Guest bloggers, Marilyn and John, checking our scene at the Melville Hall airport, leaving Dominica. We've been here for 2 weeks, sharing Erin's Peace Corps life and doing our best to free ourselves up on this beautiful island. We have many unforgettable moments to share with you all, so fix your favorite cocktail, relax yourselves and read on:
- Erin’s Boiling Lake Tour – a snack of rough cake and coconut water at Breakfast River (after 1 hour on the trail), a dip in a hot sulphur pool near the Valley of Desolation (2 hours) and a picnic overlooking Boiling Lake (3 hours and ½ way through), a swim in the icy waters of Titu Gorge (6 hours and the end of our hike) and then a long steamy soak at Screw’s Hot Sulphur Baths –with cold beer- as our reward for the adventure.
- Watching rain clouds blow over the mountains – they bring quick hard rain and then big bright rainbows that start in the mountains and end in the sea.
- John learning to drive like a Dominican – left side of the road, right side of the car, strategic horn blasts, no speed limits, stop signs or traffic lights
- Meeting Erin’s friends wherever we went on the island, and especially her Salisbury pals – rum & cokes & jokes with Velma and Norris, stopping at Ma Clem’s Buffalo Bills Bar everyday and sharing Erin’s homemade peanut punch with her our last day in Salisbury
- Staying overnight at Jungle Bay in our cottage on stilts in the forest – and Marilyn’s personal favorite – the outdoor shower overlooking the jungle and ocean. Sam, the Jungle Bay owner and Nancy, yoga instructor, took us on a brisk steep hike up Morne Paix Bouch, then a swim in the ocean side pool, a great shower and rum punch with dinner
- Snorkeling in the Caribbean at Scott’s Head Bay and Champagne Beach with indescribable fish and coral, underwater cliffs and geysers and iguanas playing in the woods
- Cooking with Erin and Jem was a Dominican food adventure – watching & sometimes helping with palau, christophene, fried plantains, fig pie, bakes with cheese, stewed chicken, dolphin fish (not flipper, mahi-mahi)
- Getting to know Jem and his family – mother (Marilyn!), father (Local) and nephew (MJ). Erin made a proper Dominican dinner for Jem’s family and then we had a wonderful Dominican dinner at their home
- Plenty of fun and hugs from the kids at Salisbury Primary School where Erin works- John was a guest reader and we both did some hands on science with them
- Dancing at Reggae Night in Portsmouth at Big Papas on a beautiful night (John did dance no matter what he says)
- Food- soft chocolate cake at the Riverside Café, Sharon’s fruit cake, ice pops, bbq chicken, roasted plantains
- Fluids- lime rum punch, peanut rum punch, coconut rum punch, sorrel juice with rum, fresh squeezed grapefruit juice with rum, rosemary infused rum & cokes (Norris’ specialty), Kabuli beer
- Our Last Day in Dominica Lunch right on the ocean, behind the market. a great Dominican plate of local foods and guava juice. Getting pretty sad about leaving…
- Plenty more – you get the picture
- And last, but certainly the very best, spending 2 weeks with Erin. It’s a dilemma – trying to say how rich and wonderful it was to wake up together every morning and hug goodnight, talk as much as we want, laugh, be proud - and not sound sappy. Guess it can’t be done.
Thank you for every moment in Paradise Erin
And if you don’t like that, we have the words to the Calypso hit, to be performed by unwanted,
Doe Wanna be a Dog in Dominica
Doe wanna be a dog in Dominica
sleeping with one eye open in the street
can never get enough to eat
anything that’s moving is a treat
every dog’s a fighting dog in Dominica
fighting for its life
Doe wanna be a dog in Dominica
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