As breakfast was being served we approached our anchorage beneath Fort Napoleon at the Iles des Saintes. Following a Zodiac landing a fleet of buses took us up to the fort, where an excellent exhibit has been assembled detailing the Battle of the Saints in 1782 when the British under Admiral Rodney inflicted a naval defeat on the French under de Grasse. The island was first settled by the Spanish. Subsequently, naval rivalry between France and Britain led to the island changing hands a number of times. Today the islands are thoroughly French in feel, being part of the department of Guadeloupe.
After lunch on board, while the ship repositioned Rose Willock from Montserrat gave a briefing on recent events on her island which we shall visit tomorrow. On arrival in Dominica, we visited Fort Shirley for a performance by a local song and dance group (see the photo). Then came what from our naturalists was the highlight of the day: a trip up into the high rainforest to walk a trail partly funded by Lindblad Expeditions in search of the imperial and red-necked parrots. After a long walk through this magnificent trail we finally saw the parrots, close to the original drop-off point!
