Cruise Day 5, Dominica

We found out the day before we got there that it's pronounced Dom-a-knee-kah and we were saying it wrong the whole time!  Oh well, we said it right after that :)

Today we woke up and the view from the ship was absolutely amazing.  Dominica is the most fertile island in the Caribbean (which means they grow the most marijuana) and it was soooo green and gorgeous!  This was the view from the ship that morning

I seriously could not get over it!  Today we were going on our second excursion.  It was a ride around part of the island and a waterfall/hot springs tour.  So we met our group and headed off bright and early!

View at one of the stops on the tour

The first place we arrived at was the waterfall.  This spot was in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean 2, where Jack Sparrow is rolling around on the giant wheel.  A lot of the movie was filmed in Dominica and it was really cool to see it!  Anyway, we jumped in this FREEZING water to swim through caves to a waterfall.

This is where we first got in

When we bought our camera it claimed to be freeze proof, shock proof, and waterproof.  Well we figured this was probably the best time to test and see if the people at Olympus were a bunch of liars.  Just in case, we took Brent's camera. 

This is what we swam to.  It was gorgeous!  Brent and I both climbed up on a rock and jumped in

Good form, but minus points for holding his nose.  Brent didn't get a shot of me jumping, but I did!

If you turn your head sideways, this is part of the view on the way to the waterfall.

We got back to the van and drove to our next location.  On the way there we saw some of the volcanic activity on Dominica.  This was the steam coming out of one of the volcano vents.

Next we arrived at Screw Hot Springs.  There was a big sign when you first came in that said, "Sulfur is orange, not dirty".  Pretty reassuring for a germ freak like myself...

There were three hot springs and a cool pool.  The first one was waaaaaay hot and the second two felt sooo nice.  After you're done you jump in the cool pool to shrink your pores back up (and lock in all the dirt).

Here we are with our adorable tour guide, Jan.  She was hilarious!

After we finished at the hot springs they brought out fresh fruit to snack on.  Oh my goodness.. I had the best mango I have ever had in my LIFE!  And since it was so good after I got home I went to Trader Joe's and bought a couple.  Big mistake.  Trader Joe's mangoes do not equal Dominica mangoes.

No children were harmed in the making of this photo op

While we were at the hot springs, our van driver made all these cute little animals out of weeds they had by the van!  Crazy!!  He and Alan need to have a competition.

Later that night we ventured over to karaoke.  I'm 99% sure my husband was the only sober one that performed that night.

For some reason, he chose to do YMCA.  I didn't support this decision, since he didn't know any of the words, other than "Y-M-C-A!"

But he must have done a good enough job because he had the biggest turn out on the dance floor!

When we got back that night, Alan had this waiting for us :)

Up next: Barbados!!