on for most of the passage . With our course laid for Prince Rupert Bay up on the northern end of Dominica this would mean a 55nm broad reach and hopefully the wind would carry all the way up the west coast to our destination off Portsmouth .

With a full main and gennie we had a great sail , picking up surfs of 9kns in the odd rain squall but 10nm short of Portsmouth the wind died and then did a 180 on us forcing us to motor the last bit with 10kns of wind on the nose .

We radioed in to PAYS ( Portsmouth Association of Yacht Services ) a group of young guys who provide moorings and a range of services to yachties for a mooring ball . We were duly met on arrival and shown a buoy which we tied up to with the help of a PAYS member .

The next morning we had a lucky escape with this particular mooring . We were just about to leave on our dinghy when we noticed an elderly lady preparing her beautiful classic yacht to sail . She was a pro and has obviously sailed for many years so we decided to park off in the dinghy still attached to Windward and watch her go about her routine and set sail . By chance l looked around and noticed that the mooring buoy that we were tied off to was now about twenty feet away and we were adrift . I leapt onboard and started the engine with the first mate still sitting in the dinghy with it's engine still idling . We were drifting towards the beach with a light onshore blowing but fortunately a large cat was leaving so we motored over and picked up their buoy . Had it not been for the old lady we would have been long gone ashore and would probably have returned to find our precious boat on the beach . Worse still , had it happened at night while we were asleep it could have been worse .

The failure of the buoy turned out to be the rope being badly chafed .

Dominica wasn't part of our original plan but we had heard good reports from fellow cruisers about how wild and natural the island is and as our cruising guide claims , if Christopher Columbus were to return to the Caribbean today , Dominica would be the only island he would recognize as it is relatively unspoilt compared with the rest of the Caribbean . Most islands are well known for their beautiful coastlines but Dominica's interior is spectacular . At the cruisers braai l was told that there are 365 rivers on the island with numerous waterfalls of which we managed to see a few .

The Morne Trois Pitons National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site where magnificent mountains with lush forested valleys and gorges , countless waterfalls and pools combined with it's birdlife , butterflies and brightly coloured tropical flowers make it a nature lover's paradise . It is definitely the island suited more for the adventurous hiker as there are numerous trails all part of the Waitukubuli National Trail which traverses the island and is broken up into14 segments . The trail is 200km long running from the south of the island at Cachacrou up to the northwest at the Cabrits National Park . If large hotels and beach resorts are your scene then Dominica is not for you. This island was right up our street and after our visit to modern Martinique the contrast was perfect .

Today was a magical day but before l ramble on about the finer details , we had a chance meeting with a really nice couple who own a small restaurant called the Iguana Cafe on the waters edge on the far side of town in Portsmouth . After a long walk on a hot humid day we were thirsty so we wandered into this little shack and asked this nice lady if we could get something cold to drink . She suggested we try the local beer Kubuli so we sat down and started chatting . It turns out Jennifer and her husband of 27 years Cartouche are madly passionate about Dominica's flora and fauna and Cartouche in particular is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to everything to do with nature that his island is blessed with .

When he realized that we love the bush as well , his excitement at getting an opportunity to show us the rainforests convinced us that he was our man for a real in-depth look at the best of Dominica's wild-side . Jennifer decided for once that she would close the restaurant for the day and join us .

The following morning we rocked up at their restaurant and the four of us set off to hike an 11km section of the Waitukubuli Trail through the mountains and rainforest along the coast.

What followed was a truly wonderful experience where Cartouche gave us a history lesson of the origins of Dominica and at the same time taught us all about the island's wild fruits and how to eat them . The entire time while walking along the trail we were sampling different edibles while sipping on coconut water . At 50 years of age he would zip up a tree to fetch some exotic fruit for us to taste . We were shown rare birds and had four snake sightings all the while getting a David Attenborough type explanation about each species . Cartouche was raised in the same region that we hiked and on route he showed us where as a child they fished , swam and played . His Mom was a resident in the old lost village which is an unbelievable story on it's own .

The world's oldest human at 128 years of age turns out to be a relative of Jennifer's with a number of her relatives being centurions .

The day spent in the rainforest was one that we won't forget in a lifetime but the most amazing thing of all was that my little wife walked the entire length of this arduous route in her favourite pink Haviana slops . I noticed Cartouche's look of horror when Urs stepped out in her “ pinks “ but relaxed when l told him that we had proper shoes for her in the bag . Never the less , the loose stones and mud did not phase her at all and her favourite Haviana's have another tough hike to their credit .

The one place we had to visit was the Indian River which was once a Carib Indian settlement . My man Cartouche who knows the river and swamp like the back of his hand rowed us in a local boat while telling us all about the uniqueness of this special place where Terra Carpus Offi-cinalis trees line the river banks with their buttress roots spreading over 20 feet wide . Scenes from The Pirates of the Caribbean were shot here with Calypso's house being one of the features .

Cartouche was itching to take us on a full day island tour which we did visiting beautiful waterfalls and driving through the most lush tropical rainforest we have ever seen .

We even got to visit the Carib Indian Territory where the Kalinago more popularly known as the Caribs were granted a portion of land around 3700 acres on which to establish a reservation with their own chief . As the first settlers on these islands it was appropriate to name the Caribbean after them and as craftsman they still retain the same knowledge of basket weaving , wood carving and canoe building which has been passed down from one generation to the next .

The Carib's long elegant canoes are carved out of a single Gommier tree trunk .

At this point in our 2017 cruising season we have seen many beautiful places but definitely Dominica is our favourite island so far . The wild natural beauty is unmatched anywhere else in the Caribbean and if you ever get the opportunity to visit this magic place , pop into the Iguana Restaurant , get Jennifer to prepare you an amazing seafood platter and over a cold Kubuli chat to the rasta man Cartouche about a nature experience second to none and see the untouched Caribbean island of Dominica as it was centuries ago .