Author Archives: Trae & Chris Napierala

We’d been hearing about Croatia’s beauty for several years. Friends would return starry-eyed about the place, but we’d also heard that it had become a go-to destination, which meant crowds in high season. No thanks. Then, we started planning a trip to celebrate our daughter Sadie’s high school graduation, and Croatia bubbled to the top. We’d just heard too many rave reviews, and since we’d be traveling in early September, the tail end of high season, we’d miss the masses. Plus, Croatia has castles, Sadie’s one request.

We recently spent 8 magical days on the island of Dominica (pronounced Dom-in-EEK-a), located in the Eastern Caribbean between Guadeloupe and Martinique. It is known as the “Nature Isle of the Caribbean”, and it lives up to that name.

Sixty percent of the mountainous 29-by-16-mile volcanic island is covered by rainforest. There are 365 rivers, dozens of waterfalls, world-class scuba diving, hot springs…It is a gem. It is also grittier and less developed than many Caribbean islands that some tourists are used to. Not dangerous, just developing. Beyond a scattering of small high-end resorts, it’s largely small working-class towns. And the island still bears the scars of Hurricane Maria, which destroyed or badly damaged more than 90 percent of structures in 2017.

Rest assured, we never felt unsafe, and, as you will read below, we repeatedly encountered graciousness and generosity.