Travel Tips

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Belguin waffles

The next day, we went back to Dominica. We could look through the window at the island as we were having breakfast. I was gradually working my way through the breakfast menu, and I had Belguin waffles this morning. They were good. I'm gradually trying everything on the dining room breakfast menu

Today our tour was to be the Ariel Tram. First we had to take a bus up the mountain. A couple of times I wasn't sure the bus was going to make it. It kept bottoming out on my corner. We passed a power station with a holding pond on the way up.

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Sign in tram station

The tram held 8 people (4 seats with two people) plus a guide sitting in the back. They went up to the top of the mountain on the lower track and came back down on the upper track. First, we had someone take a car around the whole system to be sure it was all working. It was kind of wet, and before we got in, two people wiped down and squeeged the water off the seats.

There was a plastic cover over the tram, and I observed that there was less water on the back seats, so that's where I aimed for. We didn't bother to get rain ponchos from the store, and of course an umbrella would be useless. I had a digital camera, and also a film camera in case it really started to rain.

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Palm trees

Our guide (who was named Nigel) that rode with us told us many interesting facts about the plants and flowers we were seeing and also identified the bird calls and told us interesting things about the tram and the island. As we approached the top, it started to rain a good bit and I put away the digital camera.

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Suspension bridge

We could have gotten off at the top and walked down and across a suspension bridge and get back on the tram at a lower stop. But since it was raining harder, we decided not to do that.

When we got down, we were offered the obligatory drink, and there was a chance to buy things at the store. Then we had to get back into the same van that we came in (there were several so we had to remember our driver's name) to go back down the mountain.

Apparently, although most of the flowering plants flower in the summer, the tram does not operate unless the cruise ships are in. And the ships only come in the winter.

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Wooden pipe

On the way down, I was able to take a photo of the wooden pipe, which was now on my side of the van. We also stopped at a place where we could take pictures of the mountains and buy souvenirs. I stayed on the van and Bob got off to take the pictures. In the dirt at the side of the road, someone had spelled the names of the ships that had called at Dominica in bottle caps or other items.

We went back to the ship through the Botanical Garden and I managed to take several pictures of the squashed school bus.

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Buying flowers for the Maasdam

At the end of the tour, I got off and went into the market to buy some items. I noticed that you had to pay to use the bathrooms.

A grass placemat was $5@. I said that I wanted 5 but could not afford that much money. So she said she'd give me 5 for $30. I said that is the wrong direction - that's more than $5 @. So she eventually agreed to 5 items for $20 and she would throw in a small basket to boot.

As I got back on the ship, I noticed that they were selling flowers to the ship provisioners on the dock. The steel drum man had gone home.

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Me, Bob and Sheela taken by Tom

As we were leaving (while we were playing trivia) we saw multiple rainbows over the island. There was also a boat with a dark blue hull where the Princess had been moored before.

We had some festivities for New Years Eve, and our dinner partners took our pictures using my camera, and we took one of them using their camera.

Tomorrow it is back to St. Thomas