Dominica, Caribbean

Hello all from Dominica!

Dominica is the island where Christopher Columbus first made landfall. (on a Sunday, thus the name) The guidebooks say that if Columbus came back today, Dominica is the only island he would recognize. We don't know since this is our first stop, but I will say it is absolutely gorgeous! Thick jungle, vines and trees carpeting the hillsides. Since we're on the 'leeward' (downwind) side, thick clouds come spilling over the peaks all day and it makes for incredible scenery, always changing.

View from the boat, sunrise :)

The morning after we arrived in Dominica from the crossing, Pancho, the guy who owns the moorings we were tied up to brought over a bag of fresh bread and a bunch of grapefruits. Since we ran out of bread and fruit a while back, it really hit the spot until we could get into town. 

It's been great being near land again, a really calm anchorage, and we took a tour inland to stretch our legs after sitting on the crossing. We hooked up with a few other boaters anchored out in the bay and we all went in on a van to do some sightseeing. 

We were able to hike to some waterfalls, and saw some bubbling sulpher hot springs. The highlight was definately swimming up a dark canyon in a chilly fresh water river and climbing up waterfalls. Actually, the best part was jumping back down the waterfalls, and getting swept down river! Levi, Emma and I really enjoyed going up there and the water was so clean we just sat there drinking it!

The little ones didn't go up the river, they were happy to play in a shallow pool at the mouth, and enjoy the hillsides. Dominica is a thick jungle and it reminded us all of Costa Rica,  

We also stopped by a roadside restaurant for lunch and had a great meal of chicken, plantains (hard bananas cooked like potatoes) and rice. There was a few mysterious fruits on the plate as well, which were all great.

So, we're hanging out here for a few days, and starting to make our way north. We have been trying to plan our route and future, a daunting task for sure, but we'll let you know as we know :)