Written by Mia:

This is the land of waterfalls, hot springs, jungle paths, snorkeling in champagne and very friendly people. We liked it so much, we went there twice!

We spent almost a week there with our good friends on Sta Vast. We wandered though the town of Roseau, visiting the library and a school yard where the kids played with the locals climbing trees and chatting together. They even lead us to a frozen yogurt shop, which made everyone cheer! One afternoon we went snorkeling in Champagne reef where we spotted tons of multicolored fish and the bubbles coming up through the coral are amazing and a little tickly. We have met a lot of friendly people in Dominica and the houses are mostly painted bright, cheerful colors, too. It is a wonderful place for an explore. We were also lucky enough to be there for a carnival parade, complete with guys on stilts, foam guns and beauty queens in plastic chairs in pickup truck beds. The kids loved it, especially since there were lots of sweets being handed out.

We went on a day trip where our guide, Armstrong, drove us to some kid friendly highlights of this wonderful island. He kept stopping along the way, picking things from the lush roadside. We got to sniff lemongrass, wild basil and coffee and we tasted cocoa beans and learned that nutmeg comes in a fruit that looks like a nectarine, cinnamon is just the bark of the tree and bananas are “like ladies” in that it takes nine months to produce fruit. On our first stop we walked through the jungle to the beautiful Emerald Pool with a waterfall at the top. We jumped in and later found out that a swim there makes you ten years younger, so hooray! We had lunch at a place that sort of reminded me of a diner you might see in the movies about the deep south. The next stop was at the Trois Pitons gorge where Jonny Depp jumped in the water in the 2nd Pirates movie. We did, too and swam through a narrow gorge to a series of waterfalls. Dominica has 365 rivers and lots of rain and waterfalls to fill them. The last stop of the day was Trafalgar Falls, where twin waterfalls roar. We climbed up the bigger of the two where the cold water from Freshwater lake mixes with volcanic water to make the perfect temperature “bath water”. On the walk back to the truck, we caught fireflies, magic!

When we returned to Dominica it was to attend a birthday party on Blue Zulu. A super fun day was had by all, especially with 11 kids on the boat and a new game of “musical jumps” where contestants dance on the side of the boat until the music stops and they then jump in the water, scoring points for style and timing- it was quite a hit! Dana de Mer, Bonaire and Laridae were all in attendance and the kids had a blast with each other. Jage and Hope lived in Dominica and were generous to share their secrets with us. We spent an afternoon at thermal baths place near Watton Waven that was a little slice of paradise! Also, one afternoon we hung out on Blue Zulu alternating between LEGO and dolls down below and just jumping off the back and swimming and surfing behind a dinghy. Spending time with great people chilling out with a bunch of kids giggling and splashing around – it’s really all we were dreaming about when we started out on this adventure. Somehow it is easier to relax on others’ boats because our to do list isn’t staring us in the face.