After
spending most of Monday checking into customs and exploring the town
of Portsmouth, we were ready to do a tour up the Indian River. I got
in the kayak and tracked down one of the PAYS boat boys, Ken, who was
happy to give us a tour of the Indian River.
The Indian River is one of the must-see attractions of the Eastern Caribbean. It was used for several scenes in the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie which the locals love to brag about. The river is protected by the national park association in Dominica so they don't allow any motorized boats to travel up the river. They require non-locals to pay for a nature ticket to explore the Indian River which helps pay for the association the protects and preserves the area.
As you enter the mouth of the river, you can see the color difference in the water indicating the mix of fresh and salt water. There are a couple of smaller rivers that branch off of the main Indian River channel that our guide, Ken, took us through. All along the banks of the river, huge swamp bloodwood trees grow and create a canopy of the river. The swamp bloodwoods have massive trunks with roots that spread out and twist in interesting wavy designs. There are also thousands of tall palm trees that add to the canopy, and tons of young palms growing out of fallen coconuts. It was really beautiful and peaceful gliding down the river. Ken pointed out a few different species of birds, and there were lots of trout and blue crabs in the water. As we got further down the river, it begins to narrow, and at the furthest spot along the tour, there is a jungle bar with beautiful gardens and fruit trees. We got out of the boat and walked around the gardens, and of course tasted the local rum punch drink (called Dynamite). After a couple of Dynamites, we headed back to the boat and finished the tour, heading back down the river and out to the ocean. As we left the river, we realized that it's possibly to go through the river without a guide so long as you've purchased a nature ticket, so Gene and I decided that we would come back another day in the kayak to explore the river on our own.Ken dropped us back off at our boat and we invited him aboard to discuss some other tours we could do with him later in the week.
The Indian River is one of the must-see attractions of the Eastern Caribbean. It was used for several scenes in the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie which the locals love to brag about. The river is protected by the national park association in Dominica so they don't allow any motorized boats to travel up the river. They require non-locals to pay for a nature ticket to explore the Indian River which helps pay for the association the protects and preserves the area.
As you enter the mouth of the river, you can see the color difference in the water indicating the mix of fresh and salt water. There are a couple of smaller rivers that branch off of the main Indian River channel that our guide, Ken, took us through. All along the banks of the river, huge swamp bloodwood trees grow and create a canopy of the river. The swamp bloodwoods have massive trunks with roots that spread out and twist in interesting wavy designs. There are also thousands of tall palm trees that add to the canopy, and tons of young palms growing out of fallen coconuts. It was really beautiful and peaceful gliding down the river. Ken pointed out a few different species of birds, and there were lots of trout and blue crabs in the water. As we got further down the river, it begins to narrow, and at the furthest spot along the tour, there is a jungle bar with beautiful gardens and fruit trees. We got out of the boat and walked around the gardens, and of course tasted the local rum punch drink (called Dynamite). After a couple of Dynamites, we headed back to the boat and finished the tour, heading back down the river and out to the ocean. As we left the river, we realized that it's possibly to go through the river without a guide so long as you've purchased a nature ticket, so Gene and I decided that we would come back another day in the kayak to explore the river on our own.Ken dropped us back off at our boat and we invited him aboard to discuss some other tours we could do with him later in the week.
Rowing up the Indian River
Swamp Bloodwood tree
Kat and Gene at the Indian River jungle bar gardens
Ken breaking open an almond seed
End of the Indian River
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