Dominica Local Customs

  THE FLAG OF THE DOMINICA
by DAO
 
  • THE FLAG OF THE DOMINICA
      THE FLAG OF THE DOMINICA
    by DAO
  •   Local Customs
    by DAO
  •   Local Customs
    by DAO
  •   Local Customs
    by DAO
  • THE VT FLAG - DON
      THE VT FLAG - DON
    by DAO
 
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THE FLAG OF THE DOMINICA

by DAO

The flag of the Commonwealth of Dominica IS PRETTY INTENSE. It was designed during a contest. Some of the elements of the flag are:The ten lime green stars. The stars represent the 10 Parishes of Dominica. Stars represent hope as well and they are all equal – as are all Dominicans. The central red circle contains a Sisserou Parrot standing on a branch. He is the National Bird of Dominica and represents aspiration to greater heights. The red circle he is inside stands for social justice.The black, white and yellow stripes form a triple coloured cross representing the Holy Trinity. The black stripe represents rich soil, agriculture, and the island’s African heritage.The white stripe stands for clean water (rivers and waterfalls) and the purity of the people. The yellow stripe represents everything from tropical fruits, abundant sunshine and also the original Carib and Arawak people.And...

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Kubuli Beer

by Pieter11

I can't imagine that someone on Dominica will be able to drive around the island for 5 minutes without seeing a Kubuli advertisement. They're simply everywhere! Kubuli is the national beer of Dominica and basically it's the national drink. The word comes from Waitukubuli: Dominica’s original name!The advertisements have nice slogan's like "Kubuli, the beer we drink" or "This is Kubuli country", and you can buy the beer just everywhere. I also found one shop in downtown Roseau where they sold some special edition bottles, nice as a souvenir.The point is: you can't say you've been to Dominica if you didn't try the Kubuli beer!

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Burials a la New Orleans

by grandmaR

From the ship, we could see several church steeples (photo 4), but apparently in Dominica, the cemeteries are grouped in a central location and not at each specific church. When the first tour took us up to an area overlooking the city, we could see the graveyards spread out in front of us (photo 5). There is an Anglican cemetery, a government cemetery and a Catholic cemetery. We also passed the graveyards in the bus and I tried to take a picture of them from there (photos 2 and 3)The Anglican graveyard is next to the Savannah, which is an open green square used mainly for sports, especially football. About 340 yards northwards is the Catholic cemetery, and opposite to it--on the side of the Botanical Gardens--is the Government cemetery. Catholic cemetery is situated on a land granted to the Church by King George III in 1766. According to Honychurch (1995: 176), it was a move that King...

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Eastern Caribbean Dollars

by BROOKS

2.69 Eatern Caribbean Dollar = 1 USDCan purchase/exchange at airport, banks, local shops, and hotels throughout Dominica, Antigua, St. Vincent, St. Luica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla, Grenada, and Montserrat

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Dominica, old world, friendly people

by BROOKS

Smile and greet. The people on this island are friendly and will greet you. Much different than America. Be patient, banks and post offices may be a little slower than you are accustomed to. There is a post office stand at the end of Kennedy Avenue on the side of the tall building (as the numbers go up). You can always ask directions. I recommend using Royal Bank of Canada for banking purposes. This bank is on the bayfront and you can see the cruise dock from there.

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Island Time

by BownLovingFreak

Dominica, like the rest of the Caribbean, is one island time. Don't ever expect to rush to do something or expect to get anything quickly. Just relax and wait patiently. If your annoying you'll get a stare and they'll go back to doing what they were doing before. Its not uncommon to wait for a clerk to check her text messages before taking you. But, remember, they will help you for a while too, so it works out.

Greeted by a steel band in Roseau, Dominica

by dlytle

There is always pent-up excitement as one enters a new city (or country or town) for the first time, at least for me there is. I really do like meeting new people and seeing new places. And, of course, on a ship the size of the Sun Princess that we were on, it takes awhile to disembark and get the day underway.Once we had walked from the ship, across the wooden pier, and into town I realized that I had been subconsciously hearing music since we'd left the ship. And as we exited the cruise ship berth and began to cross the two-lane road into town, I could see the members of the small steel band that was on a boardwalk playing to the oncoming tourists.That steel band music certainly seemed appropriate to the moment as did my taking a picture of that band so that I could tell you about it here.

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Roseau Cruise Ship Berth in Dominica

by dlytle

Here is a picture of the Roseau Cruise Ship Berth that leads directly into the center of Roseau and to its Old Market.You can see the cruise ship I was on at the time, the Sun Princess, at rest in the harbor in the background. What I wanted to note here were the taxi and tour buses waiting anxiously to pick up stray tourists and take them on adventures around the town or even the island. But there was a difference. Unlike many other ports I have been too, these folks were not obnoxiously insistent. They took no for an answer and moved on to their next likely target.You can also see that there are some telephones handily located here for use by the tourists. This is also where most of the tours that the cruise passengers signed up for on the ship met before leaving for their destinations. All of the tour buses were about this size - none of the mammoth ones seen on bigger islands or in...

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Honk to say hi

by Martin_S.

We found that while driving in Dominica that almost all the drivers would honk their horns and wave a greeting wheneve they passed anyone on the road. We soon adopted this and it was great having everyone wave back and say hello. Sometimes the driving pace was near walking so it was easy to do. People stop in the middle of the road to say hi. Patience, say hi also and then when they finish, be on your way.

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the people are gentle, helpful...

by viaholly

the people are gentle, helpful not jaded and very poor yet happy. If you see a rasta man with a huge machete coming at you, even if your all alone in the woods, don't worry he just wants to help you with directions - they call a machete a cutlass

Local traditions and culture in Dominica

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Reviews and photos of Dominica attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Dominica sightseeing.

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Questions and Answers

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Q:  We are going to Dominica on Dec 19th and will be on a cruise but have 10 people in our group- 5 adults 5 youth 6 to 15 years of... 

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A: Hi - we booked with Reyno (http://www.reynotours.com/) who had come recommended from cruisecritic.com. We had a great personalized tour - some of the sights we saw: ... 

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