Location: Prince Robert Bay, Dominica
As Skipper for today, I had the responsibility to get up early and go through the two main compartments to wake everyone at 7:00. I started with the Fo’c’sle (coming from the term Forward Castle), where 4 of the crew were sleeping. I started off playing the song “On the Line” by the Australian band San Cisco. As the song played, I reminded them of the adventures that await them. I then made my way to the saloon area where the rest of the crew slept. There was already a team working away in the galley making both breakfast and lunch. A couple of people were also already up and about, getting ready for the day. For everyone else, I played a song called “Follow the Sun” by the Australian artist Xavier Rudd.
Once everyone was up, we started the day with some coffee cake made by Savannah and her team of sous chefs. The crew then moved swiftly in to clean up and make up packed lunches as we had to leave for our excursion at 8:30. Hedrek, our Captain, volunteered to shuttle us all to land in order to catch our taxis. As soon as we were all settled in our taxis, we were off to the southeast corner of the island for a hike to one of Dominica’s 365 waterfalls. With the mountainous terrain throughout the island, the journey took the best part of 2 hours despite Dominica’s relatively small size.
We pulled into the carpark, and everyone prepared for what was described as a hike up the river in up to 4 feet of water. The guides were not lying, we made our way down to the riverbank, and our first crossing of the river saw some people up to waist-deep in the water. We continued up the river, through mud and scrambling up the rocks but were rewarded with an incredible waterfall at the end. The falls were so intense that mist covered the group before we got there, and waves rippled out from the splash zone. We took a dip to cool down and then made our way back towards the vans for a well-deserved lunch.
On our route back, a bathroom stop was required, so the guides pulled into a local beach where the bathroom stop quickly turned into an ice cream shop. We were even treated to a spectacular sunset over the water as we arrived back at the dock for our shuttle back home, also known as Ocean Star.
1 – 9. Waterfall antics
10. Beaut of a rainbow
11. Breakfast of champions – can’t you tell by my face?
12. Sunset – beaut as well.