When we looked out from our house in Calibishie, and from various points around town, we could see an expanse of red rocks beside the ocean. We had not yet found an obvious way to get to them, so after a restful morning, we set out to explore the sights closer to home.
calibishie’s red rocks
The Bradt guide led us to a tiny maze of narrow roads only a short distance from our house. After a few wrong turns, we found ourselves at Red Rocks Bar, where there was a sign saying that the path to the red rocks cost $2 (USD). A kindly bartender took our $4, pointed us towards the path, and informed us that his dog Roxy would likely join us.
And she did! Our canine tour guide accompanied us for a short walk down to a sprawling expanse of wind- and water-worn cliffs of vibrant, rusty red, which contrasted sharply against the dark blue and aqua waters beyond.
I literally had to hold on to my hat due to a steady, cooling wind, which drowned out all other sounds. We each wandered solo to all the corners the sprawling rocks, perfectly smooth but for the occasional pockmark. The roar of the wind created its own kind of silence that in turn inspired a long moment of solitary contemplation, a sort of walking meditation with Roxy as our guru.
We agreed it was the best $2 we’d ever spent.
We probably could have stayed longer, but if we had, we probably would have baked ourselves to a crisp unknowingly because the wind was. Back at the bar, we drank a couple beers and chatted with the bartender, who lit up a fat doobie.
batibou beach
Batibou Beach has the reputation of being one of the best beaches in Dominica, not known for its beaches. Tour books cautioned that you had to pay if you wanted to drive down onto the beach, which we were happy to do, following a narrow, unpaved trail through the trees and down a gradual slope to the stand. (In fact, the attendants claimed everyone had to pay, whether you drove or not, so good call on our part.)
It was a white sand beach, with palm trees, picnic tables, and a dude named William who had a small fire going next to a palm-frond hut. He was cooking up fish, a fruit called “bread fruit” (which did in fact taste like bread), and mango, all served on a banana leaf. For dessert, he hacked open a coconut with a cutlass (the term Dominicans use for machete), and we drank it straight from the coconut. (I found the trick to be imagining I was a Pawneean drinking from a water fountain.)
After lunch, we swam and did beachy things for a while before heading back to town for dinner at Rainbow Beach Bar in Calibishie. We had some bad luck with the drinks there (some truly disgusting rum liqueur thing that we mistakenly thought was going to be a rum punch), but damn the food was good. I ordered the lobster, and I got 3 small Caribbean lobsters, sliced in half for easy eating, grilled and flavorful, with garlic butter sauce. And from there we watched the sun set over Morne au Diable.
