Dominica nature and culture vacation

Planet

A large part of our walking vacations relies on walking the forests of Dominica and observing forest rules, while providing our guests with opportunities to enjoy the wildlife in their natural habitat. Many of our guests come on bird watching vacations, and to learn about the fauna. Others come as well to see turtles nest and do research, and without the animals and the environment within which they exist, Dominica would not be an attractive destination.

As a company we have been able to maintain this interest by working with local community and have been using villagers as local guides. (We have used the services of Alan John of Colihaut to hike the back hills along the west coast and Segments 9, 10, and 11 of the Waitukubuli National Trail (WNT), Prosper Paris of the Kalinago Territory to lead tours within the Kalinago community and along Segment 6 of the Waitukubuli National Trail (WNT), and Justin Dubois and Gilles Carbon both from communities in the far north of Dominica as guides along Segments 12 and 13 along the WNT as well). As locals, these people have spent most of their lives cris-crossing the back roads within their neighborhoods, and have always known the value of the land as a resource, and seen the need to respect and take care of the land and all that it provides. Operating as guides have therefore been the perfect means for them to preserve that heritage while earning a living and sharing a part of the land with the visitor.

Our programmes have been influenced by the current issues and interests of the local community. Where necessary, we have also been able to build on the local knowledge and capability of these resources by providing training in tour guiding and customer service to ensure that services delivered meet international standards.

As users of the forests we play a key role in helping to preserve and police the natural habitat to ensure that their well-being is always protected. This includes observing the rules as laid down by the Department of Forestry - as relates to hunting/fishing, and reporting on activities that are harmful or detrimental to maintaining that natural balance – trail overloading in sensitive areas, littering and indiscriminate disposal of garbage, and the non-observance of forest rules in areas.

It is important to mention that Dominica has no poisonous animals, and this is a great reason why people visit - to be able to experience the Garden of Eden...as God had designed it. It has also been the rich heritage associated with the abundance in flora and fauna that enabled Dominica’s Morne Trois Pitons National Park to be inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. We have seen it very important to work to preserve this legacy.

People

Much of what we do is woven within the local communities.... and so it is important for us to empower then and build their confidence...so we use local homes and restaurants to provide our food whenever possible.

Within the southern community of Soufriere, through our NGO - Friends of Waitukubuli, we have partnered with Heart and Sole (Ramblers WH) to help to refurnish the computer lab at the local primary school. Beyond this, there have been donations of books and other educational bits from our guests to the school...all with the intention to supporting and building capacity.

In Capuchin, the northern most community in Dominica, we have contributed revenues to construct a loading dock / pontoon, which the fishermen and community have been able to use. This investment is part of the revenues earned from having tours through that area. An aspect of that tour provides for a 50 minute boat ride with the local fishermen along the west coast - a setting that provides for story telling while providing perspective about island living and fishing.

Our tours also extend into the Kalinago Territory and the rural east coast villages of San Sauveur and Good Hope where we are encouraging the local communities to develop capacity to receive visitors and show case the local life styles and traditions.

In San Sauveur, a community that has never known tourism, we encourage the villagers to open up their bay oil stills and cassava factories to guests...and to interact with them, with the hope and intent that we can stimulate small enterprise development, while creating market opportunities for the agri produce.