Day Three, Tuesday, February 21 Dominica
Dominica, 29 miles long (49km) and 16 miles (25km) at its widest, rises to almost 5,000 feet. Formerly both English and French colonies, it is a mix of English, French, African, and Carib peoples. Its lush rainforests receive over 300 inches of rain per year.

Our ship docked in the capital, Roseau. There were hundreds of little sidewalk vendors selling all kinds of crafts and souvenirs. Ron was more interested in the musicians.

A small, open tour bus took us on a terrifying hour-long journey up the mountain along a narrow road. On one side we could almost touch the side of the mountain and the other dropped hundreds of feet into the valley. When we met a vehicle coming down, both slowed down to a crawl and there were just inches between the two vehicles!

Then an aerial tram took us even higher into the rain forest. During the 90-minute trip, there were frequent showers. The sky would suddenly break and dump torrents of rain for a few minutes and then, just as suddenly, the sun would reappear.

Unfortunately, it was called "winter" (at 85F?) when we were there and wildlife was scarce. We saw a few parrots flying in the distance some hummingbirds. While Ron went for a short hike with the others at the top, a young tram operator showed me some agouti which are large, shy rodents native to only Dominica. Of course, Ron had the camera with him.

Have you ever tried to grow Birds of Paradise at home? They're plentiful here. The huge plants on the right (bromelaids?) grow off the sides of tall trees, high above the ground. They always hold rainwater. The tree frogs lay their eggs in them and the tadpoles develop there too.

Can you see the dark nuts on this tree? (I've forgotten the name of it.) Researchers in France think they've found a cure for AIDS, made from these nuts, found only in Dominica.

Then we had to brave the bus trip back down to Roseau.

....And that evening at the ship's casino, I lost half of my winnings from the nights before.