Location: Roseau, Dominica
What’s up, party people! Today was unreal; we ate fruit we had never even heard of (we even picked starfruit from the tree ourselves), and we saw sights that photos would never be able to do justice to. Today we took out the ‘sea’ in Sea|mester and did an island tour of Dominica. We woke up 30 minutes later than usual this morning, and head chef Owen made us delicious french toast (although, as someone at the back of the line, I was viciously deprived of Nutella). We dinghied over to the nearest dock, which wasn’t really a dock at all but instead two parallel skinny concrete slabs that shot out into the water. One foot in front of the other, we made it on shore to be greeted by a handful of dead crabs scattering the black sand beach. At that point, we were unsure whether or not Carla would continue on with Sea|mester or hitch a ride to the nearest airport and get back to Greenland.
We split off into two buses, each with equally energetic drivers who, unlike most of us, drive on the left side of the road instinctively. Our first real stop after pulling over on the side of the road to pick fruit from people’s yards — apparently, this is okay in Dominica — was a waterfall. We hiked about an hour to the falls, with a quick stop for an unexpected vine rope swing adventure. Through numerous slips, dips, and tumbles, we finally made it to the falls covered in mud, sweat, and possibly tears (I don’t know about the last one, I have yet to ask everyone who partook in the journey). Without hesitation, we plunged into the icy depths of the crystal blue water, reminding ourselves that swimming in fresh water is actually a real thing and the ocean is not the only body of water that exists — it sure feels like that sometimes. We scaled the sides of the fall and took turns jumping in, cheering on everyone and anyone who dared throw themselves off the slippery rocks. Unfortunately, our time at this first waterfall could not last forever because we had two more swim spots to venture to.
Heavy rain on our hike back made way for some student engineering; Miles and Charlie held a giant palm leaf above their heads to keep them dry. Before getting back on the buses, we had halves of passionfruit dusted with sugar; if there had been one extra, there is no doubt in my mind that we would have kindly wrestled for it. We hopped back into the buses and made our way to the Ti Tou Gorge, where Ben did his daily backflip from an impressive height. The waterfall at the end of the gorge was freezing cold, and when standing under it, the water “beat you down to the center of the earth” (Allie, 2023). Returning back onto the buses, we made our way to the last stop, which in my opinion, was the best. We went to a waterfall that was half boiling hot and half cold. From one side of the cliff, hot water spilled onto the rocks, and from above came the cold water. Whether you wanted a jacuzzi, an ice bath, or a bit of both, this waterfall could provide. The rocks under the warm water were bright orange from the minerals, which we later learned were iron. We covered ourselves in it, hoping it would be good for our skin (thank goodness it is because we looked like oompa loompas). Charlie sat up on the rocks splashing in the orange water, caked in iron dirt, and looked like the peanut butter baby (please take the time to see the photo I have included of him). Once back on the buses, we were all in the absolute best mood, talking about how our day was incredible, and possibly the best of the trip thus far. To finish off our night, we planned on watching Pirates of the Caribbean, but it looks like Matt and Allie had other ideas in mind, and a leadership class is underway. This is goodbye; for now, I’ll give you all another update in 31 days once I am skipper again. Peace and Love!