DOMINICA IN A DAY!
Ahh, Dominica. The Caribbean's 'Nature Island'.
As part of a beautiful 10-day cruise in the summer, we (me, my mum, my sister, my aunt and my two nephews) stopped off at Dominica for the day.
Of course, this was an idle opportunity for me to see as many of my family members as possible because my family originally come from Dominica - the nature island of the Caribbean, and there are probably as many of us in the UK as there are in DA! I have a HUGE family and I mean HUGE, but just to give you a slightly better idea of how huge we're talking;
My grandparents (on my mum's side) had a total of ten children between them - seven boys and three girls - six moved to the UK, three in DA and one in Alaska. Each of them went on to have between 1-20 children, and some of their children have now had children! On my mum's side alone, I have at least THIRTY first cousins. Honestly, I know there are more of us, but I actually gave up counting!
On my dad's side, between his two parents, there are six children. Again, each of them had children, and some of those children have also now had children! I'm pretty sure you can see where I am going with this.. the family is.. well.. huge!
Right To Left - Me, Louise (sister), Kai (nephew), Mum, Kinya (nephew), Grandad, Uncle G
A Dominican flag was erected at the front of the boat and waved gently in the warm breeze as we headed for the shore. As the boat docked, I remember the smell of fresh, salty sea water and the thick, humid air.
My uncle Garfield (AKA Unlce G) was waiting for us at the shore - baggy tee, cap, jeans and trainers - just how I remembered him. I say remember because I don't get to see much of my family who live in Dominca very often. We had arranged for Uncle G to be our 'chauffeur' for the day and take us to see as many of the family as we could before we had to be back on the boat.
The first place we visited was Uncle G's house where we were greeted by lots more family members. We sat, we talked, we laughed and we ate before picking up my cousin Neva (uncle Garfiled's daughter) and dropping her off to work at Roseau Airport. The truck was a little packed - it was myself, my sister, my two nephews (my third nephew, Kimani wasn't born yet), my mum who rode shotgun, my aunty Maureen and Uncle G.
After dropping off Neva, we visited my mother's godmother Maggie, who today, is probably about 100 years old, and also, my mum's aunty Emmabel who was probably around 96 or so at the time. Aunty Emmabel was old and small and reminds me now when I think about it, of Constantine from The Help (LOL). Her eyes lit up when she finally realised who my mum was - they had not seen each other for about ten years, it was nice to see that after all of that time, she still recognised my mother and was also still going strong for her age. When we found her, she was pulling and hacking away at the garden weeds uphill!
Lou, Uncle G & I
The next stop was to surprise my cousin Sandy (Sandra) - one of my mum's brother's children. Sandy lived in the UK for a few years before moving back to Dominca and starting a family of her own. We banged on that front door of hers for at least five minutes straight, waiting for an answer but she was hard at work in the back yard. I remember seeing a big flock of chickens running around the front yard and into the road. So different to the UK.
Eventually, Sandy answered the door and much to her surprise, there we all were standing awkwardly and smiling from ear to ear. Again. We hugged, we talked, we laughed, and then we left, so short and sweet.
The next stop was to find my grandad. Of all people to not be home - it had to be him! My grandad owns a good sized plot of land in Wesley. On it, he has built a small hotel, lottery ticket shop, petrol station and car rental company - some would call him a very successful business man.. Once we arrived, my grandads...erm.. lady-friend greeted us outside (sorry but he's just too old for a 'girlfriend' lol). Shockingly, Ms Joan remembered us - again, it has been at least ten years since I has seen her or my grandad. But my grandad wasn't in and she wasn't sure when he would be..
Ms Joan tried calling his mobile several times but it was off, and after about 20 minutes or so, we decided to call it a day and start making our way back to the ship. Literally, as I was getting into the car, I saw a little man, dark with a floral shirt, rolled up suit trousers and a cap walking slowly around the corner. I already knew it was him.
The expression on his face said it all really. He looked like the shocked emoji - mouth and eyes wide open like so
:O
It was nice to just talk with him. We had a drink or two and just chilled for a little before it was time to say our goodbyes. Some thing about saying goodbye to my grandad always seems to bug me more than I think it should. Maybe because he is the only grandparent I have lef or maybe because I knew it was most likely the last time I would see him again. Who knows? Either way, it was nice, even if it was only for about 40 minutes or so. Maybe I will see him again.. maybe not.
Grandad's Home-Made Rum
Lou, Grandad & I
On the way back to the ship, we stopped off to see the final few people very quickly and even got a cheeky home drive-through - my cousins had prepared plates of food to take back with us in the car as it was a long drive to the port.
Bless my poor Uncle G - I can just imagine how much he spent on petrol to get us around the island for that whole day.
I can't wait to visit Dominica again, there are so many beautiful, hidden gems and tropical rainfalls to visit - they don't call it the nature island for nothing you know! But for now, I will cherish the short and few memories I have in my home country, until the next time....
Have you ever visited Dominica? Where did you stay? Any suggestions for my next visit?
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