Jump Up: The Coolest Experience Are… FREE… If…

Roseau, Dominique sunset from our boat, before we dinghied in to Jump Up

You get the local skinny.  In this case, in chatting up the local bartender at a hotel bar (one of the few businesses open on that holiday day), he told us about the “Jump Up” happening that night in town. 

Previously, we kinda sorta went to a Jump Up in St. Lucia in Gros Inlet next to Rodney Bay.   Going to the Gros Inlet Jump Up was an accident.  We were in search of a taste of the legendary lambi, (conch – a shellfish from a really big shell).  We stopped at a Gros Inlet bar-restaurant whose owner told us earlier that day they’d be serving lambi.  Only… they weren’t.

We asked who where we could find some lambi, and were sent off with vague directions to a place that we thought was a minute or two away.  It wasn’t. 

But it did land us in the heart of the weekly Friday night “Jump Up,” an extravaganza of food, drink, music, dancing and a lot of soulful looking, chop-licking pregnant female dogs.  Only, it was around 7 pm, and the Jump Ups don’t really get jumping until closer to midnight in Gros Inlet.  Given we’re usually up by 5 or 6 am these days, we knew our jump up by then would be jumped up and gone to bed and snoring. 

We did, however, accomplish our mission or licking some delicious lambi.  It wasn’t much more than that; a kebab with four very small bites for about $10 US. The BBQ chicken leg was a much better and almost as delish a deal for about $2.50 U.S.

Capital city of Dominique, Roseau from the Jack's Walk
hike viewpoint

Fortunately, in Roseau, Dominica, Jump Ups are more of a family affair and didn’t require being a midnight owl to join the magnificent merry madness.  There were thousands of folks there of all ages, an undulating Congo line of sorts, moving and grooving the music, blasted out from a 3-story-high band van (not sure if in its former life it was a triple-decker bus, an army vehicle or what).  We joined in, gleefully.

We came.  We saw. We Jumped Up.  And it was good. And easy.  And fun. And … free!