Amazon Sunset

After the Rain

Some Pictures and Updates

We have just entered the Amazon River in Brazil and will be traveling up river for 2 days where we dock in Manuas. Will and I booked flights to Rio de Janeiro the day that we get to Manuas and will stay in Rio for 2 days. In the meanwhile, I think I figured out a way to get some pictures up on the boat so here are some pictures from the Boat, the Bahamas, and Dominica. Keep checking the blog in the next week for some Brazil stories as well.

Sailing in the Bahamas:

Kicking our way in after the wind died:

Getting towed in (right before we flipped):

Our room on the boat (Will got the right side, I have the left):

Our Movie projector set up in our room for movie nights:

Leaving the Bahamas:

Between Classes:

Dominica:

A local and his pet:

Steaming Hot Springs:

Trafalgar Falls:

Traveling like a local:

Our lunch spot, Tasty's:

Titou Gorge, where Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed:

On the Amazon River:

Photo Test

Looking Forward

            In less than a week we will land in Manaus, Brazil. Will and I booked flights to Rio de Janeiro and are extremely excited to check out the vibrant city. I hope to be able to surf, possibly hang glide, and do some solid exploring in Rio for a few days.

I'm sorry that the pictures don't seem to be working so you'll just have to make do with text but I will get pictures up as soon as possible. The Internet rarely works on the boat. I'll also throw together a quick post about the classes I'm taking as well as what the boat is like. Keep checking the blog. 

Adios!

Dominica Day 1:

I woke up at 7am to the blue waters of Dominica outside my window. We were eager to get a move on the day so we ate quickly and were the first people of the ship at 8. Instead of getting an expensive tourist trap taxi to town, we decided we would walk to get a better chance to explore. To walk to town was only about 15 minutes from the ship. Once in town, Will and I, along with our friends Emily and Adrie, went in to a bakery after being drawn in by the smell. We grabbed some fresh bread then bargained for a taxi to take us to Trafalgar Falls. We finally agreed to a $2 taxi up to the falls about 20 minutes away. Our cab driver, Israel, gave us a good tour on the way up about the different hot springs on the island, and he also took us by his friend who had caught a big snake. The falls were incredible. What was especially cool about them is that some parts of the falls were cold and others were hot as a Jacuzzi from the hot springs. After climbing around the falls awhile, we hopped in the back of a workers pickup truck and made our way back to town. Instead of going to an overpriced tourist restaurant, we decided to test our stomachs and try out a local spot. (We had also been eating Bepto Bismol like it was candy throughout the day) Our lunch of chicken and fried mackerel only cost a couple dollars and truly hit the spot. And of course we accompanied the meal with the local beer, Kubuli. Dominica made its presence in most of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3 and so we decided to check out the filming spots. We went to a place called the gorge, where Jack Sparrow and his crew paddle up a narrow river surrounded by 30 foot rock walls and draping vines. Having watched Pirates of the Caribbean 2 the night before in our room, it was awesome to be in the same place as it was filmed. We were all pretty tired and hungry after a day of exploring so we ventured back to the ship to rest and have dinner before the nighttime festivities started. 

Dominica Day 2:

Having just been SCUBA certified before the trip, I really wanted to explore the water of Dominica. Will and I got up early to go to a place called Champagne reef, a lively reef that bubbles like champagne from all the underwater springs. Two city busses and $4 later, we made it to the south end of the island at champagne reef. Will and I met up with three other Semester at Sea students who were scuba certified and wanted to dive the reef as well. The water was crystal clear and in the mid 80's. We saw a huge variety of tropical fish, eels, seahorses, and all sorts of underwater creatures.  I can definitely say that I have caught the diving bug and want to dive every port that I can. For lunch we grabbed some chicken and rice at another local shop and spent the last of our Caribbean currency at the grocery store to stock up on snacks for the ship. Dominica is an awesome country and I can not wait to see what adventure lies ahead in the near ports. 

Bahamas Day 2

We woke up a little late the second day in the Bahamas after being exhausted from all the traveling but got up and went straight to exploring. We walked around near our hotel meeting tons of other Semester at Sea students to see if we could find an adventurous crew who wanted to rent a sailboat with Will and I. After finding 4 others willing to explore the sea, we rented a small catamaran and ventured into the Caribbean Sea.  The wind was relatively steady for the first 45 minutes as we made our way to a small deserted Island. The water was warm and crystal clear and only about 8 feet deep. Once we made it to the island, the wind COMPLETELY stopped. Watching our rental time dwindle and seeing that we were making no progress back to the main shore, we started to kick our way in. After a half an hour of floating and kicking, we realized we were going to need a tow. Luckily, we were able to flag down a local on a Jet Ski, so we attached to his ski and began our way back to shore. I was manning the rudder, which was extremely difficult when the jet ski driver didn't understand the concept of a slow and steady pace. 10 minutes into the tow, the driver makes a slight turn and jack-knifes our catamaran to the left of him flipping him and his ski. He wasn't terribly happy, but we managed to get his ski back up and get back to shore in one piece. We finished off the day with our friends in town for a local plate of conch and grouper then made our way to the clubs to meet other students.

Made it to the Bahamas!

Finally made it here to the Bahamas! I had an awesome first day here in Nassau. We landed from our flight at 9am and went straight to our Hotel. There are tons of semester at sea students floating around the hotel so you meet people quickly. Will and I took the bus downtown and got a chance to check out the Port where we will be taking off from tomorrow.  Downtown is extremely touristy but fun to explore. We saw a bus driver (for the bus we were supposed to get on) get aggressively arrested for what we thought was drunk driving. It was a hectic scene and the police kept grabbing him by the tie and shoving him around. We eventually took another bus back so we could go hang out at the each and meet people.  After an afternoon siesta, Will and I met up with 4 other semester at sea students for dinner and some drinks. After dinner we walked around town checking out all the bars, slowly adding to our crew as we met more people. We eventually made it to Señor Frogs, the most touristy bar in town. There were well over a hundred semester at sea students here so we stayed there for the rest of the night. The plan for today is to go SCUBA diving or sailing. Should be a great day!