Our last port (Monday) was Dominica (pronounced Dom-in-eek-ah). At Dominica the Explorer had to drop anchor off shore and tenders (small life boats) were used to transport us from the ship to the shore. Dominica doesn’t have a port to speak of and the bigger cruise lines get preference in using their minimal docking facilities so we got to have the experience of “tendering”. I’ve included some pics below of the ship’s tenders. They look small but each once can actually accommodate 80 passengers.

In Dominica our group went whale-watching. Although as it turned out there were no whales to watch on that particular morning, so it was really just a couple of hours out in a very nice small boat trying our hardest to spot a Sperm Whale’s spout (or pilot whale, or Minke whale or anything!!)… but, alas… no luck!

When we got back to shore Lois and I walked around the port town of Roseau which has lots of narrow, busy streets that seem to contain a pretty even mixture of local life and tourist-focused enterprises.

Although our time in Dominica was short this is an island I’d really like to return to. I would especially like to visit the interior rain forests that are shrouded in low-lying clouds most of the time… you will see them in the photos below. I’ve heard some nice stories about the many beautiful spots around the island but our short stay didn’t really give us a chance to do a lot of exploring outside of Roseau.

This being our last port certainly brings up mixed feelings. I am so excited to get home and see my family, friends and 4-leggeds but this has been a truly wonderful adventure and so, of course, it’s also sad to see it end… say goodbye to the ship and the sea (for now), not to mention all the fascinating and infuriating people I have met… just like life, isn’t it?