Back-to-back port days for us. St. Barth is one of the smallest inhabited islands in the Caribbean, and it’s inhabited mostly by people of wealth and fame. It’s very French. The small harbor is choked with mega yachts and the narrow streets are lined with stores that are so exclusive, they don’t seem to need to be open to stay in business. Or, more likely, they close when a cruise ship full of (relatively) poor tourists floats in. I suppose they get tired of telling tourists “it’s more than you can afford”. Some stores actually display the prices of items in their windows, as if to reinforce the point. We saw a very plain men’s watch made by a company that I have never heard of displaying a price of 145,000 euros. I saw a fancier looking one at the Costco in Henderson Nevada. I imagine it was about 145,000 less expensive. That said, we ate 3 of the best chocolate eclairs imaginable. I didn’t ask the cost, but it didn’t max out our card, so…whew!!!
Other than being a Caribbean island, Dominica is the exact opposite of St. Barths in most every way imaginable. Crowded (in the city), crushing poverty, and what infrastructure they have gets wiped out every 10 years or so by a hurricane. Seriously…look it up. Seems like every storm that blows through the Atlantic blows through Dominica, and pauses long enough to destroy everything. We walked about 4 miles through some of the most hazardous streets I’ve seen. There are essentially no street signs, so it’s pretty easy to get lost, and you really have to watch every single step you take because each presents a hazard to navigate. Still, it’s picturesque in its own way, the people seem quite friendly, and the remnants of the French and West Indian colonial architecture are unusual and interesting.
So, why would a tourist come to Dominica? Well, it’s quite mountainous, so it rains a lot and we are told that there is an incredible rain forest with lots of exotic wildlife. We were supposed to go on a day trip safari, but the Jeep broke down yesterday and it was cancelled. I imagine it’s hard to get parts here.
Can you guess which is which?