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Published: October 8th 2007
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Hot sulfer springs
Matt and friend Kat enjoying an afternoon dip in the close-by hot sulfer springs. Hello from Dominica!
We had our Peace Corps mid-service training here (which we missed the first half of!), and are now spending a week here hiking, snorkeling, and visiting friends….and so far it’s been wonderful!
Our trip here was a bit of an adventure. We were supposed to fly from St. Kitts, through Antigua with a short layover, and on to Dominica. After 2 hours in the St. Kitts airport we were informed that the air traffic controllers in Antigua had gone on strike…so all travel through there was grounded (And the airline we were traveling with has all their mechanics, cleaning service, etc. in Antigua, so even flights not routed through there were unable to continue in some cases). We were told the airport there might open again so we needed to wait, and we’d be updated hourly….6 hours later there were 5 planes (maybe an all time record) parked on the St. Kitts tarmac, along with a whole lot of stranded passengers who’d landed there as an alternative to Antigua. Just as darkness was falling the magical voice came over the speakers to let us know they’d lifted the strike…’at least for now’. So we were all lined up
The Village
Snorkeling off of Scott's Head, looking back at the village and boarded in record time, one plane taking off after the other. Once we arrived in Antigua we were told there was no way to fly into Dominica after dark (hazardous mountains and no runway lights), so we were issued tickets for the next morning and ushered off to spend the night near the airport. In the morning we arrived, waited a while, then heard our flight announced. Instead of the typical “We will no begin boarding flight 133 with service to Dominica”, we heard “We will now begin boarding flight 133 with service to St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Barbados, St. Thomas, Dominica, Grenada, and Martinique. Please wait in your seat until your destination is called.” Our downfall was listening to the instructions and following them…along with 2 new friends we’d made. The others on our flight quickly scurried up, and ended up on the plane. We waited until Dominica passengers were called—last—and were told the flight was full. It turned out that a bunch of people from Haiti had gotten stranded in Antigua overnight as well, but due to visa restrictions on Haitians had been unable to leave the airport…so they had given them priority to get to their
Is that a snake?
What we thought was a sea snake...luckily it was a 'snake eel' though, since we were later told that sea snakes are terribly poisonous, and since it didn't seem to mind I dove down close to get its picture! multiple destinations. We were quite satisfied with that explanation, and glad they could get the passengers on their way. There was one other flight later that day and we were one of 4 chosen to get seats one it, which didn’t go over well with the other 8 or so who didn’t. When we walked out of the airport to board the plane, there was an enormous double-decker Virgin airways plane parked right behind our TEENY TINY 12-seater plane, making it seem even smaller. We sat near the front and it was really neat being able to watch the pilot fly and looking out the front window! (after we got over it making us nervous, especially when we realized there were little pull-levers that said “FIRE PULL”, and one was wired on….as if it had been recently pulled off. And somehow that was a bad thought to have just after take-off! After a quick stop in Martinique…or maybe it was Guadeloupe, we really aren’t sure….we touched down in Dominica, and enjoyed a scenic 2 hour bus ride to the mid-service retreat location- just in time for dinner!
Since we’ve been here, we’ve had 2 great days of snorkeling and enjoying
Cow + Fish = ......
A friendly cowfish we encountered while snorkeling off Scottshead this amazing “nature island”…very appropriately nicknamed! I think we’ll let the pictures speak for themselves :-)
We hope you’re all doing well….we miss you! And remember, when swimming in jelly fish territory drink a lot of water before getting in. You never know when you might need to pee on your arm. (Hmmm, just looked that one up on the internet and there are questionable reviews on the effectiveness. Oh well! With that sort of pain, anything is worth a shot!)
*Don't forget, clicking on the photos makes them bigger, and you can scroll through them like a slide show-- enjoy! =)
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Maxine
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Welcome to Dominica!
Greetings Matt and Lauren...and welcome to our beautiful island! I see that you were introduced to the land of Adventure in true adventurous fashion :) So far, it sounds like you are up for it, and maybe you are one of the special people that will fall in love with Dominica for life. The adventure begins!!