I was on a ten day carribean cruise. My Dominica tour was the highlight of my whole trip. I have to say that the reason for this was my tour guide. I had read about " Fredo's" and a few others. We wanted to book through the internet, because the island has so much to see, we wanted to see as much of it as we could.
One of our concerns was that our hubby's were not interested in touring rainforests etc.
Fredo's is a gentleman. The two of us felt very safe. I wish all our tours could have been as good as this one. He should be an ambassador for his country, as he truly cares about his country. We learned a lot about life on the island, the education system,conservation, etc.
Along the way, Fredo's would stop and show us what was growing and their uses, i.e. cinnamon, lemon grass,etc, We saw grapefruits, bananas,and pineapples being grown. We learned about their growing season and how/when they are harvested.
We went to Trafalger Falls, sulpher spings,Champagne area, the top of the peaks, botanical gardens, bird aviary, rain forest, some towns etc.
Fredo's made our tour educational, interesting,and fun. We really saw his country through his eyes and with his passion.
We feel fortunate to have had Fedo's. Two other couples we knew, went with another well known guide. They paid a similar amout,however, their tour was aprox- three hrs. Ours was six hrs. We asked for some specific sites and he included them in the tour.
He can be reached at---- fredos40@hotmail.com .
At the end of the tour he let us off in town by the ship berth. We fell in love with Dominica and gained much knowledge.
The only thing that concerned us was a rumor we heard in town. There are a lot of dogs running around.We heard that they are looking to resolve this. One of the methods will be to shoot them. We hope they will find another way.
My favorite Dominica tour was the Rasta Man rainforest hike. That was amazing, best vacation moment of my life for sure. We did go to a waterfall, not sure which one though. It might have been the Trafalger one.
And I know about their dog problem. As we were driving up the mountain, we made a pit stop at a stand that had a bathroom (with working toilet and sink) and other stuff. They sold local-style necklaces, clothing (I think), and coconuts. My sister and I bought a coconut. The liquid inside was good, but eating it, it was slimey. Anyway! Back to my main point, while we were there, there was dog who was free to come up and say hi to all of us. He was friendly and didn't seem aggressive in the least bit, but he was a dog nonetheless. I got my picture taken with him actually. If I can find it I'll post it.
taylor .... Thank you for your time to post this GREAT review!
You mentioned the Champagne area. Was that the Champagne Reef? We understand that it's located over an underwater volcano with warm and bubbly water? (We were to have taken a snorkel tour there but due to problems with the dive boat we didn't get to go.) Would appreciate any information your guide may have given you on this ... in case we have the opportunity to do it again.
Thanks again!
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Dave .... Hope you find the photo with the dog! Would love to see it!
LuLu ... Visit SOUTH CAROLINA!
11/21/09 Crown Princess 2/18/10 Island Pricess B2B Ft.Lauderdale to Acapulco and back (total 20 days)
OVER 40 (started young) Princess, Celebrity, RCCL, HAL, NCL, Costa, Disney, Carnival, Sitmar (Princess bought), and (a very long time ago) SS Bahama Star
Hi, Yes it was the champagne reef. The beach area is very rocky. It's a good walk to the area. You need to be steady on your feet. I would suggest shoes as opposed to bare feet. I was not prepared for this activity. I did however go to the area. The water was very warm. I couldn't walk out very far as I was wearing shorts. I personally did not see the bubbles. I did meet people from our ship who were snorkling. They could see these tiny bubbles rising from the sand. They appeared to be enjoying themselves. I asked them if they thought this a worthwhile venture. All four of them agreed that it was interesting to see. I wish I had brought my bathing suit!
Hope this helps.
The tour guide we went with (Fredos) will customize tours. We found that we were ahead of the the other tours and crowds. This added to our enjoyment.
taylor .... Appreciate the info on Champagne Reef! Glad to know it actually is the way it was descriped!
Gosh, hope we are able to do a snorkel tour (by boat ) there before too long!
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Dave .... Love your photo! Thanks for finding and posting it!
The dog seems friendly enough. Guess that means packs of wild dogs in Dominica do not pose a problem.....
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LuLu ... Visit SOUTH CAROLINA!
11/21/09 Crown Princess 2/18/10 Island Pricess B2B Ft.Lauderdale to Acapulco and back (total 20 days)
OVER 40 (started young) Princess, Celebrity, RCCL, HAL, NCL, Costa, Disney, Carnival, Sitmar (Princess bought), and (a very long time ago) SS Bahama Star
My favorite Dominica tour was the Rasta Man rainforest hike. That was amazing, best vacation moment of my life for sure. We did go to a waterfall, not sure which one though. It might have been the Trafalger one.
And I know about their dog problem. As we were driving up the mountain, we made a pit stop at a stand that had a bathroom (with working toilet and sink) and other stuff. They sold local-style necklaces, clothing (I think), and coconuts. My sister and I bought a coconut. The liquid inside was good, but eating it, it was slimey. Anyway! Back to my main point, while we were there, there was dog who was free to come up and say hi to all of us. He was friendly and didn't seem aggressive in the least bit, but he was a dog nonetheless. I got my picture taken with him actually. If I can find it I'll post it.
We did that tour too and enjoyed it. The rainforest there is very nice, lush green flora and fauna. We did walk down to Trafalga Falls and Emerald pool. I've got some pictures posted in the CLF photo gallery. Champagne Reef sounds interesting and would look into it next time I'm there. Our stay in Dominica was cut short by a medical emergency aboard the Destiny.