Flowers

Dominica is called the nature isle and there is no doubt how it got it's name. There is lush greenery, beautiful waterfalls, and colorful flowers everywhere! After Aba Wavine we stopped at Spanny falls, I have been there before but I love stopping there. The waterfall is right off the road and the little shop that is set up there has so many beautiful flowers growing there as well as some cute little handpainted signs. I love the flowers here and wish we could grow them back at home.

Kalinago Territory

The natives on the island of Dominica have a territory that is reserved as a area where visitors can visit and see a little bit of how they lived and the work that they did in eariler days. The boys and I went on a school field trip to this area called the Kalinago Territory. It was, of course, another really long drive to get there. The territory is on the other side of the island on the Atlantic ocean. While we were there we got to see how they weave baskets and the kids even got to weave their own little basket. We also saw how they make cassava bread, it is made using a grated up cassava root and other ingredients and cooked on a big curved piece of metal that is set out over an open fire. We also got to see the native dancers perform.

Sam weaving his basket

Ethan

Levi

Making cassava bread

Aba Wavine

I was fortunate to go on the coolest hike ever! Aba Wavine is the name of the waterfall that we end at. The waterfall itself was really cool. The start of the water is at the top of a cliff and it falls all the way down to the beach. The hike to get down there was what made this destination even cooler. Instead hiking to the waterfall we climbed down the cliff to the beach. The climg down was several hundred feet and straight up and down for a large portion of it. We hung onto exposed roots of the tress and at one point there is a rope ladder that you go down. Each step neeed to be done very carefully, it kind of felt like reverse rock climbing. As we got further down the cliff you could start hearing the waves crashing into the beach below and then the view once we were further down was so beautiful. A couple of friends and I thought it would be fun to have a picture of us under the waterfall. The water was so loud in our ears that we couldn't hear the warnings from the others that two big waves were coming in. They crashed into us and nearly took us out to sea. It was crazy, but such a fun day.

We climbed down this cliffside through the trees

We can see the beach

Coming down the ladder

Jay, myself, and JoEll

The waterfall

First Day of School

It seems weird having the everyone go back to school since it still feels like summer here. The weather doesn't really change and it back to school at home always had that "fall" feeling to it. Nevertheless it is that time and the boys are excited to start official school. Ethan is starting the third grade, Sam is going to pre-school and Levi is going to go to the Early Learning Center that is attached to the Prep School that the older boys attend. Ethan's teacher's name is Mrs. Fredrick, she is from Dominica and she teaches the 1st through 3rd grades in her classroom. Sam's teacher's name is Mrs. Charbonnneau, she is from the U.S. and her husband is also attending Ross University and is in the same semester as Tyler. The boys are loving school so far and they are learning so much. Levi really likes playing with all the kids at the ELC too. He is so happy to go there in the morning and just as happy when I pick him up at lunchtime. We have lunch together at the playground after which Ethan goes for two more hours and the little boys and I hang out on campus unto Ethan is done at 3pm. They do yoga and swimming for the P.E. class and they have Art and French class. I love when Sam tells me the French word for elephant. It is pronounced "el-ee-font", and way cute when he says it. They get to have some very unique experiences going to school here, they have two field trips each month. They have already gone to some really neat places and look forward to the future field trips.

Levi

Sam

Ethan

Whale Watching

The semester break is over but there was one more semester break activity on the Saturday after class started. Since Tyler was already back to studying, just the boys and I went whale watching. We went out on a catamaran boat and the boys loved sitting on the net and watching the water below us. We were lucky enough to see a rare whale called a Cauvier Beaked whale. It looked like a large dolphin and it came up and swam around our boat a couple of times. On the way back to the dock a large group of little dolphins started swimming with us. It was definitely the of the trip, the boys started naming the dolphins names like; "speedy", "leader", "jumper", "twin", and "stink". All in all it was a very fun day!

Cauvier beaked dolphin

Dolphins

1st Semester Break!

Well, we made it through the first semester of medical school. Tyler did great and we got to enjoy some much needed family time. We have had many adventures over the last two and half weeks. We started off the break by going to Secret Beach. Tyler and I kayaked to this secluded beach, it was so pretty the only way of getting there is by boat or swimming. The water was beautiful and the snorkeling was so cool, we saw lots of squids. I loved it and we will have to return sometime with the boys.

My "hot thang" Tyler

On Saturday mornings I like to go to the local market and stock up on local produce and fish for the week. At the market you can see truck loads of coconuts and men cutting them open with machetes, fish that was caught that morning and lot of other wonderful produce. My favorite it is when they have fresh mahi, Ethan's favorite fish has been the red snapper. It is a colorful place where there is usually loud music playing and local people dancing and singing. It was Tyler's first time going with us.

There are a lot of beautiful hikes and trails on the island of Dominica. The plentiful rain makes for beautiful greenery, rivers, and lakes. There are 365 rivers on this small island. We got the opportunity to go hiking with some friends to Boeri Lake, it is about an hour and half drive. It is high in elevation and so it was much cooler and the lake actually felt cold, it was great to get away from the heat for a day. The boys really liked the hike, especially Levi, he did most of it himself without being carried.

Levi's smiley nutella face

Our next little day trip was to Rosalie Bay. This area is located on the Atlantic side of the island. We went there to see the baby turltes hatch from their eggs. At this beach there are three different species of turtles that nest there. Our guide Simon is there on the beach every night during the nesting season. They mark where the nests are and later some hatch on their own and other times they dig up a nest to see if they can rescue any turtles that weren't able to climb out on their own. Unfortunately there were not any turtles that survived in the nest that we watched being unburied. We will go back next spring hopefully and watch the great big momma turltes lay their eggs. The view of the Atlantic was quite stunning though, and again Levi made the most of the beach time by completely covering himself with the black sand.

Simon digging for the eggs

Baby turtle that matured but didn't survive :(

Ross Universtiy puts on free trips during orientation week, the trip that we went on was to Cabrits. Sam, Levi and I have been there already, but it was fun to go as a family. There were some friends of ours that went as well. We did a little bit of exploring this time and we hiked to the old battery where they stored the ammunition and there were some cool cannons there. Along the trail there were some very entertaining hermit crabs in their shells, we had a fun time picking them up and seeing how far out of their shell they come.

Sam and his buddy Jared

Another hike that we went on was Syndicate Falls, it was nice because it wasn't too far of a drive. The hike itself was short and kid friendly. We crossed the river a few times, which was fun. We saw a very cool walking stick on a giant fern. The waterfall was very pretty and swimming behind the waterfall was awesome. The water was nice and cool!

Walking stick, Sam didn't want to get too close

Dominica is known for it's fabulous scuba diving. Tyler LOVES diving, but during school there is no way that he has time to go diving. He got the chance to go diving two times during the break. The last time I finally worked up the courage to go. We both got certified years ago but it has been a long time since I have gone diving and it makes me a little nervous. I was so glad that I did do it! I got my first lionfish with the spear and the coral reef was so colorful. We went with another couple, the whole group collectively got two lobsters and about fifteen lionfish. Dinner was very tasty that night!

Stan and Taran

Tyler and me with our divemaster Fabian

Our last outing for the break we decided to go to Bense Pool and Batibou Beach. They are pretty close to each other. At Bense pool you can jump off the cliffs into the water or go down the waterfall. They call it "nature's waterslide". The boys had their lifejackets which came in handy the water level was very high which made the pool very turbulent. It was nice to have the added buoyancy of the life jacket. Ethan and Same both jumped off the cliff, I couldn't believe it, they are little daredevils. 

Batibou beach, so far, I think is the most beautiful beach on the island. It is also a little more remote and requires a short hike to get to, which makes it uncrowded. A neat fact about the beach, some the scenes form the Pirates of the Carribean movies were filmed there.

Nature's umbrellas

Bense Pool

This is how Levi enjoys the beach. zzzz

Sadly break is over and tomorrow Tyler and the boys go back to school. While the break was fabulous it will be nice to get another semester started and over. Our next semester break we will head home to celebrate Christmas with family, we are so excited for that!