Tropical Storm Erika Awareness

Our beautiful “Nature Island”, also known as the Commonwealth of Dominica (not the Dominican Republic, we are much smaller), was devastated by Tropical Storm Erika on August 27^th, 2015.

Our Nature Island

It has been reported that more than thirty fatalities have been confirmed to date and about fifty still have not been found - we offer our deepest condolences to the families and pray that this number doesn’t rise. Dominica's population currently sits at 72,000. It’s no surprise that the flood victims are faced with the daunting task of rebuilding their lives, and reclaiming their livelihoods. It is estimated that there has been over half a billion dollars of infrastructure damage to our small island.

Erika triggered unrelenting rain, widespread flash floods and landslides destroying hundreds of homes, schools, bridges, farms and roads. Our beautiful “Nature Island of the Caribbean” is full of pristine rivers (365 to be exact!), waterfalls and rainforest mountains that were inundated by the torrential rains. Rivers overflowed into heavily populated areas and remote villages, literally carrying with them buildings, trees, vehicles and more.

In many areas there seems to be difficulty in accessing food, limited drinking water, no electricity and little shelter. Homes have been destroyed, entire villages evacuated, and others swept away. Farmers have lost their crops and livestock. Even Roseau, the capital of Dominica, did not escape damage. The Roseau River flooded its banks and destroyed property and infrastructure.

Access by road to some communities has become impossible – they have been completely cut off from the rest of the country. Estimated damages created by the storm has set the country’s development back two decades. Dominica is in a total state of disrepair.

Going into mid-September, conditions remain unstable as heavy rain continues on the island every few days. It is rainy season, which we all hope will not continue to be as severe as we've seen in the past couple weeks. But the recovery and rebuilding effort has started. Since Erika, our family and community here at Beyond Vitality have been overwhelmed and taken aback by all the words of encouragement, concern, and support offered. Words cannot express how grateful we are – one world, one love!

We want to play our part in the conscious rebuilding of our beautiful “Nature Island”. Dominica is down but not out! Let's spread the positive vibes and awareness about the storm.

Our Camp

As you may know, Beyond Vitality Nature Camp is our small, family-run off the grid nature camp in the Commonwealth of Dominica offering volunteer & adventure programs, beautiful community style accommodations and a unique holistic health and sustainable living experience.

We offer our guests and volunteers a place to leave their fast paced, chaotic life behind and come join us on the "Nature Island”. We are all about getting back to nature and thus completely off the grid. Our main house is traditionally built of cob (a.k.a mud, a strong natural resource), we have a campground, a hammock hut, some wooden open-air cabins, and plans to build some cob cabins.

Although it may have been luck, we believe being self-sustained during this unfortunate natural disaster was a true blessing for all of us at Beyond Vitality.

Our solar powered electricity never let us down, we did not run out of fresh drinking water from our spring, had access to organic homegrown food from our vegetable and herb gardens as well as many tropical fruit trees, our connection to the outside world (a.k.a Internet) ran strong through the storm and our structures and land were spared of severe flooding and landslides possibly due to Permaculture principles that had already been applied. And we now have plans of implementing more after having survived the storm!

Everything we do is with sustainable living in mind, great health and happiness. We are not your regular hotel or bed & breakfast – our aim is to provide everyone who comes to us with a unique experience! Over the last few years, Beyond Vitality has evolved, our community has grown and we’ve had the pleasure of working with individuals from around the globe. Our approach has always been clearly defined by the principals of holistic health and sustainability, but our philosophy continues to shape itself as we live through this natural disaster and are encouraged to continue on the path we are following, and improve in that area.

IMPORTANT GUEST NOTICE: Due to the recent passing of Tropical Storm Erika on Aug 27th, 2015, progress has been set back. Although we are safe and damage was minimal at the camp, the Vitality Crew wishes to inform everyone that our "Grand Opening" will be pushed back. As of Nov 1st, 2015 onward, we will be ready and happy to welcome you to Beyond Vitality Nature Camp and be taking bookings! Until then, we’ll be hard at work preparing for your arrival!

Some Images of the Devastation...

*Please note all photos have been credited and were collected from social media and other sources around Dominica.

Landslide in Delices. Photos credit: GIS Dominica
Roseau River destroys Berean Academy. Photo credit: GIS DominicaBath Estate. Photo credit: GIS DominicaBerean Church collapsed, Roseau. Photo credit: GIS Dominica
Canefield/Massacre car centre destruction. Photo credit: GIS DominicaDestruction in Roseau, Dominica’s capital. Photo credit: GIS DominicaA completely destroyed home. Photo credit: GIS DominicaCollapsed bridge and destroyed homes in Macoucherie. Photo credit: GIS DominicaHouse swept away by raging river in Colihaut. Photo credit: GIS DominicaHelicopter view of the destruction in Petite Savanne. Photo Credit: GIS DominicaFlooding in Massacre. Photo credit: GIS DominicaBridge swept away in Macoucherie. Photo credit: GIS Dominica

And This is Dominica As We Know It... 

*Please note all photos credited to Beyond Vitality Inc.

Walking bridge on segment 5 of The Waitukubuli National Trail. Photo credit: Beyond Vitality Inc. 
Beautiful Scott's Head on the South Coast. Photo credit: Beyond Vitality Inc.
Tropical fruits of the "Nature Island". Photo credit: Beyond Vitality Inc.
Refreshing crystal clear Emerald Pool. Photo credit: Beyond Vitality Inc.
A place to rejuvenate and relax. Photo credit: Beyond Vitality Inc. Breath taking nature. Photo credit: Beyond Vitality Inc.

Down But Not Out - The Real Dominica...

A video featuring our beautiful "Nature Island" before the passing of Tropical Storm Erika...and how the island's natural attractions mostly still remain! Thank you to Riot House Productions for this I Am Dominica video on Vimeo.

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A beautiful video featuring some of Dominica's tourist attractions that were unaffected by the passing of Tropical Storm Erika. There are still many amazing things to see and do on the Nature island. Thank you to Discover Dominica for providing us with such an informative video. Tourist and locals - now we know that these locations are safe and accessible to explore!

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Ways You Can Help

Contribute to the Island's Economy

Visit our beautiful “Nature Island”! Bring your family to breathe the fresh air and experience the real Caribbean.

Even though the island suffered much devastation, what we are known for is our eco tourism. What people come to Dominica for is our breath taking, untouched nature. And the one thing the storm did not take from our “Nature Island” is indeed, nature! For a unique off the grid experience, we at Beyond Vitality Nature Camp would love to host you and your family. See more on our camp here.

Volunteer on the Island

We have plenty of work ahead of us – you can help and contribute to the relief effort in Dominica by coming and giving a helping hand on the island. There are plenty of organizations welcoming volunteers. The following are the travel options in and out of Dominica after the passing of the storm:

http://dominicarelief.com/travel-info/

Donate to the Island

If you would like to donate to government agencies collecting funds and relief items for immediate need, you can do so through the following links. These donation options are endorsed by the Government of Dominica:

http://dominicarelief.com/donations/

Sharing

We understand that not everyone can contribute to the cause financially.

It's just as important to get the word around and create awareness! Please share this post with your family, friends, coworkers, organizations you work with/for, people whom you do business with everyday and use hashtags like #beyondvitality #naturecamp #helpdominica #TSErika #Erika #relief #dominicarelief #sustainability #dominica #natureisland #caribbean.