dominica: the best caribbean island you've probably never heard of

No, it's not the Dominican Republic, but everyone thinks that. This one sits between Guadalupe and Martinique, all green and lush and a total snoozer for the cruise-ship crowd. Pronounced dom-in-EE-ka, the island is named after the Latin word for Sunday, the day of the week that Columbus found it. But the neither-shy-nor-retiring Caribs kicked his ass off their shores--as well as those belonging to the English and French who tried in vain to settle there--until 1805, when the UK finally colonized it. The island won its independence in 1978 and elected the Caribbean's first female prime minister in 1980. Its 290 some-odd square miles are covered in rainforest, volcanoes, and banana plantations on impossibly steep slopes.

While we were there, we ate coconuts, star fruit, and grapefruit right off the tree, warmed by the sun. We saw cinnamon trees, ginger, cocoa, and banana trees. Today, in the cold of winter, I'm wishing I were back at the market, under the Caribbean sun, deciding which fruits to have for tomorrow's breakfast. Helas.