First Port: Dominica!

I am now on the way from the first port, Dominica, and headed to
Brazil! It's hard to believe that we are already past a port.
Dominica was amazingly beautiful - it surpassed my expectations
completely. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect, but the view
from port was an island filled with rolling mountains, jungles and
bright houses.

The First Day: I had a Marine Biology FDP at 1:30, and so did my
roommate Lucy, so we went with some other people into downtown Roseau
and just walked around the markets. It's a very interesting city:
Most of the shopping seemed to be these markets set up specifically
for tourists, and I bought a couple of souvenirs. Lucy and I went
back to the ship for lunch to save money, and then I went to my first
FDP: Snorkeling in Champagne Reef. We had a bus with a tour guide
there, and that was unexpectedly really interesting. We learned many
facts: Like that Dominica is about 60% uninhabited, which is pretty
incredible. She also gave us her insider's view of Dominica's
politics and economy, which was interesting as we toured the city. I
felt like I could see areas that seemed fairly poor right next to
nicer looking houses, so that was interesting. The actual Champagne
Reef was quite pretty - there wasn't really a beach, since the jungle
went almost right up to the shore. Dominica is a volcanic island, and
Champagne Reef has vents that bubble up, giving it the name of
Champagne The coral and the fish of the reef were pretty, but not the
best that I've ever seen. However, when you looked back at the
"bubbles" in the sunlight, it was quite beautiful. My friend Mike and
I had plans to meet up with a few people after snorkeling, but could
never find them. It's hard to find people without a cell phone! So
instead, we just went to a local bar, JR's, in Dominica. It was
pretty fun, there were a lot of SAS kids there, and the locals were
pretty interesting. I kind of feel like Dominica has more character
than Nassau - it at least feels less touristy. After that, we went to
Krazy Koconut. It's a club in Roseau that's usually closed on Monday
nights, but it opened up just for Semester at Sea. It was pretty fun
to hang out with a lot of SAS kids there, and was just like one giant
party.

Today, my day started with a Whale and Dolphin Safari. I had high
expectations, since Dominica is supposedly the "Whale Watching Capital
of the World". However.... I did not see a single marine animal. Oh
well, it was pretty cool to get pictures of the SAS boat at the dock
from the sea. I really wanted to explore Dominica's jungle before I
had to board the ship, and so did a guy named Alex from the whale
cruise. We recruited two other girls, Jessica and Caroline, and
together we went to Trafalgar Falls. It was a short hike there, and
then we scrambled up some rocks to get to a pool beneath a waterfall.
The whole place was unbelievably beautiful, I've never seen anything
like it. The jungle is just so big, never-ending, and incredible. I
can't really put into words what an amazing sight it was - you'll have
to wait for my pictures!

At first I was disappointed when our Cuba port got cancelled, but I
think it worked out with Dominica. If we hadn't gone here, I would
never have known what Dominica was, but it's an incredibly gorgeous
island. People don't seem to go here because of its lack of beaches,
but the rainforest was a beautiful and unique place. It made me
excited for the Amazon!