From Fishcakes to the Boiling Lake

      Worn out, weary, and full of wonderment, we are finally ready to weigh anchor. For the last two days we have been shepherded about the island by our charismatic tour guide, SeaCat, an Ocean Classroom legend. It's an experience just to ride around in his passenger van, which has a sunglasses-wearing octopus spray-painted on the front and back, as SeaCat says hello to all his local friends. Yesterday he took us to the Carib territory where we met the culture of the higher Dominican elevations and sampled just about every fruit and spice the island has to offer. We climbed trees to pick grapefruit, guava, and oranges, but the highlight was when SeaCat ground roasted cocoa beans and mixed them with milk and sugar for us to eat with our breadfruit and jerk chicken lunch. We returned to the ship heavily laden with fruit and spices for our next passage.

      Today we experienced another adventure with SeaCat: the epic trek to the Boiling Lake. Twenty-six kilometers of treacherous terrain, a rumored 20,000 footsteps, our adventure took us up to a view of the surrounding islands, down into the valley of desolation, and eventually to the other-worldy  boiling lake. We soaked in hot springs, painted our faces with sulphorous mud, and swam through a deep gorge that led us to a hidden waterfall. We ended the day with a delicious shipboard meal and  the anticipation of our next port of call.