Around the World in Fifty-Two Weeks Week Eighteen: Dominica
So, this week I've been focused on editing WLHYL and so it was hard to switch gears and work on this series. I hope it's still enjoyable and informative, although I know it's not my best by a long shot. And now, for the 18th segment of my fictitious story, Around the World in Fifty-Two Weeks.
Around the World in Fifty-Two Weeks Week Eighteen: Dominica
We were supposed to have a return ticket to show the custom officers in order to gain entry into Dominica, but thankfully one of the booking agents back at Exploration Airlines headquarters had called ahead and got us special entry permission. And I say “us” because somehow Sophie had worked it out to travel to Dominica and spend the week there exploring with me. I couldn’t have been happier. After over four months, I was homesick for my friends from back home and Sophie was just the tonic I needed. Getting to Dominica from Norway was a longer process than normal and for the first time since I’d been traveling with Exploration Airlines, my luggage got lost. “Bad things happen when you leave the office,” I said, teasing Sophie. “No kidding.” She frowned. “I’m going to go back in the Employes Only area and see if I can figure out what’s going on.” I gaped at my friend, “Don’t you think they’ll just be annoyed by you? It’s not like you can really figure out what’s going on, right?” “Honey, I take care of airline emergencies for a living. I also know quite well how to handle people and I’ll leave if I’m not needed.” She swept her gaze over me and I knew I looked tired and grungy. I wasn’t the most elegant of travelers especially when the destination was a humid, although beautiful, island. “Are you going to come back with me or do you want to go to the restroom and try and get cleaned up a bit?” A smile played over my face at Sophie’s try at being diplomatic. “I think I’ll probably head to the restroom and get cleaned up.” “You did pack a change of clothes in your carry-on, right?” “I’m a seasoned traveler.” I waved my hand at Sophie. “Of course I have a change of clothes. You just head on back and figure out what’s going on with our luggage and I’ll go and get presentable.” Somehow Sophie looked fresh and professional, even though I knew she’d been through the same ordeal as me. Normally I didn’t think of traveling as an ordeal, but not only had our luggage gotten lost, but we’d gotten lost. I’m crediting the fact that our layover was literally in the middle of the night and so we were rushing through the airport at 2:25 a.m. but we totally missed our flight. We should have had coffee before disembarking our first plane. At least Sophie was with me so I wasn’t left alone while trying to book a new flight. (Our missed flight is, in all reality, probably the reason why our luggage was missing.) It took some doing and nearly a half an hour, but I finally felt presentable in my clean clothes with my hair pulled back into a French twist and my make-up (sparse though it be), reapplied. “Yay, you’re ready!” I emerged from the restroom to see Sophie standing there with our luggage next to her. “How in the world?” Sophie was a wonder, there was no other way to describe her. “Let’s hurry. We’ve got a van waiting outside to take us to our hotel.” My co-worker started power-walking toward the doors. “We’ve already used up most of today which means we only have five days to explore and there’s so much to do.” “Right.” The driver of the van helped us load or luggage into it. “Most of the island is covered with densely wooded mountains and rain forests. From what I’ve read the terrain is quite steep and rugged. I thought we could take the remainder of today to rest since it’s almost supper time anyway, and then tomorrow morning we could get up and do some hiking.” “Sounds good to me.” In reality, anything sounded good to me. I was just so happy to be able to sit back and let someone else do all the planning. The next morning while I slept-in, a delicious ocean breeze wafting through our open windows making my cozy bed feel extremely comfortable, Sophie got up and did some research on her laptop. By the time I pulled myself out of bed, she had the rest of our week mapped out. “We’ll spend the week at Cabrits National Park.” I rubbed my still sleepy face. “Wait, we’re spending the whole week at one place?” That sounded strange to me. “There’s a ton to do, silly. The park protects coral reefs, wetlands, and tropical forests.” Sophie grinned, “Besides, do you know how big this island is? It’s tiny. We can travel around as much as we want and then return to the park the next day.” “Sounds good to me then. Tell me what the plan is.” “We’ll spend today hiking. There’s an old English garrison called Fort Shirley and we’ll visit there as well. I thought you could get some footage of the fort for your blog.” “Cool, can you tell me more about Fort Shirley?” I took my phone out and began tapping out notes from force of habit although in reality I could probably ask Sophie to repeat any of the information I needed her to. “Fort Shirley used to be a military outpost and was built in the 18th century to defend north Dominica. The fort housed more than 600 men consisted of over 50 buildings. It was abandoned in 1854 and it wasn’t until 1989 that restoration began. Although several of the buildings have been completely restored, a lot are still in ruins and can be found all over the peninsula.” “You sound like a tour guide.” “Thank you. Now, on to the rest of our itinerary. Thursday we’re going to learn how to SCUBA dive, Friday we’re going to the Dominica Museum, Saturday we’re going to hike up a volcano, and then Sunday we’ll just hang out at the beach.” “Wait, we’re going to go SCUBA diving?” I felt my mouth drop open. “Of course. How could we spend the week here and not? It will be fun and safe so go ahead and get excited about it.”
And to my amazement, I did get excited.
Around the World in Fifty-Two Weeks Week Eighteen: Dominica
We were supposed to have a return ticket to show the custom officers in order to gain entry into Dominica, but thankfully one of the booking agents back at Exploration Airlines headquarters had called ahead and got us special entry permission. And I say “us” because somehow Sophie had worked it out to travel to Dominica and spend the week there exploring with me. I couldn’t have been happier. After over four months, I was homesick for my friends from back home and Sophie was just the tonic I needed. Getting to Dominica from Norway was a longer process than normal and for the first time since I’d been traveling with Exploration Airlines, my luggage got lost. “Bad things happen when you leave the office,” I said, teasing Sophie. “No kidding.” She frowned. “I’m going to go back in the Employes Only area and see if I can figure out what’s going on.” I gaped at my friend, “Don’t you think they’ll just be annoyed by you? It’s not like you can really figure out what’s going on, right?” “Honey, I take care of airline emergencies for a living. I also know quite well how to handle people and I’ll leave if I’m not needed.” She swept her gaze over me and I knew I looked tired and grungy. I wasn’t the most elegant of travelers especially when the destination was a humid, although beautiful, island. “Are you going to come back with me or do you want to go to the restroom and try and get cleaned up a bit?” A smile played over my face at Sophie’s try at being diplomatic. “I think I’ll probably head to the restroom and get cleaned up.” “You did pack a change of clothes in your carry-on, right?” “I’m a seasoned traveler.” I waved my hand at Sophie. “Of course I have a change of clothes. You just head on back and figure out what’s going on with our luggage and I’ll go and get presentable.” Somehow Sophie looked fresh and professional, even though I knew she’d been through the same ordeal as me. Normally I didn’t think of traveling as an ordeal, but not only had our luggage gotten lost, but we’d gotten lost. I’m crediting the fact that our layover was literally in the middle of the night and so we were rushing through the airport at 2:25 a.m. but we totally missed our flight. We should have had coffee before disembarking our first plane. At least Sophie was with me so I wasn’t left alone while trying to book a new flight. (Our missed flight is, in all reality, probably the reason why our luggage was missing.) It took some doing and nearly a half an hour, but I finally felt presentable in my clean clothes with my hair pulled back into a French twist and my make-up (sparse though it be), reapplied. “Yay, you’re ready!” I emerged from the restroom to see Sophie standing there with our luggage next to her. “How in the world?” Sophie was a wonder, there was no other way to describe her. “Let’s hurry. We’ve got a van waiting outside to take us to our hotel.” My co-worker started power-walking toward the doors. “We’ve already used up most of today which means we only have five days to explore and there’s so much to do.” “Right.” The driver of the van helped us load or luggage into it. “Most of the island is covered with densely wooded mountains and rain forests. From what I’ve read the terrain is quite steep and rugged. I thought we could take the remainder of today to rest since it’s almost supper time anyway, and then tomorrow morning we could get up and do some hiking.” “Sounds good to me.” In reality, anything sounded good to me. I was just so happy to be able to sit back and let someone else do all the planning. The next morning while I slept-in, a delicious ocean breeze wafting through our open windows making my cozy bed feel extremely comfortable, Sophie got up and did some research on her laptop. By the time I pulled myself out of bed, she had the rest of our week mapped out. “We’ll spend the week at Cabrits National Park.” I rubbed my still sleepy face. “Wait, we’re spending the whole week at one place?” That sounded strange to me. “There’s a ton to do, silly. The park protects coral reefs, wetlands, and tropical forests.” Sophie grinned, “Besides, do you know how big this island is? It’s tiny. We can travel around as much as we want and then return to the park the next day.” “Sounds good to me then. Tell me what the plan is.” “We’ll spend today hiking. There’s an old English garrison called Fort Shirley and we’ll visit there as well. I thought you could get some footage of the fort for your blog.” “Cool, can you tell me more about Fort Shirley?” I took my phone out and began tapping out notes from force of habit although in reality I could probably ask Sophie to repeat any of the information I needed her to. “Fort Shirley used to be a military outpost and was built in the 18th century to defend north Dominica. The fort housed more than 600 men consisted of over 50 buildings. It was abandoned in 1854 and it wasn’t until 1989 that restoration began. Although several of the buildings have been completely restored, a lot are still in ruins and can be found all over the peninsula.” “You sound like a tour guide.” “Thank you. Now, on to the rest of our itinerary. Thursday we’re going to learn how to SCUBA dive, Friday we’re going to the Dominica Museum, Saturday we’re going to hike up a volcano, and then Sunday we’ll just hang out at the beach.” “Wait, we’re going to go SCUBA diving?” I felt my mouth drop open. “Of course. How could we spend the week here and not? It will be fun and safe so go ahead and get excited about it.”
And to my amazement, I did get excited.
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