When Hollywood wanted to film the Pirates of the Caribbean they yachted and limoed Johnny Depp to the ‘unspoiled’ Eastern Caribbean island of Dominica to do his thing. Reportedly there was no place fancy enough on the island for Depp and his fellow stars to hang their hats so they were forced to wine and dine offshore. The cast and crew celebrated their hardship experience in a post-production ‘Dominica Survivor Party’. Herein hangs Dominica’s tale – poor people living often hard lives in a place rich in beauty and vibrant popular culture.
Dominica is a small island both in population (72,380) and size (754 square kilometres). Yet the island feels a lot bigger than this, with dozens of mountain peaks, waterfalls and some say a river for every day of the year. This is what the tourist promoters like to call the Caribbean’s ‘Nature Island’.
