Day 4 - Roseau, Dominica

Day 4

Highlights of the Day:

First port - Roseau, Dominica

Trafalgar Falls

Emerald Pool

Taking Photos

Chilled Watermelon Soup

Science Class:

Volcanic island

Reflection of the plants in the Emerald Pool 

Formation of Trafalgar Falls

Overall Impression of the City:

A beachy, tropical city with colorful buildings although it seems like a poorer city.  Lots of outdoor adventures to do! Fun place to visit and the people were extremely nice. 

The Long Summary of My Day:

Today we arrive in Dominica although we do not get off the ship until noon. Therefore I had time to go for a run on the top deck and eat some breakfast - zucchini bread french toast.  We had a great day in Dominica.  We docked in Roseau and off the ship there were vendors of all kinds on the dock. Our day was filled with many events. First we went to the top of Morne Bruce. Although to get there the streets were very narrow and extremely steep.  Adopting the British custom of driving on the opposite side of the road than the US, it was very interesting approaching intersections on the side of the mountain. The solution seems to be beeping the horn as you go around a bend.  We winding our way up the mountain to the Botanical Gardens where we saw many different species of plants and flowers including a native bamboo grove, a giant palm tree and some sausage plant.  Apparently there was a giant wind storm that knocked down a tree and it fell lengthwise on the bus! 

We then drove around the island seeing the colorful houses to a  lookout point high atop the mountain where you could see down to our ship.  We arrived at Trafalgar Falls and took a 20 minute hike into the rainforest to reach the falls.  The hike in was pretty rocky and steep, but you passed tons of vanilla orchids and ginger plants along the way.  Eventually you reached two giant falls  cascading down the mountain that formed in deep gorges that were carved out of the hill. You could climb down more and actually go swimming in the waters below them. 

After hiking out of the rainforest we stopped at some local craft vendors then made our way to a stop along the road where some native people were dancing and playing music. We stopped to watch and got some kind of really sweet pop. My was purple and my mom's was red and we didn't drink too much of it! We then went to the UNESCO World Hertigage site in Trois Pitons National Park to see the Emerald Pool. Although this hike was not bad at all. You could view the emerald pool from above or again walk down the mountainside to get into the water!  You could see the green color of the water due to the reflection of the overhead canopy of plants.  Walking back from the pool, you could feel the mist shaking of the trees as the wind blew and then if you looked closely you could see the water beading on the moss that covered the trees. We again stopped to see some local vendors and artists who sold handmade baskets and masks made out of coconuts.  We tried some fresh coconut before we headed back to the ship.  

Today was filled with many great things to see. When we got back, I walked around the top deck then went to the pool. I finally meet some people around my age. One of the performers, Melissa Manchester, brought her family onboard while she performed on the ship, although they leave the ship tomorrow!  Again we went to dinner - I had chilled apricot soup tonight and a really good chocolate dessert thing - it was like chocolate covered cereal of some kind and dinner food! The boat is on its way to Barbados and when we wake up in the morning, we will be there!