Dominica! Cocoa Cottages

Our home base in Dominica was Cocoa Cottages, a 6-room guest house in the Trafalgar area, about 4 miles inland from the capital of Rosseau. The Cottages are set in a tropical garden paradise with a mountain jungle stream dancing below. The owner Richard, his daughter Charm, our guide Jeffrey and staff Isaline, Sylvana and Joan were incredible hosts, offering comfort, great stories, and amazing tropical cuisine.

Each morning and again each evening, the guests gather in the open-air kitchen and sit at a round table made from a huge old wire spool, sipping cocoa tea, bush tea, Kubuli beer, indulging in the fruits of the island, sharing stories and rehashing the days events.

The first photo you see is the TV room, with a great shot of the television - that's right, folks, no TV, no radio, no clocks, no phones...just tropical serenity. Next is a shot from the living room into the dining/kitchen area - it was open air and truly the heart of the cottages. The final two photos are taken from the living room toward the office and up the stairs to show you just how quaint but cool Cocoa Cottages is with it's unique construction and gallery of art - there's some form of art where ever your eye lands. And yes, that is a drum set and keyboard you see - often during the busier season Richard will have musical guests visit and have little jam sessions. Sadly, we were there in the down time and didn't get to experience it.

If click over to the Cottages website you can see a photo of the Jwa Room where we stayed - of course the photo doesn't do it justice - just to the side of the bed is a set of louvre doors onto a little balcony overlooking the jungle garden and stream. We kept the doors open at night for a breeze and for an incredible morning experience listening to the birds and rolling over to see the jungle mountain across the valley. Incredibly, there were no mosquitoes - we slept sans netting and had no issues.

We will definitely be booking more time at Cocoa Cottages - We're hoping for a reunion week with fellow housemates from this trip sometime next year (as China is taking so incredibly long).