This morning has not been very eventful. I left the curtain to the balcony partially opened last night so the light would wake me up this morning. We were still at sea. I got up and went to the gym. I could not believe that most of the cardio equipment was in use. I ended up using the bicycle and some easy weights on the machines. As I worked out, I noticed in the distance the outline of the island in the haze. At first, I thought I was imagining it but I knew the ship was scheduled to be at port about 8:30am today. Then headed back to the room to get cleaned up and changed for breakfast.
I went to breakfast on the Lido Deck with Carolyn, Mari and David. Nothing fancy, just a small buffet style breakfast. As we ate breakfast, we made it to port and watched as the pilot boats shored the ship. The ship was docked about 8:30am. You can see the streets, shops, and taxi's getting ready for the mass of people to disembark and make their ways into the town to go on their excursions and to do some haggling with the shop keepers in the make shift tents along the street of the pier. After breakfast, Mari and I headed back to the room to get caught up on some laundry before going a shore. Yes, Carnival does supply laundry rooms to do laundry or you can pay fee and have your laundry done. Well, I am a practical person and figured it would be cheaper to do it ourselves. We collected enough for two loads between all five of us. I ended up using the laundry facilities on a floor above our floor because the sixth floor facilities were in use. It cost two dollars for the washer and dollar for the soap and another two dollars for the drier, so it cost five dollars per load.
I guess David had scheduled an excursion for the both of use through Mari and Carolyn a couple of days ago. We are going to go ATV safari through some jungle area. This is a Carnival approved tourist excursion so it should be safe, I hope. Well it is about noon. I guess I better go back to the room and see what is going on. I believe our excursion leaves about 2pm and we get back about 5pm.
I got back to the room and David wanted to grab a quick bit to eat before heading out for the meeting location for the excursion. We went to the 24-hour pizzeria and grabbed a slice of pizza. As we were leaving, we decided to play a not so quick game of yard chess. For those wondering what yard chess is it consist large chessboard and chess pieces about two feet tall. As we played, a couple of people stopped by to observe or give pointers but nothing that ended the game quickly. We ended up calling the game a draw when all that was left was each other's kings. We headed back to cabin to grab a couple of things and went down to shore. Carolyn, Marissa and Mari stayed aboard and decided to go lay under the warm Caribbean sun.
Wow, that was a fun excursion. If you are ever in Roseau, Dominica then I would suggest doing the ATV Safari. If you sign up for the excursion through Carnival, they will provide a taxi to the location. David and myself were the only two on this excursion this afternoon since the morning session was already booked full. The taxi drove use up into the mountains of Dominica (this is the island of Dominica and not the Dominica Republic). The drive was very scenic 30-minute drive. Once we arrived at the location, we met one of the owners/operators of the safari ride. She was originally from Canada and settled here once she met her husband here. The last time she was back to Canada was in 1997. We were fitted for helmets and they provide rain pants and rubber boots. I would recommend renting the rubber boats at the minimum because the trail can and was very muddy. The excursion shows you how to use an ATV before taking through the trails. This was good, because I have never driven an ATV. Therefore, after about six minutes of driving the ATV around a small track and getting used to the acceleration, shifting and breaking it was time to take my newly learned skills to the backcountry. I was very hesitant initially but once accustomed to the ATV I would open the throttle up and have a blast. The trail was difficult at best. It rain earlier and had stopped within the last half hour. This left the trail very muddy. Since this is a rain forest and Dominica gets so much rain there were several areas that had ruts where the machines could get hung up. The tour guide mentioned in the orientation that we would be using first and second gear the most and he would let us know when to switch. As we went through the trail there were several areas were one would fell as if the machine would be tipping over and he told us not to stick your feet out or one could get seriously hurt. The ATV never did tip but I did stick my foot out at the beginning but caught myself doing so and quickly pulled it back in. Another time I did happen to get the ATV stuck trying to go up a steep rutted incline. Instead of opening the throttle up and making the situation worse I just let off the throttle, roll backwards a little (rocking it back and forth), then throttle slowly, and got up the embankment on my own. We did get an opportunity to take a break at the top of the mountain next to the top of the highest peak on Dominica.
During our break, we were provided a light snack and beverage. The snack was banana chips (thin sliced and salted just like potato chips) as well as coconut bread. The beverage was not alcoholic but fruit juices, passion fruit and grape fruit. Everything was very good. David even shared a couple of cigarettes with tour guide. From here the course was a smoother but still very enjoyable. We made it back just in time for our taxi to take us back to the ship.
On the way back to the ship I started asking the driver questions about the island. The island used to be part of the British Empire but the split off to form their own country. The main language they speak is English but you will hear Spanish, French, and dialect of French. Their main income used to be agriculture but when they became independent they now really on tourism. The island natural forests and he recommends spending more than a day to check out all the excursions. I started asking about the fire department and he drive by the main station for the island. It had four apparatus in their bays. They appeared to be European designed. You defiantly would understand once you have been through the streets of the islands. If other countries can get by with smaller apparatus one would think bigger is not always better. If these countries can fight fires just as effectively as we do back in the states one would wonder.
We made it back to the ship covered head-to-toe with mud about 5pm. This allowed plenty of time to get cleaned up for the formal dinner. Thou, David ended up not going because he wore his black dickies that he was going to wear to the dinner instead for the ATV adventure. I think he had it planned that way. Well, Carolyn, Mari, Marissa and I went to the formal dinner. Mari and Marissa had stuffed mushrooms and Carolyn and I had a salad. For the main course, we all had the same item, lobster tail and shrimp. Mmmm, so good! The netbook is about out of juice so I am going to head back to the cabin.
Made of it back, everyone must be doing some of the evening activities because both cabins are so quite. Our next port of call is Bridgetown, Barbados. As far as I know there is no excursions planned for tomorrow. I may get off board and do some touristy site seeing in the port town. Looking over the excursion list/prices there is so many to do and see, just too bad that they add up and make it impossible to do an excursion at every port of call. I may go to bed or I may go to the show that is happening Caribbean Theater.
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