Most people have never been to or heard of Dominica. It’s been a tough 5 years for the little island in the southern part of the Caribbean. Hurricane Maria, a category 5 hurricane, decimated the island in September 2017. Then COVID hit putting a stop to any tourist travel to the island as it was just starting to get back on its feet. Known as the Nature Island, Dominica appeals to nature lovers due to the mountainous, lush terrain that has numerous hiking trails, waterfalls, and lakes inland. There are only a handful of resorts on the island and very little commercialism. We had never heard of Dominica either. It had been a tough five years for us as well and seemed fitting to celebrate a new phase in our lives that promised to be more carefree by taking a scuba diving trip (our first) to Dominica. We decided to learn how to scuba dive at Gypsy Divers and found the trip listed on their website. The timing was right and we barely hesitated to sign up for the much-deserved vacation without the kids. We couldn’t have picked a better place to relax and reset. We stayed at the Fort Young Hotel in downtown Roseau, the capital of Dominica. It was a lovely hotel that was right on the water and every morning our Dive Dominica boat would pick us up for a morning of scuba diving. It also allowed us to easily walk into town and enjoy all the restaurants and small businesses that were there to enjoy. The water near Dominica is warm and inviting. We rarely had to worry about currents and each dive site offered a peek into all the small and beautiful sea life that is typical of Dominica. Our favorite spot on the trip was a dive site know as Swiss Cheese. It was so colorful and filled with beautiful fish and coral and had a fantastic archway to swim through that made it extra special. The dive crew from Dive Dominica were so wonderful and friendly. They even prepared the lionfish that some of the other divers on our trip speared, making us fried fish one day and ceviche on another. Most of the group was also from North Carolina, but we had one woman from Argentina and another from Fort Lauderdale. It was a friendly bunch who were a mix of ages and dive experience. We saw lots of colorful coral and plant life, beautiful schools of fish and uniquely patterned fish of all shapes and sizes as wells as eels, sea cucumbers and sea urchins. My husband went on a night dive and saw a whole different cast of characters including lobsters, octopus and sea turtles. We were also fortunate to have some dolphins swim alongside our boat.
Our dive trip each day started at 8 am and was usually back to the hotel by 1 pm. Then we had the afternoon to enjoy ourselves with other activities on the island. Gypsy Divers had a few excursions planned with the trip including some hikes and canyoning. We skipped the canyoning, but went on a challenging hike to Middleham Falls and also to Ti Tou Gorge and Trafalgar Falls with the Gypsy Divers crew. We met a really nice driver named Martin, who took us to Soufriere and Champagne Reef on the first day and then also up to the other “big” town in Dominica, Portsmouth, so that we could enjoy a boat ride down the Indian River. Ti Tou Gorge was really amazing as was the hike to and swim in Middleham Falls. The boat ride down the Indian River where Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3 were filmed was a special adventure too. We were rowed to the Bush Bar where we enjoyed the drink Dominica is known for, rum punch. The Indian River is filled with iguanas, crabs and lovely birds and our late afternoon trip was incredibly peaceful and relaxing. The drive there allowed us to see a good portion of the island and Martin filled us in on interesting details about the island.
The hotel had an extensive menu that included dishes from all over the globe. We had breakfast every morning there and also tried a couple of meals for dinner. Mostly, we found restaurants in town which offered simple fare that usually consisted of one or two choices of meat along with root vegetables and other sides. One of my favorite restaurants in Roseau was called the Old Stone Bar and Grill. There was also a lovely juice bar we went to several times for lunch called Elsa’s Juice Bar and Café. My favorite meal of the whole trip was at the River Rock Café and bar. I had a delightful creole shrimp dish. The cafe is known to have the best rum punch on the island and the seating offers a beautiful view of Trafalgar Falls. We went to Dominica with the mindset of getting out of the country to relax and unwind, but also to have a little bit of adventure and we got just that. We were there the first week of September which is the start of hurricane season. We were fortunate that the weather was delightful all week and there were very few tourists on the island other than us. It was a true gift that offered a wonderful escape to a magical place. Some Resources if you are interested in traveling to the island include: Bradt Travel Guide by Paul Crask Dominica Traveller Paul Crask Website Discover Dominica
"Each bone represents a call to action, a story, a voice." -Naomi Natale
It is hard to imagine an art installation that is comprised of 1,000,000 bones created by students, artists, and activists laid out on the National Mall. But the vision of one artist Naomi Natale came to fruition on June 8, 2013 and I was there to be a part of it as well as witness the amazing sight in the nation’s capital. In the following video Naomi Natale explains how the One Million Bones project came about:
I got involved with the One Million Bones project back in 2012 as part of the Congo Design Challenge. Students made bones to help raise money and participate in the art installation that raises awareness of the ongoing problem of genocide around the world in places such as Burma, the Congo, and Somalia. Over a two-year period the students at West Career and Technical Academy made approximately 5,000 bones. Being only a 5-hour drive from Washington D.C., I knew I had to be there for the actually laying of the bones. My husband and I drove up in a crazy rainstorm where it rained non-stop for 5 hours. But the following day, the sky cleared and made for a beautiful ceremony that involved guest speakers, music, and a sea of people dressed in white to lay the bones. We were placed into sections to lay the bones and walked back and forth with handfuls of bones. The cellist Amy Ziff played solemn music that rang through the air during the laying of the bones which put us in a meditative frame of mind.
We worked with teachers and artists from the Artworks studio who run art programs for kids in the D.C. area. It took about 4 hours to lay all of the bones. It was incredible to see all the many unique touches and interpretations that people from all over the world had added to their bones. Bones came from every single state in the U.S. and thirty countries and were made of a variety of materials such as clay, papier mache, styrophone, knitting yarn and glass. I also was able to see Grace Lau from Students Rebuild/Global Nomads Group who played a big role in the video conferences my students did with students from Haiti and the Democratic Republic of the Congo which was an added bonus for me. The amount of energy and coordination to make this event a success was almost unfathomable, but it really went off without a hitch. Naomi Natale founded the Art of Revolution during this project, and it will be interesting to see what her next installation piece will be. You can check out my photo gallery of the event here.
This gorgeous video “Postcards from 1952” by Explosions in the Sky evokes an earlier era and slows down precious moments of simple childhood pleasure and joy. The music speeds up to a crescendo, but the images are slow moving and almost still throughout the seven-minute video. When I watch it, I am reminded how blessed I have been to have these past few months to slow down and stand still. Since moving to Mannheim, Germany in October of last year, I find myself treading lightly and slowly through the days. We live in a small one-bedroom apartment and have no car. Mannheim is a medium-sized city and we live in what is called the Quadratt which is the downtown area of the city. It’s a great part of the city to live in and although it isn’t the same as the downtown of a big city, it has a special buzz all of its own with people out in the streets going to cafes, stores and markets throughout the day. Everything we need is within walking distance. There are several grocery stores and even two bio stores (organic grocery stores) within a 10-block radius. I usually go to the store 2-3 times a week buying enough to get us through a day or two. The gym is 4 blocks away and my boxing gym is about 10 blocks from my apartment. There is a cafe and bakery on just about every block. We also have a couple of hooptie bikes that get us around to further distances and once a week I secure a bundle of clothes on my bike to take to the laundromat which is about 4 blocks away. I have developed a comfortable routine that involves exercise, reading, writing, studying, and working. At times, it feels surreal to be here, but it has been incredibly nourishing to my soul. It has been about 15 years since I have taken the time to slow down and stand still. For the first time in that long, I have rested, relaxed, and been living each day in the moment and had the luxury of not worrying too much about what the future holds. Simple pleasures and quiet moments spring to the front of my awareness; watching a mother explain some curiosity to her child as they make their way hand in hand down the street, a small dog pouncing on the snow as it is walked by its owner or a young couple deeply engrossed in conversation through a cafe window. In a couple of months, we will pack up and head back home to busier lives which I am certainly looking forward to, but I am also certain I will look back at this time spent here fondly where I was able to rejuvenate and refresh my body and soul by simply taking the time to slow down and stand still.
I just got back from an amazing two weeks in Ethiopia and Djibouti where I managed to stay disconnected from electronic devices for two weeks! No emails, text messages, Facebook or Twitter. It was an amazing trip on so many levels– too much of an adventure to cover in a single blog post, but one of the things I appreciated most about the trip was that not only did it allow me an escape from being connected, it also allowed me an escape from the heavy consumer culture of Western Society. One of the things I found surprising about Ethiopia was the absolute absence of American corporations…not even a McDonalds or a Starbucks anywhere. It was refreshing to go to cafes in Addis Ababa and see people engrossed in real conversation over a macchiato instead of a table of people all texting that is so common at restaurants here in the U.S. No big mega malls or Walmart. Even when you went to stores or to markets, there wasn’t the pressure to buy that is so common even in many other third world countries. Although everyone has a cell phone, they use them for just that…as a phone. Far less texting and all the other varied tasks we use our smart phones for in the western world. Yet the access to connectivity was incredible. We went to some of the most remote places in Ethiopia and were amazed to see that our guide had reception everywhere! I had heard that cell phone usage and coverage in Africa far exceeded that in the United States…now I believe it! It was neat as well to see solar power being used in innovative ways in the most remote places such as to power a water well. Yet the most pervasive symbol throughout the two countries were the bright yellow square containers used to get water from distant places. And still throughout the country there was a sense of hope and optimism. The economy is growing and people’s lives are improving and yet the Ethiopian people seem to hold on tightly to some of their most important birth rights–a strong sense of community, culture, and belief. I was fortunate to get away, unplug and experience this other world and have come back to my world refreshed! Here is a video of our trip:
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AuthorYvonne Caples is a Learning Experience Designer who is passionate about making learning meaningful and engaging for all. Posts
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