Dominica Study Abroad - Day 7

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Cabrits National Park, on the northwestern part of the island, was the location of our excursions today. Since the whole group was going, Clem James had to take us in his bus. To get to Cabrits we had to drive along the west coast of Dominica, seeing a large variety of vegetation across the coast. We were also able to stop at Batalie Beach before continuing on our way to Cabrits. We arrived at 11 am and had lunch at the “snackette” bar in the visitor center. I was able to buy an ice-cold Sprite, a nice relief to the humid heat.
After lunch, we all gathered by the cannons at Fort Shirley and took a group picture. The fort had been undergoing renovations for a while and now is used as a party/reception place. It was at this fort, in 1807, that the first slave emancipation act happened in the British Empire. The gorgeous view at the fort was of Douglas Bay, where we stopped for a while and caught a small snake. Most of the students were eager to take pictures with the snake, though I decided to not partake in that. The snakes endemic to Dominica are not venomous, which was definitely a relief, though I’m sure the boa constrictors there are no less deadly. After playing with the snake, a few of us hiked to East Cabrits, where we saw several of the fort ruins, including the commandant’s quarters. I then hiked to the top of the trail, where an old viewing site was located. On the way up, we saw that someone had decided to be funny and hang up a plastic leg bone in front of a dungeon at the ruins. Words cannot do the view justice. Definitely one of the prettiest places in Dominica, if there is such a distinction, the viewing site allowed us to see the swamp formed by volcano eruptions, as well as the ocean.
After our hike, we drove to Syndicate Trail - located about 2,000 ft. above sea level. We once again witnessed a vegetation transition as we left dry forest and entered rainforest. We stopped at a point where Clem said parrots were often seen, but kept going after we were unable to see any. We hiked to a huge Sloanea and took another group picture. We then went to a viewing deck and saw a few Jaco parrots in flight. Their flight patterns are very erratic, making it pretty easy to distinguish them from the hawks and red-necked pigeons that were flying above. We went to another place to look for parrots, but did not see any despite hearing their cries.
Today we had a small celebration for Britney’s and Ally’s birthdays, with Brendan bringing out a cake for them.

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Photos

The tourist tree!
This tree is called the tourist tree...cause it peels...hehe

No, it's not a joke.
Thankfully, it was a plastic leg.