Hellllooo to all, I am safely back on the boat and now headed to Brazil! Quick summary on my travels in Dominica and will try once again to include pictures… I believe I can continue to add pictures to my blog as long as no one yells at me ;) If you know me well, you know that I don’t take no for an answer until someone actually yells at me that I can’t do something, and even then I try to argue my way out of it!
Alrighty… just so we are all on the same page, it is currently Saturday January 28th and we were in Dominica on Monday January 23rd and Tuesday January 24th. I’ll explain the logistics of how coming into a port works as well, in an effort to alleviate my fans from the mere confusion that the Semester at Sea concept brings to so many of you…
Prior to going to a port (a new country), we have 2 different meetings… 2 nights before we have a culture update meeting which goes over ideas ranging from appropriate dress, country rituals, why certain customs are in place, and so on. This meeting is more general and mainly brings us up to the present time in terms of a country’s culture… The night before we enter a country we have a meeting that brings us up to speed with the climate, safety precautions, health concerns, dock location, and so on.
At each meeting we are told the time in which we will get into the port and an estimation of the time we are allowed to get off of the ship. Because we have to clear immigration, there is no telling the exact time we will be able to get off the ship. In Dominica for instance we got into port by 8:00 AM and the first people were able to get off by 8:30 AM.
Once we have cleared immigration, the Captain announces that we are free to get off the ship, at this time they also tell us which floor in which we can disembark. For Dominica we were able to get off on deck 5 and then had to walk down an actually terrifying set of about 30 steep steps! Yikes… sorry forgot to snap a picture of this, will do so in the following port.
When leaving the ship, you simply swipe your ID card so that the ship security knows if you are on or off the ship. As far as coming back to the boat is concerned, we have access to getting on and off the ship 24/7. This is a major perk because you don’t feel any pressure to make concrete sleeping arrangements early on in the day, but instead can decide as the day unfolds.
For each port, we are told a certain time we MUST be BACK ON THE SHIP. As you can probably imagine, about the hour before check-in time, the line gets REALLY long… the rule is that to be considered on time you must have already swiped your card back in with security. Dock Time is the dreaded, awful plague used as punishment for being late to get back on the ship… in a nut shell, for every minute you are late to getting back to the boat, you are required to stay on the boat for 5 extra minutes in the following port. I am happy to report NO ONE was late to getting back on the boat therefore NO DOCK TIME FOR BRAZIL ;)
Alright, hopefully enough logistics information, now it is time for the fun stuff… my Dominica adventures!
Actually, fake-out, one more logistics point… just so everyone is clear from the start, we had the option to book trips through Semester at Sea, much like you can do on a “real” cruise ship. Some of them are supposed to be really good, while others you can do the same thing on your own for much cheaper. Additionally for each class we take on the ship you must attend 2 Faculty Directed Practicum (FDP) which is some sort of field trip that your professor leads within various countries pertaining to the material taught in class… figured I would explain some SAS lingo, to once again, alleviate the massive confusion this voyage brings to all the “little people.”
Now, finally for the play-by-play of what in the WORLD did CK do in DOMINICA?! Once again, it is pronounced… Dommmm----in----neak----a.
Day 1:
During winter break my trusty sound board (Jilly) and I decided that there could be a chance that I could still be flying solo (or not have many friends) to travel with while in Dominica because it was the first port, thus I decided to book a trip through SAS. That being said, I chose to go river to ocean kayaking… a major reason for the selection of this trip is that my newest “wanted” item is a kayak ---- additional items on this list include a puppy (Roy totally wants to be an older brother), a trampoline (that has been on the list for years now… UGH!), and a Barbie Jeep (yes, I can drive an actual car, but the Barbie Jeep will forever hold a special place in my heart).
The kayaking tour was scheduled for 13:30- 16:30 (for those who are still working on mastering their military time this is 1:30- 4:30 PM) so I had room in the morning to explore Dominica. At first I was worried that no one else would be in “my boat” (pun intended), meaning no one else needed to stay close to the ship to be back for an afternoon tour, but much like my wise mom has always told me, “things will all work out, so don’t waste your time worrying…”
There was a group of 7 of us who decided to explore Roseau, the capital of Dominica and also the city that we were docked. The city was nice, but in my opinion nothing too special. After about 30 minutes, the group of 7 split into 2 groups, one of 3 and one of 4… This ended up being Travel Lesson #1… groups bigger than 5ish just don’t work when you are exploring a city and people have very different interests.
From what we had gathered through professors and other students, the Botanical Gardens were an excellent place to explore. Marie, Jenna, Ariel and I decided to break off from the rest of the group and find the Gardens. We grabbed a map from the tourism office and did our best to navigate the city. This is where Travel Lesson #2 comes in… the best way to explore a city is to get lost and then accept that fact that asking for directions is NOT a sign of weakness. For the record we didn’t actually get lost, but just took the scenic root to arrive at the Gardens! Side note: the Dominican people are the most genuine and kind people and were so willing to help us find our way.
Highlights from the Botanical Gardens:
1. For all my Timber Tops fans, there is a picture of my friends and I standing under a Banyan tree…
2. Hurricane David hit the island in 1979 and certainly left its mark. As you can see in the picture… a school bus was smashed by a falling tree
3. As we continued to explore, we came across Jack’s Path which let me point out was noted to be “25 steps.” All I can say is that Jack must have had a pretty LARGE stride as this so called path was no leisurely walk, but rather a mini hike. I personally loved the trail, but felt bad for poor Jenna who decided to look cute for the occasion and wore a skirt--- oppps! Once we got to the top, we realized that the hike was well worth it… we saw a picturesque view of Dominica. On our walk down the hill we were accompanied by a precious pup named Roxy, the entire time we walked down I just wanted to pet him, but of course had to abstain and just smile--- I hate rabies!
Now for the total CK moment that would make my mother proud… so the 4 of us were walking on the side walk back to the ship, minding our own business when all of the sudden I see out of the corner of my eye this monstrous brown haired creature which I of course figured was ROAD KILL, thus was scarred for life. Naturally I scream, alarming not only my fellow travel buds, but also a man walking behind me… little did I know that this “Road Kill” was actually a friendly cow!!! Everyone ended up making fun of me including the Dominican man! Teheheheh
In the afternoon of the first day, as I said above, I went river to ocean Kayaking. I really enjoyed my trip and am announcing to the world that I am now in the market for a Kayak--- mom and dad, this means begin the Craig’s List hunt ;) The kayaks were actually 2 person kayaks and coincidently Megan, a girl I met at the Bon Voyage event in Philadelphia (basically a get together event before going on Semester at Sea where new and old SASers are able to come together and share tips/ memories) ended up being on the kayaking trip as well. Lucky for me, Megan had one of those awesome underwater digital cameras so she was able to snap some pictures of us during our “adventure.” Please notice the use of quotation marks here as I must admit that the river reminded me more of a lazy lagoon than an actual river and I feel that I didn’t have to do too much, but instead just sailed smoothly down the river ;) teheheh After a “tough day of work” the tour company had some sweet treats for us… coconut bread, coconut, grape fruit, and even sugar cane. I had never tasted sugar cane before, but it was really interesting. You just munch on it and then suck out the sugary juice. Yum yum yum!
Probably the most hilarious part about Dominica was that everyone kept talking about going to this bar called The Krazy Koconut on Monday night. And when I mean everyone, I include all Semester at Sea students and also any local you talked to that figured out you were a SASer. My first instinct was how on earth could this place hold so many people? Once I arrived, I figured out how… the place was huge! I would estimate that there were about 300 Semester at Sea students at “The Krazy Koconut” which means more than half of the student population! It was actually the most random place ever, a bit run down in some parts, but so much fun. For any of my UGAers, this bar reminded me of Dominica meets Boars head as it felt like everyone I knew was there and they served food outside. Mind you the food included pop-corn, rice, beans, and goat soup (and yes my friend actually got a bowl of goat soup).
Day #2
Like any true SASer, life when you are in port is GO GO GO! My friends and I were up actually on SAS standards for a port day a bit late, off the ship by 10:00 AM. I say this because a lot of students will be up and out by 7:00 AM ish to make sure and fit in a jammed pack day. For day 2, my friends and I had arranged for a driver, Moses (yes his name is Moses) to take us up to a Gorge called Titou. This is Travel Lesson #3, it is ALWAYS worth the money to hire a driver to take you around their city. I learned way more about life in Dominica from Moses than I ever could have absorbed from travel books, reading signs, or just trying to wing it on my own.
Our day began with an even higher view of the city than the day before, and then Moses took us to the jungle to see the Gorge. For any of you Pirates of the Caribbean fans, this is apparently where parts of the 2nd and 3rd movie were filmed… how cool is that? I swam in the same water as---Johnny Depp… maybe some of his eye-liner got on my bare feet (so dreamy) hahah ;)
In all seriousness, the Gorge was unreal. For those of you who don’t know what a gorge is, please google it so you get a bit of an understanding as I’m not sure that my writing will do it justice. The best part about the Gorge is that I was able to face my long time fear of jumping off of heights. How you might wonder… well, my friends and I decided to climb around on all the water falls in the Gorge and before I knew it I found myself climbing up this rather large waterfall. I guess lucky and unlucky for me, my body began to climb before I could think about how I would get down and by the time the internal “panic” button went off in my head, it was too late! Of course, it’s me so as soon as the voice inside my head made me aware that I would have to JUMP off the waterfall I freaked out---all internal of course as I wasn’t ready to actually show these people that I knew for a matter of 3 days that I am a wimp about some things! As I peered down to see how far I would have to jump, I noticed that my friends were waiting at the bottom sending me words of encouragement. At last, I was able to ignore those nervous thoughts and allowed my body to be free as I jumped into the water. Aside from the uncontrollable shaking that lasted for a good 30 minutes after the jump, I managed to walk away injury free.
After playing around in the Gorge, we were off to one of Moses favorite lunch restaurants… this was my first chance to taste some Dominica cuisine. I’ll admit that I will never be able to be a food critic as I have finally come to terms with the fact that I am a picky eater, thus it is really unfair for anyone to listen to my commentary on food outside my “comfort zone.” That being said, take a look at my lunch and you decide… I must admit it actually was pretty tasty! The beans and rice were of course my favorite part, but I also really enjoyed the plantains--- they weren’t fried like I normally think of when I eat plantains, so instead I was really able to taste their fruity flavor. Additionally the bananas were not as sweet as I’m used to, but I am pretty sure it is because they are the real deal. A fun fact is that Dominica’s biggest exported fruit is bananas… guess you better check the label to see if yours come from Dominica!
After a long day, we had to of course do a little shopping for random odds and ends. We decided to stock up on food from the grocery store, since the ship has really limited dining hours… as a pretzel nut, I found in incredibly sad that there wasn’t a bag of pretzels to be found within their grocery stores. Perhaps I have found my calling… a pretzel making company that exports to Dominica? Whose in with me?
In summary, I shall end with 5 facts from the port for those who would like to become more worldly… please note, the source of this information was from yours truly, the amazing Moses the driver:
1. Dominica businesses are open from 8:00-4:00 PM everyday and have a lunch break where everyone leaves work from 1:00-2:00 PM
2. Students stay in school until the age of 16 and at that time they sit for an exam… if they get a high mark then they will go onto university, and if they score really high they may earn a scholarship
3. The main languages spoken on the island include English, French, and Creole
4. The local currency in Dominica is East Caribbean currency that can be used in, you guessed it the East Caribbean islands. Right now the exchange rate is about $1 USD for every $2.67 EC.
5. Dominica is not a “hot spot” as a travel destination for 2 main reasons. First off, its international airport is tiny… containing only one runway for all planes to come into and out of the country. I believe I heard that in order to get to Dominica from the states you actually have to fly through Puerto Rico (but please don’t quote me on this part). Additionally, Dominica lacks the beautiful beaches that most people picture when they think of the Caribbean. Instead, it is filled with eco-tourism, so if you are looking for a trip where you are able to hike, snorkel, and explore, as opposed to sitting basking in the sun like a beached whale, than Dominica is the vacation for you. Please mention CK recommended you to visit Dominica so I can get a commission teheheh ;)
And now for the fact that Amanda Michelle Rebello was the first to guess the answer to: Dominica was named by Christopher Columbus and is named Dominica because Columbus found the island on Sunday and the Spanish name for Sunday is Domingo.
Wow, looks like I have rambled for quite some time. Now a quick update for what’s in store for the next few days. As I mentioned earlier… we are now setting sail for THE AMAZON. The captain just announced that we will be entering the Amazon in about an hour and a half (around 5:00 PM on Saturday), but the Amazon is so wide that we actually won’t be able to see any land for another 3 hours… at that time it will be around 8:00 PM so I am not sure if we will actually be able to see land if it is dark outside, but I’ll keep you posted. The air has already become much more humid and also the water looks a different color than the Atlantic Ocean. Additionally, Jenna and I both feel like we have slowed down… perhaps you have to sail slower in the Amazon!? Truly coming in touch with my ELIZA THRONBERRY self! (if you don’t understand the reference, please go google Eliza Thornberry… she screams I LOVE THE 90s).
Now for a preview of what/where in the WORLD CK will travel in BRAZIL…
· 2 Days in the Amazon--- sleeping in hammocks on a river boat!
· 2 Days in Rio de Janerio--- exploring the wonderful city of Brazil!
Have no fear, about CK entering the Amazon as I have officially begun taking my Malaria medication and I’m feeling no symptoms thus far. Shout out to the Dr. Langers for agreeing that there was no need to try the medicine before hand!
I’ll leave you off with 2 trivia questions… the first pertaining to just the Semester at Sea community and the second pertaining to life in Brazil.
1. How many days will I be living this year?
2. What is Brazil named after and what other countries are named in this fashion? Hint according to my Global Studies Professor there are only 3 other countries named like Brazil. FYI I am willing to allow for partial credit.
