Day 499 - Dominica

Ahh. Dominica. I always enjoy my days here. Today was no exception. I was up early & off the ship for my dive. I was joining Larisa & we were going to be dive buddies for the day. We saw Leana & Bronwyn on the dock, they were off on a whale watching tour. 


Larisa had her G12 & an underwater housing with her, so I had given my underwater camera to M&D2 to take with them on their Champagne Snorkeling tour. 


I have dived in Dominica previously - Valentine's Day 2007 to be precise. It was a rather memorable dive. I went with a bunch of friends from the ship. When we were on the boat, they told us they didn't have enough wetsuits for us. In the end, the guide ended up giving me his wetsuit, which was very generous of him. Apparently my diet had also been generous, for when I pulled the wetsuit up, I managed to tear the backside of the wetsuit! I was mortified! Of course, we had the ship's Videographer diving with us that day, so my white cheek ended up on the souvenir dvd of the cruise! 


Lo & behold, our dive today found Larisa with a split up the backside of her wetsuit! It wasn't her - it came that way, but I found it highly entertaining that there was a split wetsuit onboard 4 years later! Oh the irony! 


The dive wasn't that wonderful. Dominica is usually a diver's dream. Today was a bit of a nightmare! I had a regulator that sprayed sea water into my mouth with every breath, which meant I came up from the dive having inhaled a fair amount of salt water. I had a headache like you wouldn't believe! I didn't really want to do the second dive, as I knew what I would be up against! I went, but it certainly wasn't enjoyable! We saw plenty of fish, but it wasn't as memorable as I had recalled from 2007. Larisa & I had fun visiting in any case. 


The second dive was at Champagne Reef. Gases escape from inside the Earth & bubble up to the surface. The water is warm & it seems as though you are swimming in a glass of champagne! It's really something to experience!


Once we were back at the dock, I strolled through the terminal & listened to one of the steeldrum bands getting ready for Carnival, which was happening at the start of the week. They were young musicians, but they sounded great! When I left the terminal & walked towards the ship, I noticed the objects along the pier. I don't know what the English name is, but the Afrikaans translation is 'dumb oxen'. When I first visited South Africa in 2005, Nico's father, Marten, worked at CSIR. They had a to-scale setup of some of the ports & piers around the world. They also had a wave making machine & they would observe the flow of water & the tolerance of the piers with different strengths of waves. It was quite fascinating! In any case, they had these 'dumb oxen' lining the piers in some places. I had never seen them before & I haven't seen them too many other places. It was special to see them here! 


I went back onboard, changed quickly & headed back off the ship. I was hoping to find a fabric shop open that sells African prints. I have a little tradition of buying fabric each time I come. I don't sew, but I'm hoping to one day do something with it!


Sadly it was Sunday. EVERYTHING was closed. The only thing open was a small bar with a side shop selling fresh herbs. I saw M&D2 on the street outside the shop & they suggested I go in & get some herbs for my raw dishes. I thought it was a great idea! That is, until I saw lizards crawling across the tops of the open jars & birds landing on the jars! No thanks!


I strolled down the waterfront & took in a bit of the pre-Carnival festivities - mostly just music & a few tourist stalls - before I caught the last shuttle back to the ship.


I spent the evening helping M&D2 pack. They were overweight with their luggage & I lent them one of my suitcases. I didn't know what I was going to do with the suitcase in the first place, so it worked out well that I could send it back with them. I consider myself a pretty good packer, so I managed to cram 50 lbs worth of stuff into a small carry-on suitcase! 


I said goodnight to them & we made arrangements to meet tomorrow & go ashore one last time. I can't believe it's been 2 weeks already. I've had so much fun showing them around. They have enjoyed every minute of it & I'm thrilled to pieces that they had the opportunity to join Jaco & I onboard. Now they know what I've been up to all these years!


Okay, I'm off to bed...xxxxMaria

 Workin' the shirt

 Lovin' the sunshine!

 Swim like a fishy!

 Part of Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed here!

 Steeldrummers

 The band

 Youngsters

 Steel drum

 Handicrafts

 More handicrafts

'dumb oxen'

Day 190 - Roseau, Dominica

Argh! Another migraine this morning! I’m not sure what’s going on with these headaches, but I’m pretty fed up with them! Two in a week!? I was sick to my stomach with this one as well! A wave of nausea washed over me & then it was time to make a move! Shortly after I was done being sick, the auras came along. And shortly after that, the pain settled in. I was hot & cold & hot & cold. I finally fell into a deep sleep around 1000 & woke up at noon.

Jaco & I had planned on visiting Champagne Reef. We still managed to head out, just a little later than expected. We found a taxi driver, Avon, & he agreed to take us on the 15 minute drive out to the location. Valentina was allowed off the ship, so of course, she came with us. We headed down the steps & along the boardwalk, trying to pick a good spot to enter.

I scuba dove Champagne Reef on Valentine’s Day in 2007 & it was amazing! I saw my first seahorse here! I also ripped the butt out of the Divemaster’s wetsuit, but that’s another story! Anyhow, Champagne Reef is very unique. The gases from below the Earth’s surface escape & travel through the water as bubbles. Since the gases are warm, you feel like you’re swimming in a bathtub & when you add in the bubbles, it looks like you’re swimming in a glass of champagne! It’s very unique!

I wanted Jaco to experience the same thing & so here we were! We didn’t have snorkels or fins, only masks. Jaco is a strong swimmer, so I knew he wouldn’t have a problem. I, on the other hand, am not a swimmer, at all. I waded in to the chilly water – brrr! It was overcast today & raining off & on, making the water extra cool. I plopped my head into the water to have a peek & to my surprise, there were plenty of fish right there! I didn’t last long though, as the little fish kept nipping at my legs! Eew! If I had my snorkel gear, I could have swam away a little quicker, but no luck. Jaco swam out & took a few photos. He managed to find an area with bubbles coming up & spent some time investigating. I was happy he was able to experience it!

As usual, Valentina didn’t enjoy the water in the least. I put her on a big rock & she didn’t like that either. She was plum happy to roam around, sniff & mark her turf! She wasn’t even interested in her ball today! I think I will be understating it, when I say she will be happy to be home… But when I saw the photo of 3’ of snow at home, perhaps she wouldn’t mind the sand & sea a little longer! :o)

We drove back into town, enjoying wonderful conversation with Avon. He voice sounds like Morgan Freeman, with an accent. He told us of his daughter, a Doctor in Atlanta & his son, an IT Specialist, also in the USA. We discussed politics in South Africa, life in the Caribbean & Dominica. He was very interesting to visit with.

Avon dropped us off at a fabric shop. I had been there in 2007 & purchased some beautiful African print fabric. It is still in the plastic bag I received it in, but one day I will sew something with it & the new beautiful fabrics I bought today!

While I was having the fabrics measured, the lady helping me asked me about my neck. I shared a little bit of my story with her. I shared my eczema issues & she immediately grabbed some paper & scribbled some things down on it. She directed me to the nearby pharmacy where I could find it. While she was telling me about the products, her friend came in & commented on one of the fabrics I selected. She said she was going to come back tomorrow & pick up the fabric & have a dress made from it. When she heard I was after some special goods, she said she’d take me to the pharmacy to help me out. Wow! People here are so friendly & helpful!

On our way to the Pharmacy, she tells me that she used to live in Barbados – for 30 years! The lady in the shop was her good friend before Barbados & now after too! She took me in to the Jolly Pharmacy & we picked up 3 bars of Carbolic Soap & some Common Vaseline. When I inquired about a wig, she told me to wait until tomorrow & head to King Shepard’s or Cave Shepard’s. Apparently there is a wig shop there with better prices & great selection! Marvelous! I thanked her for her help & the insight for tomorrow & she was on her way.

I headed towards the ship, but was distracted by another shop. It was a beautiful boutique with great hats, jewelry & clothing. And everything was 50% off! Ha! I finally found a collapsible beach hat that I like! While I was paying for my things, I told the lady the hat would be covering my bald head in a few weeks. I shared my situation with her. She was so compassionate. She grabbed my hands & said, ‘You poor sweet thing!’ She then shared with me that she had recently experienced Guillain Barre Syndrome, which she caught from a certain type of fish. Fortunately hers was ascending, or possibly descending, one is less harmful than the other, but is was still something to cope with! She demanded my contact details because she wanted to know how I was doing & gave me a giant hug when I left the shop.

As I walked back to the ship, I was flabberghasted to reflect upon the kindness & generosity shown to me in the last hour. Wow! What a place! I look forward to returning to Dominica one day soon!

Once back on the ship, I paid the $4 fee for Valentina’s permit, visited with the amazing lady responsible for arranging Valentina’s permission to go ashore & picked up some postage for a few postcards. I headed back to Jaco’s office to see what he was up to. I then realized we needed to call my Oncologist if we were going to get it done before the weekend. To my amazement, all Jaco had to do was say ‘This is the Doctor phoning’ & they patched him right through.

Most of my questions were answered & my only disappointments were the travel restrictions. The Oncologist said I should not travel. At all. I am going to clarify, as I have a feeling he is thinking a long journey to Africa & not a quick trip to Victoria… We’ll see! My next issue of concern is the Fertility Clinic. I’m not sure what the charges will be, but I have a guesstimate that it will be around $10,000.  Jaco will have to leave a ‘specimen’ in Fort Lauderdale, have it frozen & flown to Calgary. Then I would have to take some VERY expensive drugs, have anaesthesia to harvest eggs & then have an embryo made. I’m not sure if there will be time before I start chemo or if there will be money available to do all of the above.

So, there are a few more things on my mind than just wigs! On a nice note, Valentina saw me getting ready for bed tonight & crawled right into her kennel all on her own. What a good girl! Oh, she has also started ‘intercepting’ Jaco & I’s kisses. As soon as she sees or hears us kissing, she has to jump up & add her kisses to ours. I told Jaco tonight, he better be careful… One of these times he’ll mistake her tongue for mine! Ha ha & gross at the same time!

On that note, here’s a few sloppy, wet kisses… Lekker slaap!

Maria, Jaco & Valentina

xoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxox

En route to Champagne Reef

Papa rescues Tweet Pea

Do you think she's missing snow right about now?

Tiny bubbles

Ouch! Urchin anyone?

Here fishy, fishy, fishy

We always have stunning weather when we set sail

Beautiful blue skies

One last look at Dominica.