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MeznG. In the air, on the road, river or sea again
This morning we dock at 9am so plenty of time for a deck walk for me and treadmill session for Glenn followed by breakfast. Something I have noticed in the past day or to is that it's nowhere near as hectic in the buffet area. Everyone is on different time schedules now so we are not all clambering for food at the same time. We have no plans today but have a bit of an idea of things to see. Once off the ship there is an information booth where we collect a map and are told where to find people offering tours. For $25 each we can join a small group (10) for an island tour 2-21/2 hours with a driver and a guide. Perfect. We have 4 Canadians and 4 'aloof' Orientals, possibly Singaporeans living in Miami. Our guide is ViVi and driver is Leslie. In 1975 Hurricane David wiped out or damaged 75% of the islanders homes and 42 people died in the 150km winds that lasted for 6 hours. The roads are shocking and as we head up in to the mountains they get quite narrow barely wide enough for 1 van but they are 2 way. This island is a result of volcanic action and there are still 2 active volcanoes on the island but it has been more than 500 years since any activity. Because of this the island has very lush vegetation. Near the coast they get 85 inches of rain and in the mountains it's over 300 inches/ year. In the mountains, it rains everyday. They can pretty much grow anything here and they do. They also have geothermal hot springs which allegedly have great healing powers. The native people are the Carib tribe and they still call the island home. We drive to a viewing platform to see the 2 waterfalls and if we want to get closer we can walk a short distance, pay $5 and enter the park to get to the bottom of them. The Oriental people were not interested in that so that idea was scratched. Next we go to the water bar. Here the water is flowing freely from under the rocks and if you were game you could taste it. Here we also sampled some of the fruit that is currently in season. Pineapple, watermelon, sugar cane and coconut. Very sweet and tasty, much more flavour than the fruit on the ship. There is also the opportunity to taste the local Kabuli Beer. As we didn't get to go to the waterfalls, ViVi and Les have decided to take us to see a thermal spring and see the sulphur caves. We walk down a steep hill to the river. Along the banks there is boiling hot mud pools and water gushing out of the rocks. The water is too hot to touch in the hot springs but the river was quite pleasant. Spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg are growing wild everywhere and Dominica does have coffee roasters for their coffee beans but no chocolate makes for their many varieties of the Cacao tree. We stop on the side of the road so ViVi can pick some cinnamon tree leaves and coffee beans to show us. She is 35 years old, looks about 20 and she has 7 children! She is a florist, a bush doctor and a freelance tour guide. Next stop is the lookout to see the city of Roseau with our ship in the background. This is the last cruise ship for the season as no ships cruise in these waters during hurricane season. We have a drive through the botanic gardens where there is a cricket match in progress ( we all know how much the West Indians love their cricket) we stop for photos at a huge Banyan tree and also the site of a huge tree that fell on a school bus during the hurricane. Fortunately no one was in the bus at that time. Now we travel around the very narrow streets of the city. The Dominican Government have entered an agreement with China and so China have assisted with the funds to build a world class stadium used for international cricket matches, soccer and concerts and events. Cricket is the national sport. It is evident that there is still a lot of rebuilding to do, there are approximately 500 people that were evacuated from their homes when the hurricane came and they still haven't been able to return. Bridges are still being built and roads need repairing. I hope they don't get hit again. Back on the ship we have lunch and a bit of a rest as it is extremely hot. For some stupid reason we decide at around 2.30pm to walk into the town. It is very hot and even though we are by the sea there is not much of a breeze. It's not a pretty town, the houses are made of rocks, concrete, bamboo and galvanized iron. They have shutters on their windows for when the storms come.Its Saturday afternoon so people are just hanging around at bars and going about their normal business as we walk past. There is a fresh food market where the farmers come to sell their surplus fruits and vegetables. What doesn't sell and isn't eaten is returned to the ground. We walk up and down the streets just taking in the sites and sounds. Walking back to the ship I decide to walk in the water. The sand us black as a result of the volcanic environment and the water is refreshing. Somehow though the black sand makes the water less inviting. Back on the ship, it's nice to cool off. Earlyish dinner tonight, a couple of shows and that will be the end of another lovely day. Early start tomorrow, docking in Grenada at 7am!
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