Champagne moment

No cricket involved in this one, but more snorkelling as we are today in Dominica. As I mentioned, we had hoped to catch up with Tristan Dever who is out here helping to repair hurricane damage. That had to take priority so we took a taxi ride out to the beach. It is called Champagne Bay and again is a recommended snorkelling beach. I found it hard going again and saw a few fish, SWMBO was able to go out further and experience the bubbles which permeate the earth crust under the sea, so making it feel like you are swimming in champagne.
Our journey back allowed us to see the extent of the hurricane damage. The government building, the library and the catholic cathedral all still have all or parts of their roof missing. Many residential and commercial properties still have tarpolines as weather protection, and roads are in a sorry state.
Any international aid seems to have disappeared into the wrong pockets, and the residents are having to fund the repairs themselves. Our cruise ship is the last to visit this season so the economy will have little revenue now until October, so living will continue to be tough.
On our return to the ship, we visited the heritage museum. Here the path of the island was followed firstly with the indigenous Carib indians, then their battles with Columbus and other explorers and pirates. The Indians were wipped out in the flatter less densely vegitated islands but survived on Dominica and with the passing of the slave trade they were granted reservation rights on the East coast which they continue to utilise.
The town centre still has the slavery sales stands and execution areas and a memorial to the first running water facility on the island. This was abandoned ,however, after one particularly large scale and bloody execution as the locals thought the fountain contaminated by the blood of the victims.
Later the island became a fierce battleground when the French and English fought over it. France wanted control of the three islands, Guadeloupe, Dominica and Martinique, whereas England wanted Dominica to provide a barrier to French domination  of the area.
Tomorrow we visit Guadeloupe to see how the French influence survives after all the conflicts.