Before answering the question about snakes – and because most of you know I was leaving on Friday, March 2nd, I am happy to report I have arrived on Dominica. My travel went smoothly despite the number of individual legs in the journey.

I landed in Guadalupe late on Saturday afternoon, and checked into my AirBnb just ahead of a huge rainstorm. By this time I was starved, so I ventured out in the deluge looking for a restaurant.

The streets were totally empty, and everything was shut tight – and that plus the deluge left a distinct impression of a city (Pointe a Pitre) a bit ragged around the edges. Oh – but, there *was* a KFC, and it was open, but, I refused to be that desperate. Closer inspection yielded the information that restaurants reopened at 7 p.m. – but, hunger and exhaustion ruled that out. I found a small market and purchased the equivalent of Kraft cheese singles, and made do with cheese and crackers.

This morning, Sunday, the brilliant sun had wiped away all evidence of the rainstorm, and that plus a trip to a local (and did I mention French!) bakery, redeemed my impression of Pointe a Pitre.

My final leg of the journey, a 2 hour ferry ride to Dominica, distinctly reminded me of riding the Victoria Clipper. I haven’t verified this – so don’t hold me to it, but, this boat was built in Australia, and isn’t that where the Clipper boats come from? It was immediately apparent that people were bringing desperately needed supplies on the ferry with them. Large packages were wrapped and marked: “fragile/window glass”, people had grocery bags filled with toilet paper and laundry detergent and coolers were packed with food. Entering Dominica was a completely different experience than entering Guadalupe the day prior.

• Entering Guadalupe: land/hand passport over to be stamped/pick up suitcase/smile and nod as you walk out.

• Entering Dominica: fill out extensive customs forms/dock/line up for extended questioning at immigration – I was sorta’ stumped by the “where are you staying during your visit?”/line back up to have your suitcases searched (and I mean thoroughly) at customs. And given that most people were traveling with LOTS of baggage, this was quite the process. Just about the time I got to the head of the line, an official came out to join the search party and approached me – asking for my declaration. He reviewed it, and when he saw I had declared no food, or basically anything, just clothing, he said, “Are you certain?” And I pulled out the remaining half-sleeve of ritz crackers and the dregs of my trail mix. At which point he waved me to the exit and told me to go. Trust me – I didn’t look back.

Exiting the ferry, which landed in Roseau, (the Capitol, on the Island’s west side), I was met by 5 of the IsraAID team, who had been enjoying their free Sunday. Introductions all around – and I’ll be lucky to match names and faces by mid-week. Full disclosure here – not withstanding that all of them are highly skilled, consummate disaster relief professionals, I could easily be their mother.

I’m spending tonight in Roseau, in a small apartment building that seems to house relief workers from a variety of NGO’s. The aid community here is very interconnected, sharing expertise and information. We hung out on the porch and the Deet I brought and the Girl Scout cookies I carried, (dang, forgot to declare them!) were met with equal measures of delight.

As we lost the light, I snapped a photo of the gorgeous sunset – and it wasn’t until I looked at it, prepping it to add to this blog post that I realized the photo shows the extent of the homes with blue tarps for roofs.

Tomorrow I start. There is so much work to be done. I’ll leave Roseau and the apartment behind, (the only deprivation tonight was that there’s an empty roll of toilet paper in the bathroom), and head to the much more rural Rosalie Bay where they confirmed we still lack electricity and rely on generators for a few hours in the evening.

So now, the answer to the earlier snake question (and more):

Dominica has no poisonous spiders or snakes. Boa constrictors and small garter snakes are on the island but are not venomous. Shark sightings are not frequent and have not been reported to be a problem.

Dominica: Family Travel – TripAdvisor

Oh – and before I close, one final thing. In addition to believing Dominica was the same as the Dominican Republic, (which you know it’s not, because after I found that out, I shared it with you), I have also been completely mispronouncing the Island’s name. It is not Doh-MIN-i-cuh. It is Doh-mi-NEE-cuh. I’ll leave you to untangle that pronunciation while I head to sleep.

More to follow.