During a rare extended break from studying, Maggie and I checked Cabrits National Park, which was the site of a 18th century British fort. The park is across the bay from campus (the white group of buildings on the opposite shore, at the right of the photo). 
During the past decade, restoration of Fort Shirley has been ongoing. Just a decade ago, however, the fort lay in ruins, unprotected and neglected. In fact, a park ranger told me that as a child he and his friends would wander throughout the area and chuck cannonballs into the ocean. 
View from a "lookout" post on the northern end of the peninsula. Dominica lies between two French-owned islands. This was also the case during Napoleonic times, when the British and French were fighting between themselves for colonies abroad. The British built Fort Shirley to protect its assets in the Caribbean. 
The "fort" is technically just the group of buildings on the shore facing Prince Rupert Bay, but one can find the remains of barracks, officers quarters, batteries, the commandant's home, unmarked graves, workshops, etc., all over the peninsula by hiking up and down the mountains on the very same trails built and used by the British centuries ago. This building seemed to materialized from the jungle out of no where as we hiked an old trail on the northern side of the park. The building is part of the Northern Battery.
A cannon from the Northern Battery, left where it stood when the British abandoned the fort at the beginning of the 19th century.
Very Pirates of the Caribbean. Of course, we didn't heed the warning. 
A storage room attached to the Commandant's home. This room, which was once sealed by a iron gate that had been jarred open, contained a History Channel-lover's dream: a floor covered with hundreds of small cannon balls called "grape shot". A bag full of these iron balls, each about an inch and 1/2 in diameter, would have been loaded into a cannon and fired, producing incredible short-range damage, like a massive shotgun. (Don't tell anyone, but I might have taken one as a souvenir...)
Mounting a 18th century cannon at the West Battery. A good half-an-hour hike took us up to the very top of the second "hump" of the island, where there was a fantastic view and this cannon.
View from the northeastern shore of Prince Rupert Bay. There were quite a few nice yachts anchored in the harbor. 
Talk about some amazing colors. This picture is from the restaurant "Big Papa's", just north of Portsmouth. The second "hump" of Cabrits National Park/peninsula is the land mass at the right. The food at Big Papa's was the best I have had while on the island: mahi mahi with Jamacian and Creole flavored side dishes, and a lot of it, for $40 EC (~$15 US).
Back to Portsmouth Beach Hotel, our "Ross" beach. 4 sections of the pier have been rebuilt recently. When I arrived there was nothing but concrete pillars where the pier used to stretch out into the Caribbean Sea about 300 feet. Unfortunately, it was destroyed by a mild hurricane last fall.
A view from inside the "Annex", the 1st semester classroom.
Me studying at my kitchen table. Another room, thru a door to the right of the picture, is my bedroom with an attached bathroom. It is a rather large and well constructed apartment. I'm completely a happy with my living space. A few of my friends have been impressed, as well, and are planning on renting an apartment in my complex next semester, which will be awesome.My best to all. Back to studying for me!
