Beyond the restored buildings of Fort Shirley and all that (non) jazz, there are some of Dominica’s most enigmatic and historic forest paths. I love to walk the East Cabrit and Douglas Bay Battery trails, forming a loop back to the fort. Trees, vines and garrison ruins exist in undisturbed entanglement in a maze of interconnected tracks running through and around a fortification of what was once over 50 buildings covering around 80 hectares of the Cabrits National Park. Where once troops marched back and forth, there’s now a dry forest habitat that’s home to interesting trees such as silk cotton, bay, savonnet, and the rather special bursera simaruba. Yesterday afternoon, we were also lucky enough to see a kouwes snake while an elusive mangrove cuckoo called from somewhere out of sight.