Dominica

Today's port - Dominica.  Doe-min-ee-ka.  I'm sorry to say that I had never heard of this cute little place before this cruise.  We had a tour booked that included some snorkeling and sight seeing.  Our tour guide was named Calvin, and he knew a ton about the island, including the plants and spices you could fine everywhere.  He picked us fresh bay leaves, lemongrass, and ginger.  He also showed us how to make dish soap out of a type of fern leaves.  Fascinating!  Dominica was occupied by the French, so many of the locals speak creole.  The island boasts the highest number of centurions per capita in the world with more than 100 people over the age of 100 (population is about 70,000).   Their oldest resident ever lived to be 128.  Ugh! 

Our first stop was a snorkel through the Champagne Reef - named for the escaping volcanic gasses that cause bubbles under the water.  The reef had a lot to look at but the snorkel tour, itself, was a bit of a disaster.  There were about 10 groups snorkeling at the same time in a very small area.  Average age was about 60.  Snorkeling experience was limited.  Anytime someone from a group would spot something and call out, every snorkeler in the area would swarm over to see.  Ever been to soccer game being played by 5 year olds where you never have to wonder where the ball is?  Same concept, but imagine a turtle in place of a ball.  I spent the better part of an hour trying to avoid being kicked in the head by someone's flippers.  Andrew's strategy was to abandon the tour completely and do his own thing about 100 yards away.  Smart guy.  After about 45 minutes I headed for shore. Uncle!

Tube coral

Coral

Ok - bear with me on this one...it's hard to tell what you're taking a picture of under the water.  At the very top of the frame, just to the left of center there is a blobby thing. That blobby thing is an octopus.  Trust me, it really is. 

The "champagne" bubbles of Champagne reef.

After the snorkeling gong show, we loaded back in to our tour van and started to drive up the "mountain".  Technically the mountains here are volcanos.  The view was spectacular.  

View from up the volcano.

Next stop was Titou Gorge - a fresh water swimming area.  They told us that some scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean were filmed here, but I can't verify.  They also told us that the water would be "refreshing".  In case you were wondering, that means "freezing cold".  Luckily you have to swim the whole time (the floor drops away right away) or you'd freeze to death.  The whole swim took about 30 minutes, and was pretty neat.  There was a waterfall at the end of the cave and some rocks you could jump off.  

The opening to the cave

Inside the cave

Looking up.

Cave selfie

Last stop was Trafalgar Falls.  It's actually plural - there are two waterfalls.  The drive up the mountain was quite the adventure - more hairpin turns than you can count, narrow roads, and places where sections of the road had dropped off in a cliff.  We had a good driver so nothing to worry about.  

Trafalgar Falls

The other trafalgar falls

The walk to/from Trafalgar falls.  Beautiful light in the rainforest.

A banyan tree.

The guide dropped us back off in Roseau (the main city and where the cruise ship was docked) just in time for the first parade of Carnival.  

Stilt walking kids in the Carnival parade.

Our final glimpse of the island as we boarded the ship was this...

Some of the volcanos that make up the island.  There are 7 total.  All are active.

Next port (tomorrow) is St. Kitt.  We booked a 6-hour hike up a 3,700 foot volcano.  It sounded super fun when we were sitting in our living room.  Now that it's here, it sounds like torture.   If we don't die, we'll let you know how it goes tomorrow...