This Caribbean Island Is Back From the Brink—and Ready To Share Its Treasures With the World

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The paintings of Italian-born artist Agostino Brunias, who made a profession of depicting the island in subdued, stylized settings that covered up the harsh realities of colonial control, were my first visual introduction to Dominica. However, as soon as I step onto its winding roads, which begin to twist shortly after I arrive, it becomes evident that this region, which is situated in the center of the Lesser Antilles’ curve, is anything but tame. The two-toned leaves of its bois canot trees, which change color from green to white when they sway in the wind, shimmer and bristle with the power of the volcano. It lulls with the erratic sound of its numerous waterfalls, scatters rainbows haphazardly across its breathtaking horizons, and enchants from the depths with its vibrant coral reefs. And it roars come storm season.

The indigenous Kalinago people of Dominica survived invasion by the French and British, who imposed slavery on the Africans who now make up four-fifths of the island’s population and left a linguistic legacy of English and French-based Creole, by mastering the lush tropical rainforest that covers more than 60% of the island. If you visit Trinidad for roti and Jamaica for jerk, you should travel to Dominica for green things like bush rum and flower teas. There are a ton of medicinal herbs in the forest.

The Jungle Bay Dominica resort, located smack dab in the center of the Soufrière jungles, leans into nature instead, maybe realizing the futility of fighting against the earth’s generosity. When I finally get there, the kitchen is closed. Joanne Hilaire, the operations manager, tells me that they never let guests go hungry, though, so I can feel the warmth of Dominica’s welcome. The cook is preparing an excellently stewed dish of beans with taro, rice, and plantain for our late dinner, off the menu, while I have a refreshing ginger-lime cocktail that is a local favorite. When I wake up the following morning, I find that my villa’s doors open onto a private veranda that faces southwest toward Soufrière Bay, where the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean converge. I let the light wake me for the remainder of my stay by leaving my blinds open.

Crews discovered a huge shipwreck underneath the foundations of the World Trade Center Towers after 9/11

Following the finding, archaeologists were left scratching their heads.
When crews responding to the September 11 terrorist attacks discovered a shipwreck, they were astounded.
The World Trade Center terrorist attack site was still being excavated in 2010.
Archaeologists found a ship among the debris; it was only around 22 feet below street level.
It makes sense that the ancient wooden ship raised a lot of concerns. How did it arrive here? Why was it in this location? How did the ship get to be in the center of New York City?
Since then, researchers have unearthed the mysteries surrounding the enigmatic craft.

They were able to determine the age of the shipwreck by analyzing the tree rings on its wooden skeleton.
They learned that the wood from which the vessel was constructed originated in Philadelphia around 1773.
That being said, how in the world did a big wooden ship end up in the center of the city?
The World Trade Center’s exact location was in the Hudson River when Manhattan was initially inhabited.
Researchers are unsure about the cause of the ship’s sinking—a mishap or an accident.
Manhattan’s western shoreline shifted westward as New York built, finally burying the ship under debris and other waste.


Archaeologist Molly McDonald told CNN in 2014: “It’s such an intense site already based on its recent history, so to be in the midst of this urban, modern, very fraught location, and then to be sitting on what was a river bottom, with clams and fish, and the smell of low tide, was really an amazing juxtaposition.”
The ship would have been fully hidden from view by 1818, until the September 11 attacks of 2001.
And when Americans, New Yorkers, and people everywhere else watched in horror as a Boeing 767 filled with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel smashed into the World Trade Center’s northern tower on that terrible day, the ship was well and truly long forgotten.
The 110-story tower had a huge hole in it from the collision, which quickly killed hundreds of people.
An estimated 50,000 people worked in the buildings on a regular weekday.
It was estimated that an additional 140,000 individuals visited the Twin Towers on a daily basis.
It is mind-boggling that the World Trade Center was so big that it got its own zip code, 10048.
2,977 innocent individuals lost their lives as a result of the attacks, while thousands more suffered injuries.
And over the years, a great deal of people have passed by the location without realizing the nautical gem buried beneath.

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