TRAVEL
TIPS
| Driving |
TBA |
| Currency |
(XCD)
East Caribbean Dollar |
| Electrical |
230 Volts |
| Telephones |
Country
Code 1 |
Time:
GMT - 4.
Electricity:
220/240 volts AC, 50Hz. Three-pin European-style plugs are usual.
Telephone:
IDD available. Country code: 1 767. Outgoing international code:
1 for USA, Canada and most Caribbean islands; 011 for other countries.
Climate:
Hot, subtropical climate throughout the year. The main rainy season
is between June and October, when it is hottest.
Required
clothing: Lightweight cottons and linens. Waterproofing
is advisable throughout most of the year.
Food
& Drink: In general, it is wise to order the speciality
of the house or of the day to ensure freshness. Island cooking
includes Creole, Continental and American dishes. Creole dishes
include tee-tee-ree (tiny freshly spawned fish), lambi (conch),
agouti (a rodent), manicou (pig and wild pigeon smoked meats),
and crabbacks (backs of red and black crabs stuffed with seasoned
crab meat). Bello Hot Pepper Sauce is made locally and served
everywhere with almost everything. Food prices on Dominica are
usually reasonable. Restaurants close at about midnight weekdays
but are open later at weekends. Root vegetables, such as yams
and turnips, are often referred to as ‘provisions’
on a menu.
Island fruit juices are excellent as are rum punches, particularly
coconut rum punch (made from fresh coconut milk, sugar, rum, bitters,
vanilla and grenadine). Sea Moss is a non-alcoholic beverage made
from sea moss or seaweed, with a slightly minty taste. Spirits,
local rum especially, are inexpensive. Wines (mainly French and
Californian) are expensive. There is a wide choice of beers available.
There are no licensing hours.
Tipping:
A 10 per cent service charge is added by most hotels and some
restaurants. Other less touristic places do not add service to
the bill and therefore tipping is discretionary; 10 to 15 per
cent of the bill is acceptable. Taxi rates are set by law and
therefore taxi drivers do not expect tips.
Currency:
East Caribbean Dollar (EC$) = 100 cents. Notes are in
denominations of EC$100, 50, 20, 10 and 5. Coins are in denominations
of EC$1, and 50, 25, 10, 5, 2 and 1 cents. US Dollars are also
legal tender.
Currency
exchange: Foreign currencies can be exchanged at banks
and bureaux de change.
Credit
& debit cards: American Express, Visa and MasterCard
(limited) are accepted. Check with your credit or debit card company
for details of merchant acceptability and other services which
may be available.
