The Island Tour of Dominica

Today I woke up at 7:40am gathered my things and off I ran to the library to be picked up for the island tour. On the way down I met Alex (whose name I forgot three time today). We made it to the library and I gave away my ticket and hopped on the bus. Our first stop was Trafalgor Falls. The drive was nice and easy with lots of winding turns and bumps and fast curves... But our driver Fabien was fantastic. He let us take many pictures on the route to the falls; one was a giant yacht  with a helicopter which was cool.  We arrived at the station where locals sold the average touristy stuff like shot glasses and t-shirts, but I found something nice for Sarah so I bought it. I then walked through the just opened concession stand and bought 2 candy bars pictured here. I couldn't not buy them... and they were very tasty. People from home understand why I bought these... it's one of my nick-names.

My group then proceeded  to the trail with the falls, which was the easiest hike ever. Seriously ever. Here are some pictures of the Trafalgar Falls:

After the falls my journey continued the glorious sulfur springs. On the walk up to the springs I found a heat vent and nearly burnt my hand in the process. (I'm fine, it was no worse than steam from boiling water). The Sulfur springs are shown here:

After returning to the van, I asked the driver about a card with a woman's picture on it near his sun visor. He pulled it out and said that the lady in the picture was the oldest woman to ever live her life on Dominica. She lived to be 125 years old and her name was Elizabeth ma Pampo. Here is her picture:

After this we went to a hilltop and took some nice pictures of the city of Roseau, the capital of Dominica. In the background on the sea was a German cruise ship. This is also the home of the Princess Margaret Hospital where I will be frequenting in later semesters. I snapped a couple quick shots as we passed it but nothing turned out. I also saw the office of the president of Dominica. See below. At this stop there were more touristy stands where I bought a sweet and sour Dominican fruit called Tamerindo or what they call Tambrinball. It was like drinking an entire can of red bull at once but the flavor was delicious. I'm saving the others for late night studying :-)

Our next stop was the Dominican botanical gardens which had nice array of trees and a nice historical artifact shown below. This is the remnants of I believe Hurricane David that struck Dominica some time ago. tree fell over, crushed the bus (nobody inside that I could tell :P) and remained growing.  Later in the gardens I found my favorite tree I have ever swung from. pictures below. I  had so much fun This tree was called fiscus bengalensis which is latin for "The tree of I have never had this much fun feeling like Tarzan" yes, that is a direct translation. I watched lots of people climb and have a ball.

We walked through to the end of the garden for lunch where I had passion fruit juice, fish, corn, rice and weeds to eat. The salad was far from a salad so it earns the name weeds. A little after I found the closest thing to Michigan since I arrived here in the bathroom...  It was a hand dryer! Way to go Michigan exports! After walking out I saw the Cricket stadium right behind the building I ate in.

An aside for now but I swear I have never seen so many feral dogs, loose cows, chickens, goats and you name it roaming the island. Here is a picture of billy.

and finally, I reach the pinnacle of the tour. Scott's Head. Scotts's head is a gorgeous land formation which extends out into the ocean and actually divides the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Guess which side is which! The pictures are fascinating. Here is a glimpse:

After completing the hike to the top, I  descended and took a swim in the Caribbean Sea which was gorgeous and refreshing (see right). After the swim I watched hermit crabs and zebra muscles move around and relaxed until we took a ride home.I slept in the car for an hour until Fabien took a sharp turn and I woke to my head smacking the window... Thanks man...  which reminds me. On my cruise with Sarah's family, the captain of the reef's and rays boat made everyone say "Yeah man!" in response to his jests. I realized that so many people here use that same phrase and I found it amusing. Another adventurous day behind me and I live to tell the tale (almost didn't because of that head slam...)  Thanks for reading. more updates to come!