Our Stay on Dominica
In the early morning of the 7th December, we anchored in the Prince Rupert Bay on Dominica after having sailed for more than three weeks. When the sun rose, other ships and green hills covered with green trees and beaches surrounded by palm trees appeared. The green was only interrupted by small colorful houses, which seemed like dots. The view was fantastic, only wrecks lying on the beach reminded us of the last horrible hurricane. Simon, our student captain, handed over the Thor back to our captain Detlef, because by arriving on Dominica, our take-over of the ship ended. To celebrate our transatlantic crossing, we ate a delicious breakfast.
The same day, the Thor Heyerdahl Open-Air Swimming Pool opened. We jumped into the deep blue water from the bowsprit. It was very beautiful but also a little bit exciting because it is a seven-meter jump and until now, I have only jumped from the three-meter-diving boards in public swimming pools. Since arriving on Dominica, we have been able to go swimming in the morning, which is amazing because unfortunately, there are not too many chances to do sports on board. Some mornings, our Spanish and geography teacher Athos also offered “run and dip” in the morning, where we jogged along the coast first and went swimming to cool down afterwards.
To bring groups to the beach and back, we must shuttle with our dinghies, which are small rubber boats. To be allowed to steer a dinghy, students needed a dinghy drivers’ license for the Thor Heyerdahl. To get one, everyone had an exam with our mate Uli or our captain Detlef.
After some days of dinghy exams, swimming and arriving in the new surroundings, we were ready to stay with our host families. Two buses for 15 people (we were 18 people per bus, as is usual on Dominica) brought us on a one-hour drive to the families in Marigot. At first, it was planned that only two people were in one family, but at the end, the families often took four to ten students. Alma, Anna, Lili Sol and I stayed with the family whose house was rebuilt by KUSis in 2021. The family was thankful and told us about the last time when students visited them two years ago. I hope they will tell the next KUSis about our stay because for us, it was nice to hear about the other’s experiences.
During our stay, we went swimming at a wonderful bay with pelicans and palm trees and hiked to a river. It was a little bit strange that the water was not salty there. On the second evening, we accompanied our host mum to the town’s Christmas tree lighting party. In the end, it was like a Christmas market with very loud music and a lot of colorful lights. There, we met other KUSis and even though we had not seen them for only one day, we were really excited to be together again. That showed us how close we have become in the last two months.
We also learned how to prepare sugar cane, and we cooked breadfruit as well as bananas for lunch with our host family. It was an extraordinary feeling to eat fruits like starfruit and coconut fresh from the tree. Yet, we were not used to eating so much sweet food as we all did in our host families.
Another group lived in the jungle for the four days. They helped their hosts to cover a house with bamboo and learned a lot about the interesting nature which is different to Germany and new for us. The Dominicans know very much about their nature, but some do not focus so much on the environment and sometimes throw their rubbish in the forest. This irritated us quite a bit!
Inga, Leonie, Rudi, Clara D., Paula, and Fenja stayed close to the capital Roseau in Canfield. In contrast to the others, they have visited some tourist attractions in Roseau and the surrounding area, for example three waterfalls. All in all, the stay with host families was beautiful and we had a lot of fun.
The day after we came back to our home the Thor, we had expeditions in groups of five or six people. Because the motto was “the most foreign”, we divided the students in groups with other people that we have not spend that much time with. We had to organize ourselves where we wanted to go and how we would reach our destination. Sometimes we had to trade goods because we had a limited amount of money.
My group wanted to go to Castle Bruce, but in the end, we had to change the plan because we ran out of time and did a road trip instead. We visited Marigot, a crossroad in the middle of the jungle, Canfield and St. Joseph. That was our new destination, where we swam and ate our lunch with avocados and cookies. On the way back, we hiked to a beach, from where a nice driver took us back to Portsmouth with his pick-up truck.
Another group went to a waterfall and swam under it, climbed up a river and played with the current. Others went hiking, swimming or visited Roseau, because we were supposed to explore different places on the island. Despite the different destinations, all groups had a beautiful day and made great new experiences.
The next day, we had to prepare the ship to leave Dominica. Soon, it is Christmas, and we are all very excited for a wonderful celebration. With that, we are going to start the next part of our journey on the 19th of December.