I had not heard about the guide book series Greater Than a Tourist: 50 Travel tips from a Local until it magically appeared in our gift shop one day.
This slim volume is well-written, enjoyable, and most important: local!
The author, Rashida Veronique Serrant, was born in New York to Dominican parents, who came from our neighbouring village, Pointe Michel. She was the first American-born member of her family, but her parents nurtured a love of Dominica in her. And that love of Dominica and its culture comes shining through in each of the 50 bite size chapters in her Dominica guide book.
An interesting feature of her book is the Roseau Bus Map. Ms. Serrant created a Bus Stop Map for the Town of Roseau, and each mini-adventure she describes refers back the designated Bus Stop where you can start your daily trip.
She also developed a website called DominicaByBus.com to accompany the paperback. Here, she states her vision for her book:
Her vision for Greater Than a Tourist Dominica, 50 Travel Tips from A Local and The Original Roseau City Bus Stop Map is that visitors and returning nationals (diasporans) will utilize these resources to discover and rediscover what they love about beautiful Dominica!
Diving into the guide book, take a look at the first ten chapters:
- Dominica by Bus
- French Caribbean Flavor
- Nature Island Experience
- It’s Often Hot, But Sometimes it’s Cold
- An Abundance of Healing Plants
- Always a Layover
- Creole Season
- Walk into Dominica’s Indigenous History
- About Dominica’s Carnival
- Breakfast in Dominica
For those of you familiar with Dominica, you can see that she has captured the essence of our beautiful island. She singled out the best parts of Dominica life and culture and she provides a light-hearted, knowledgeable understanding of this Nature Island. Her essentially Dominican humour is apparent in the title of Chapter 4: It’s Often Hot, But Sometimes it’s Cold.
She gives us a look at one of Dominica’s legends, “Sister Nats” who is Natalie Charles, queen of healthy living on the Nature Isle (Chapter 5: An Abundance of Healing Plants).
One limitation of a printed guide book is it relevancy in time. This book was published in 2017, so Chapter 6: Always A Layover was very true. However, since 2019, America Airlines has been flying direct flights from Miami to Dominica from three to five times per week.
In Chapter 11: Vegan Dominica I was thrilled to read the closing sentence:
If you get hungry in Soufriere, stop at Nature Island Dive for a delicious black bean burger.
All in all, I was thoroughly delighted reading this guide to Dominica, even though I have lived here for more than 30 years.
How to Get Your Copy
You can buy Greater Than a Tourist DOMINICA on Amazon, or stop in at Nature Island Dive’s cafe (Bottom Time Cafe) for a black bean burger and a book! The price is EC $50 and all proceeds go to Rashida Serrant.
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