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| View from our stateroom of Roseau, capital of Dominica |
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| The included shore excursion, Panoramic Roseau, began with a stop at the Dominica Botanical Gardens (1890, to encourage crop diversification), which had been greatly decimated by the 1979 Hurricane David |
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| Couroupita guianensis/Cannonball Tree that does not have the cannonball-looking fruit hanging along the trunk |
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| The two largest trees are Swietenia mahagoni/ West Indian Mahogany |
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| Clusia rosea/Balsalm Apple Tree |
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| Plumeria sp/Frangipani |
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| Pseudosphinx tetrio larva/Frangipani hornworm caterpillar (becomes the Tetrio Sphinx Moth) |
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| Averrhoa carambola/Carambola Tree flower. which produces the carambola or star fruit |
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| Barringtonia asiatica/Fish Poison Tree is an introduced tree that is toxic; it may have been mistaken for a rubber tree? |
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| Immature fruit of the Fish Poison Tree |
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| Heading into the bamboo enclosure |
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| We might have called it a cathedral inside |
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| But young lovers leave their initials on the bamboo stems |
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| The Botanical Gardens are often used for weddings |
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| Allamanda blanchetii/Allamanda with red, pink or purple flowers |
We saw many hummingbirds.
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| Melaleuca alternifolia/Tea Tree from which tea tree oil is derived |
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| Hurricane David (1979) knocked down the giant Adansonia digitata/African Baobab Tree called David the Goliath; it crushed a brand new, not yet used schoolbus donated by Canada |
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| Kigelia africana/[Elephant] Sausage Tree; our guide could not understand why they placed a picnic table under this tree where one could be hit by a falling 20-pound "elephant sausage" |
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| The Public Cemetery is across the street from the Roman Catholic Cemetery |
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| Morne Bruce Viewpoint view of Roseau and the Viking Sea |
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| Windsor Park Sports Stadium |
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| The Viewpoint also had vendors |
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| If you flip over the skirt on these dolls, you have another doll |
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| Our last stop was at Abilities Unlimited, a workshop for the visually impaired as well as those with other disabilities |
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| The workshop manager explained the program and pointed out a few products |
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| The main work was in making baskets |
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| They also had soaps, dolls and toys, and textiles |
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| The Dominica letters at the cruise port |
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| We then took our own walk through Roseau, passing Peebles Park (1928) that previously was used to pasture the horses and donkeys of the vendors at the Old Market |
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| Cenotaph (1928) honoring the citizens of Dominica who gave their lives in World War I and later those from World War II |
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| St George's Anglican Church (1820, rebuilt after Hurricane David in 1979) lost its roof in 2017 during Hurricane Maria and has not been renovated |
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| Fort Young (1699, 1964 renovated into a luxury hotel) |
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| House of Assembly (1968); Dominica gained independence in 1978, and is a member of the Commonwealth |
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| Emancipation Monument (2013, by Franklyn Zamore) pays tribute to all the enslaved and those who fought for freedom, as well as to their African ancestors who passed on their skills and culture |
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| Our Lady of Fair Haven (est 1730, current church 1816-1916 in Gothic Romanesque style using cut volcanic stone); the cathedral was undergoing renovation since 2011 when Hurricane Maria hit the island in 2017, causing more delays that were increased by the pandemic |
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| Bethesda Methodist Church (1893); Hurricane Maria took off the top of its spire |
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| Old Market with baskets, was once a thriving market of both commodities and the enslaved |
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| The market seems to have expanded into this empty building |
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| Roseau is known as the "City of Verandahs" |
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| Entrance to the Cruise Ship Berth |
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| The Dominica Museum (1810, as a market building and post office) |
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| We had traveled in a Coaster bus for our excursion, but some tourists used these open-air vehicles |
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| Our optional excursion for today was the Whale and Dolphin Safari, taken in this boat |
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| A rainbow phenomenon over the ridge of the mountains |
We headed south, then we headed north. We stopped and lowered the hydrophone trying to locate whales. No whales or dolphins seen or heard in the "Whale-Watching Capital of the Caribbean!"
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| Returning to Roseau |
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| The vendors along the seaside promenade had tarps from the United States Agency for International Development/USAID; reports in 2017 indicate 90% of the houses in Dominica were damaged or destroyed |
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