Dominica Island Blog: Sharing Every Dominican Moment with the World

A Taste Of Dominica

Written by Chris in Information No Comments →

Dominica is blessed with an abundance of foods that everyone can enjoy. Thanks to its rich fertile soil and temperate climate, many different types of produce grow very easily here, for example a variety of fruits and vegetables, citrus, bananas, coconuts, coffee, cocoa and spices.

Since the 18th century, Dominica’s diverse heritage is evident in the mix of French, West Indian and Carib Cuisine. This mixture of the different cuisine created the distinctly Creole taste! Chicken and fish, seasoned with local spices, are very popular in the daily menu items in Dominica. You will also find “provisions” which are starchy root vegetables as past of the main meal. Callaloo or Pumpkin soup and fresh green salads are also common fare here.

Here are some tastes you should definitely try as part of your Dominican adventure.

Drink A Kubuli Beer
Everyone who visits Dominica should try the award winning locally brewed Kubuli Beer. The word comes from Waitukubuli – Dominica’s original name! Its light mild taste will delight you. Kubuli Beer is made with pure spring water and is available in shops, bars and restaurants everywhere. Cheers!

Refresh With A Jelly Coconut
Nearly all Dominican will attest to the restorative benefits of fresh coconut water. You can find this natural drink in many restaurants and hotels. On the west coast, you might be lucky to find one with a prink husk for a special treat. Or buy one off a truck in the new market!

Dominican Delicacies
Go ahead and try something a little different, how about mouth watering puffs with avocado, breadfruit or dasheen as a side dish. Then satisfy your sweet tooth with a tamarind ball or a piece of Guava or Coconut Cheese or Pate Banana.

Have a Cuppa With Toast And Jam
Have a cup (or two) of Dominica’s locally grown Café Dominique to start your day. Or drink some Bello’s cocoa tea – hot chocolate in other words! Sweeten up your toast with some of their tasty preserves – grapefruit, passion fruit or guava! Also look for Bello’s hot pepper sauces and tropical fruit drink concentrates to take home with you.

Perhaps You Prefer Tea
After your adventures, relax with on of Blow’s Herbal Teas, ginger, peppermint or basilic, Have it hot or cold, sweeten or plain. Buy some and take it home! Many herbs and natural products are found here in Dominica. For example Bwa bande is a popular tonic (particularly for men), which is said to restore male virility. It is found in a tea form in many shops. Cimenkontwa allegedly rids the body of parasites. Citronella is good for a cold. There are all Dominican bush remedies and are available island – wide as Blow’s Herbal Teas.

Buy Freshly Baked Bread
Bakeries abound in almost every town and village in Dominica. Walk in one and savor the tantalizing aroma. Then purchase a long loaf (called a mastiff) and some substantial rolls. Also indulgence yourself to a pastry, perhaps a meat pie, sweet potato pudding or coconut cake!

There are so many different tastes in Dominica, it’s difficult to mention all in just one post. So keep checking the site for my second post on other Dominican Tastes.

World Creole Music Festival 2007

Written by Chris in Dominica News 1 Comment →

Last Friday the Dominica Festival Commission officially announced the names of the performers at this year 11th Annual 2007 World Creole Music Festival October 26th – 28th. The festival promises three nights of pulsating rhythms with main performances by kassav, Beenie Man, Top-Vice, Manu Dibango, Kadans, Triple Kay, Djunny Claude, WCK,Shurwayne Winchester, Beres Hammond, Skasha, Midnight Groovers, Michele Henderson, Grammacks International, and Bamboolaz.

Photo Source:festivalmusiquecreoledominique.com

For all those persons who have never been to the World Creole Music Festival, here is what you have been missing out on. Enjoy this short video clip.

Video Source:dominicasteve via YouTube

More On Black Sand And Its Environment

Written by Dan in Information 2 Comments →

In a previous posting I wrote about a pretty little secluded Black Sand Beach where one could relax and/or take a refreshing dip. There are other black sand beaches in Dominica. We visited one located between Calibishie and Wesley. To get there, look for a footpath off the main road only about 50 yards past the defunct Club Dominique as you head towards Wesley. Go down the path, which bears to the right. It will take you about 3 minutes at most.

In the photos below I show the bay from the red cliffs above (a sailboat is moored there, and a stream is depositing silt into one end of the bay), a bank of this remarkable sand, and of my wife Ruth and our miniature schnauzer Ranger on a red rock at this beach – were I an artist, I’d title the shot “Red Rocks, Black, Sand, Grey Dog, White Woman”.

I learned from a close Dominican friend and neighbor that one can separate the black sand from white sand (it is intermixed on many beaches) using a magnet. I tried the experiment, and she was absolutely correct.

Iron is attracted by a magnet, but never occurs in its pure form in nature. It always occurs oxidized, in the form of rust in iron ore. That is why the ore must be chemically reduced in a blast furnace (and why – because its recovery is so complex – that the copper age preceded the Iron Age. But I digress). I thought some more, and realized that iron can become magnetized near the earth’s core by the earth’s magnetic field, and then expelled in lava and cooled into stone before hitting the air and thus being unable to oxidize.

That is what is called lodestone, the first magnets discovered by mankind. I did another experiment and indeed, the Dominican black sand will also attract itself to un-magnetized iron or steel (weakly). Dominica’s black sand is lodestone that has been ground up by the action of the sea. That also explains why it is so dense compared to whit sand, which is typically made up of far lighter elements than iron.

Unfortunately, this black sand beach is not quite so secluded, and thoughtless people have discarded rubbish on it. For that reason, we decided not to try the water, fearing we might step on broken glass or some other sharp or dangerous object. What a pity! This sand is talcum-powder fine and does not stick to you, wet or dry – just brush it right off. Cleaned up, this easy to reach site would make a potentially lucrative tourist attraction.

This post was guest blogged by Dan Tanner