Baby food hunting

Moving from place to place we have a habit of bringing enough supplies for the kids the first few days, to avoid having to run out of diapers etc. Now it was time to find baby food. No problem, said our hotel hosts, they have a huge well sorted supermarket in Portsmouth, which is half an hour away.

Colorful houses outside Portsmouth on the west coast

Well. it was in deed a well stocked supermarket (who buys frozen ready-to-eat plates of pancakes and sausage?). But no baby foods. So, we asked around in all the local super market and pharmacy without luck. A little in despair, we discussed what to do. So far we have made baby foods ourselves, because we have had kitchens – and used ready made foods for days on the run. But now, without a kitchen…hm… We asked a local how far it was to the capital Roseau, 45 minutes he said, so we decided to go for it.

Typical Caribbean bus

Sign in Portsmouth

So we set off to Roseau. It is a drive along the coast, so very different from the mountain tracks.

Town with the flattering name Massacre

Let’s cut through a mountain and make a road

Nature island

They do like their colors!

In Roseau, first thing we see is this:

Swedish embassy

Typical Caribbean bar

We decided to get the business done before sightseeing, so we started at the biggest supermarket. No baby foods. Next one, none. Pharmacy, none, but they directed us to another super market next to KFC. Found KFC but no super market. It was hidden behind it – and voila! Baby foods! By then it felt like we had covered every street of Roseau, there was no time left for sightseeing. And I will tell you, that Roseau is the first Caribbean place where there is NO breeze. I mean none. As baked as fresh cinnamon rolls we got back into the air conditioned car, exhausted, and drove home with the catch of the day.

And she will not starve

Rastafari day

After a few days of being lazy and letting the hotel pool keep us cool and the hotel chef making sure we do not starve (3 course every night…) we set off to explore the island. We drove the most northern road (well…road….track, rather) We were stunned by Dominica's beauty! The road was so immensely beautiful. We have seen lots of rain forest by now, but this is by far the most beautiful one. There are a vast amount of coconut palm trees, which makes it very different, and of course, mangoes…

Still lots of road kill mangoes…

One of the scenes from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed here

Coconuts in plenty

‘

See where the road continues???

Beautiful tree and banana palm trees

Since E is fascinated by horses we found a place where she could ride. It was in the middle of the jungle, an English Rastafarian, Jasmine, and her Dominican husband keeping a guesthouse/stable/pet hotel/café. E got to ride and we hiked along in the beautiful surroundings. (Still watching out for falling mangoes.) Rastaman had to hinder the horse from munching on mangoes. Yes the horses here get their supplements from bananas and mangoes.

One happy girl and a Rasta (and a body guard?)

Rain forest riding

F picking/tasting  fresh bay leaves (lagerblad).They keep the moths away if you put them in your closet, we learnt

We asked Jasmine for lunch advice, and she sent us to The Iguana Café. This is it:

Yes, it IS a restaurant

Somewhat skeptical,  we entered the shed (it really was) and was welcomed by the most lovely Rastafri couple and very loud Reggae music. It was like entering Rastafari land. Get the feel:

Kitchen – health services would have a heart attack

We did not have high expectations of the food, and when it arrived, we thought we had gone to heaven. It was so lovely we couldn’t believe it!

Warm crayfish salad – crayfish, garlic cabbage and tomatoes, coconut/curry sauce – and huge plate! And fresh papaya and mango juice.

Crayfish in creole sauce

After dinner I was given a bag with fresh mangoes (no kidding…) and passion fruits and a blessing for the road.

Happy outside the back of the restaurant with mangoes and passion fruit

We both agreed this is the coolest and best food experience we have had so far on the trip! We’re still smiling. *burp* And no, we are still not tired of mangoes!

Expectations

We left the lovely rainforest cottage after 4 days of rain. We didn’t mind the rain – on the contrary we simply loved the place - but all our stuff has to dry now for at least a week! And – the rainforest humidity has screwed up our camera, so it is not a new fancy photoshop effect we have added to all the following pics, but humidity killing the lens. We’ll have to survive with it until Puerto Rico where we can get a new camera for sure, because we are yet again out of civilization.

Wall detail in our apartment

We have moved to Calibishie, Dominica. We booked a hotel with breakfast and dinner included, and pool, because we wanted to spoil ourselves. No more cooking, dishes and visiting 5 different shops for making dinner. We picked Calibishie Lodges, purely based on great reviews on Tripadvisor. And when you read all the fantastic reviews and also pay a s*** load of money, your expectations are set high.

Our apartment at Calibishie Lodges

Arriving at the hotel just simply killed our spirits. B had been looking forward to the relaxation part, since he is head of pancakes for breakfast every day and has been so for 4,5 months. First thing he needed to do was to fix the railing on the balcony so that it wouldn’t fall apart. Second was to fix the fridge that wouldn’t close, and complain to reception that the ceiling fan didn’t work. (And you NEED a fan when you do not have air condition…) Then, we went to the restaurant for our first dinner. They serve a 3 course meal every evening. It was simply boring. Salad with corn from a box, dry chicken, pasta and mashed potatoes, and banana smoothie as desert. Inventive creole kitchen?? How uninspiring. We were soooooo disappointed going to bed.

View from our apartment – no it’s not Tobago, but you could think so!  Have to compare:

Tobago 4 months earlier

Waking up for breakfast, we were still not convinced. The restaurant made a great Caribbean breakfast (salt fish, eggs, fruit salad, bread), but the international breakfast I chose with bacon, eggs, cheese, well , the pig society would be offended to include it in the bacon family. And terrible coffee on top of it.

Having reflected on the disappointment – we realize that the only reason we are so disappointed is because of our expectations. I mean - come on – who would expect to find good bacon in the Caribbean? Or great coffee? Or a perfectly functioning wooden balcony in the rain forest? Neither of these thing would annoy us normally – just the fact that now we had spent money and set our expectations high. So – today we tried to look at the place with new eyes, and explore the village, and the conclusion is that we like the place! And if you look at the pictures, it’s not too bad, right?

E enjoying the swimming pool

Still lovely mangoes here…

And – thank goodness – tonight the special menu at the restaurant was delightful. Good callalloo soup. Coconut crayfish – yummy. And ginger-potato-pineapple (!) cake for desert.

Yummy crayfish and child friendly restaurant with plastic plates

The place has changed over night – or have we?

Jungle camping and mangoes

We’re in Dominica! The nature island, with 365 rivers, one for each day, not at all known for sandy beaches, but hiking, boiling springs and rainforest. Where we are right now is so different and amazing that I am afraid to spoil it just to write about it and capture it on camera. Even if you find it cool, it’s way cooler in real life. Yeah – cool, by the way. The temperature is awesomely refreshing. We are literarily in the middle of the jungle, on the south east corner of the island. Here is our house:

and the garden, with the river in the back:

Well, the whole area is a garden. The house is situated within a plantation, where they grow mangoes, lime, passion fruit, pineapple, bananas etc. Our house is in the area of the mango trees. And right now is mango season, meaning it is raining mangoes around us from the sky!

Mango roadkill

I never imagined I would fear being hit by a mango in the head (the trees are so huge I don’t even want to think of how much they accelerate on their way down.) At night, the mangoes fall on our roof, almost giving us a heart attack. The gardeners need to keep the place clean…

If you fancy a snack, just pick some!

They are so juicy you can just peel them by hand and dig in…

Our kitchen is completely outside

Breakfast in fine surroundings

And inside it is really cosy.

Notice the lack of mosquito netting? Cannot believe there are none here!

BUT – this kind of camping is not for everyone. There are wildlife, of course. With an outdoor kitchen you over consume zip-locks and have a great incentive to take care of the dishes quickly. Still you have ants in your breakfast, geckoes in your child’s bed and crickets under your bed. But that’s just part of is, isn’t it? And the colibries, parrots, cute beetles and iguanas are great neighbors.

Over and out from the family with jungle fever! Loving it!

Note from the editor: I will say, that sitting outside after dark with a computer screen pouring out light, it attracts both wanted and unwanted wildlife, I was just hit by the hugest beetle I have ever seen.

Note from the editor husband: The beetle is beetle no more…

Life and death in France

Last night our lovely landlord couple arrived at our doorstep in Vauclin (haven driven across the island only to see us) with onion pie and special Martinique banana liquor. They spent a couple of hours on our porch chatting (with me) and me translating to B (far too little, according to him). They are so hospitable and friendly. And I will say that the pie and the liquor was great, but maybe not together…..

Now we’re back in Fort de france, Martinique. I don’t know what it is with this city, but its just good for all of us. Since we are off to Dominica on Monday, meaning yet again a step out of civilization, we spent the day truly enjoying the good life, and doing some essential shopping (new coffee machine on top of the list!)

This morning – the ride to Fort de France was certainly more dramatic. Getting around this island without a rental car and the amount of luggage we carry is practically impossible. So – when we went to Vauclin we asked the landlord if he has any friend who could drive us, and make some extra cash. It was about a 45 minute drive, and his buddy took us for 40 euros. Now returning, we asked our Vauclin landlord if he could organize something similar, sure he could! Well. 09 AM this morning a car with a “real” taxi sign arrives. Anyway, off we go. I took the opportunity to chat with him, it is always interesting. He told me he is a taxi driver (obviously), but also the president of the “taxi union” in Martinique. He decides the rules, prices and teaches to-be taxi drivers about it. Now, that doesn’t seem like the best candidate to hire as a pirate taxi…… I asked him about the price, and he said “I drive with the meter” (who would have thought differently). It was on 12 euros at the start of the trip so both B and I swallowed hard and saw Euros flying out the window. B said cautiously that we had hoped that we would get a special price – he said he would see what the meter said on arrival and give us a small discount. Well, we could only wait and see.

A few minutes later, he receives a phone call. All of a sudden he burst into tears. He just got the news that his mother died! He wept and wept, poor man, we gave our heartfelt condolences and asked him to please pull over and take a moment, but he insisted on driving. B even offered to drive for him, but he wanted to keep going. So, for the rest of the trip he drove and wept and we felt really sorry for him. When we arrived the meter was on 78 euros and he offered us 65, but we didn’t really have the heart, so he got 70.

Now for some more cheese and wine. What else!

Caribbean time

Conversation at a hairdresser – at 13.10. The sign on the door said open 8-18.
-My husband would like a haircut.
-When did you have in mind?
-Now, if possible?
-No, I am having lunch. In a short while?
-Sure, when?
-At 15.00?
-No, then it’s better tomorrow. What are the opening hours?
-Every day from 8-18 without  interruption.
-But you are closed during lunch?
-No – we are not closed – we just eat.

Makes perfect sense? Welcome to the Caribbean!

Mid travel crisis?

So – low season is still in full bloom. Fact is – all four of us have been irritable, sleeping badly and been simply bored. We still haven’t done anything “exciting” – just staying at home or taken a short trip to town for groceries or a quick swim at the beach. We have also caught a bug of some kind, all feeling more or less queasy. We have been debating what is the chicken and the egg – are we bored because of this place, or because we have travelled for some time (which would be natural), or are we just extra susceptible because we have not been feeling well?

Entertaining the kids at home

Sometimes you want to stay in bed…

Afternoon snack – three mouths and a yoghurt

Ok – we do get out the door occasionally

Yeah - it’s hot

On top of this – we need to leave this house by May 5th. When planning this trip at home we decided we would leave next week “unbooked” to allow ourselves some flexibility. So…. we have had some pressure to plan something new – when not feeling excited at all about it (and yes, I know this is a luxury problem big time….) But – even luxury problems need to be solved. After a few nights of research we now have a new schedule. Having travelled for a while we now also know what we want – so we have done some changes also, adding completely new islands and removing some! And, since we need a little re-boot, we have booked 10 days of all-inclusive where B doesn’t need to make pancakes and we can sit down to a nice dinner each evening. We’re getting back to being excited.

This is what it looks like so far:

May 5 – May 7 Fort de France – Martinique

May 7– May 11 Somewhere in the forest, Dominica

May 11 – May 22 Calibishie, Dominica (all inclusive)

May 22- June 4 Luquillo, Puerto Rico

June 4 – June 18 Island of Vieques, Puerto Rico

June 18-20 San Juan, Puerto Rico

June 20 – July 5 ??????? Still not decided

July 5th – Return home

And… we are mourning a true friend that has passed away. After serving us multiple times daily our dearest coffee machine is no more. Please don’t ask how he died.

R.I.P