Location: Dominica
The day started on Argo, with everyone getting up and above deck for Meg’s amazing granola bar breakfast with yogurt. This was followed by a briefing by Calum on the waterfall tour the students were going to embark on today. Once everyone finished their meal and pounded out their cleanup jobs, we went to our cabins to pack our bags for a day of hiking, swimming, and climbing. The students loaded up the dinghies (I skippered Plaai for the first time after receiving my license, and docked her flawlessly) and went on shore to meet Octavious, or as he his known by everyone on the island, Sea Cat. Once everyone was squeezed into his van, we made our way to or first stop, which was an amazing lookout of the island valley, before we made it there, Sea Cat stopped by a few friends of his to get us some delicious snacks including fresh coconuts, cocoa beans, tamarind, and more. We reached our first destination, which was a beautiful view of Dominica (some people got dangerously close to get an even better look). Once we got our pictures and tried Sea Cat’s delicious cocoa paste with sugar, we got back in the van and made our way to our first waterfall stop.
We parked at our first stop, where we got our hiking gear ready for a 45-minute trek to Middleham Falls. The walk was gorgeous, but also quite muddy with lots of slips, spills, and slides on the floor. We powered our way through the beautiful jungle and hit the massive waterfall. Everyone hopped in to realize the water was absolutely FREEZING, but we were all in too much awe of the waterfall’s power to be cold. There was a tiny cavern off the side of the waterfall where we were able jump from a few feet up into the waterfall pool, Zac hit an insane backy in from the top of the cave which was insane. After we all started getting hypothermia, we got out and explored a bit of the river below the pool, and got warm before making our way back to Sea Cat’s van.
We got to Titou Gorge, where we needed PFDs that we all took from Nopadone and Plaai before leaving Argo, as we were going to go for a small swim to reach our spot. We strapped up and stepped into the gorge. Zac and I chose the slightly more exciting jump in, where we dropped for about two whole seconds before hitting chilly cavern water. The two of us swam ahead into the opening, where we just laughed for minutes on end about the absolute beauty of the gorge, and waited for the rest of the group before continuing on to the sounds of a waterfall. The falls were tucked in a little chamber where you had to fight the river it was causing and climb a few rocks to reach, but man, was it worth it. Everyone took turns taking a waterfall shower, which was just a touch more powerful than your average shower head, and sitting around the circular chamber, staring up at the jungle above. Once we all had our fill, we made our way back, dried off, and got a small lunch at the local cafe, which had insane barbeque chicken. We once again loaded the wagon and went to our final destination.
Sea Cat made sure to say hi to every friend he saw and grab some fresh lemon leaves for us all to smell as we made our way to Trafalgar Falls. We started the short hike immediately, which was only about 10 minutes before we could see two massive waterfalls coming down from the top of a ridge. We carefully climbed our way up the insanely slippery rocks with the help of Sea Cat, showing the safe route, and reached the main waterfall pool. Zac, Dave, Darien, Kiki, and Sylver continued to climb higher, with Sea Cat reminding them about 20 times that they were proceeding at their own risk, and Cecily, Benny, Talia, and I deciding to chill in the warm pool, where hot tub temp water was flowing down just next to the main waterfall and meeting in the pool below. After everyone enjoyed the unforgettable scenery and relaxed in the waters, we carefully climbed down and hiked back to the parking lot.
As Sea Cat was beginning to bring us back to the dock, he asked if there was anything else we wanted to do quickly, and almost all of us responded in unison with ice cream! So Sea Cat brought us to a parlor where Maddy and I got M&M, and Cecily and Nini got Cookies and Cream, and brought the other group to a spot that served dairy-free. Once we all were cooled off in the best way possible, we were taken to the dock where Ben and Kackie were ready to bring us home. On our way back, everyone got to see a stunning green flash as the sun dipped below the horizon.
The students stowed away their gear and went above deck for a chili and cornbread dinner prepared by Meg. We cleaned up Argo and did some night ocean showers before splitting off into our nightly routines and heading to bed, where we will all sleep like rocks after the day today. Another unforgettable day on Argo, with more still to come! See you all tomorrow!
P.S. Happy Birthday, Ed! Hoping you’re taking it down a notch back home and getting pumped for the Masters! Super excited to see you again when I make it back!