Victoria Falls

I want to apologize for not posting in so long. I've gotten so caught up in living my life down here that sharing it didn't seem as important... until I got so many requests to start updating it again! Ryan and I were really touched to realize how many people enjoy reading about our adventures down here!

Last Tuesday I went on a trip to Victoria Falls with the spouses organization. I am the activity coordinator- which means that I create the calender of trips, plan the trips, hire the drivers, and spread the word about the trips so that plenty of people sign up. It can be a bit stressful at times, what with balancing the weather, people's interest in the activities, and the schedules of a lot of different people... but it is a lot of fun and I enjoy it most of the time. I'd hired Theo for the trip to Victoria Falls, and then a LOT of people signed up. Theo's friend Otis ended up driving as well, so we headed to the other side of the island on Tuesday morning with two vans full of excited spouses!

Victoria Falls is a long drive away from Picard, where we live. Ross is located on the North western coast, and Victoria Falls is way down in the south-eastern part of the island. It took us about an hour and forty-five minutes to get there... which is quite a while when the island isn't even fifty miles long from tip to tip! In the States, the same drive would've taken about forty-five minutes... but with the huge mountains and the thick rain forest down here, the roads are very narrow and very curvy!

Victoria Falls is not the tallest falls on the island- that honor goes to Middleham Falls (which I visited about a month ago). But Victoria Falls has the largest volume of water of any of the falls on the island- and it's amazing! It's no Niagara Falls, but it is incredibly breathtaking in its own right. I was completely blown away by the beauty of the falls.

The hike in was a LOT of fun. The locals are very proud of the fact that Dominica has 365 rivers- one for every day of the year. When you go hiking on an island this small with that many rivers, you're going to get wet. Victoria Falls was definitely the wettest hike I've been on so far- it was even wetter than Sari Sari! Sari Sari we had to hike up a river, but there were submerged rocks to step on so that you could stay SOMEWHAT dry, as long as you didn't slip (which of course, I did, and went from ankle deep water to water over my head).

But Victoria Fall's trail was wild! I lost count of the river crossings... I think we crossed three or four rivers, and then we started hiking up the river to reach the falls. And when I say we hiked up the river, I don't mean that we walked along a pretty path next to the river. I mean that we waded up the river bed itself, scrambling over boulders and helping each other through mini rapids. There were spots where the water was reached my chest!

The hike was about an hour one way, and of course we went swimming as soon as we reached the falls itself. We were already soaked, why not? It was so beautiful, and a perfect spot for lunch! The hike out was a lot of fun too, although I was very glad that I had dry clothes and shoes waiting for me in the van!

Here are some photos of Victoria Falls. I've also included photos of my friend Ivana's bridal shower! Ivana is flying off the island to Miami today. She came down to Dominica with her fiance Sonny. They will be married over the August semester break, a few days after he gets home. Ivana went home early to finish up all the last minute wedding details. We'll miss her, but we are so happy for her! We wanted to be able to celebrate with her, so I hosted a 'bridal shower' last Monday evening. We couldn't really shower her with presents down here, but we shared marriage advice and our favorite recipes, and wished her well! We also did natural facials, so that's why we look pretty sill in several of the photos! It was a lot of fun. Down here it is so important to do these special things- otherwise you feel like your life is on pause. Life goes on- we have to celebrate it!

The puppy was the 'official' greeter of Victoria Falls. He belonged to one of the farmers who was working at the trail head. As for the sign... I cannot decide if that is a misspelling of restaurant or if it is a brilliant play on words for a rasta style eatery! Rasta is the religion/ life-style started by Bob Marley.

EDIT- It has been pointed out to me that Bob Marley did not start Rasta, he merely practiced it (and made it pretty popular due to his fame).