Just like any other rotation we have the weekends 'off'.
Jungle bay offers several activities for each day of the weekend. This
particular Saturday we all decided to go snorkeling at Champagne Beach. This is
usually scheduled during the week but since we are busing with rotation related
activities during the week Jungle Bay worked with us and set up a trip to
accommodate our interest in this particular activity. We were all very grateful
and would have been disappointed if we didn't get to enjoy snorkeling in such a
beautiful location. The weather
was absolutely gorgeous! The sun was shining and it was the perfect
temperature. Even the water was warm enough! It was definitely amazing to see
the bubbles coming from the volcanic sea floor, which is how the beach received
its name. It was like swimming in a glass of champagne at one point! The beach
itself is not your typical beach and is very rocky. It is not the place to lie
out on your towel. The water was crystal clear and a beautiful blue- prefect
for seeing the coral reef and the variety of colorful fish. There were fish
with rainbow colors, bright yellows, various shades of blues (which were my
favorite) and numerous more combinations. Carlos, our awesome guide from Jungle
Bay, found a hot spot for us to check out. The water coming from this area on
shore was toasty warm- even boiling at the beginning and way too hot to touch!
Unfortunately we did not see any sea turtles but it wasn't a big deal. The snorkeling
trip was an awesome experience and we all thoroughly enjoyed our time at
Champagne Beach!
Since the condition of my ankles didn't permit me to
join in on the Boiling Lake hike on Sunday, I was able to go whale watching in
Roseau with Jill and a few other Jungle Bay guests. We were very lucky to have
this alternative option to explore Dominica more! The weather was mostly cloudy
and periodically raining. From the boat we could see it raining in various
locations in Dominica. I was glad we avoiding most of this being away from the
land but I felt bad for the Boiling Lake hikers! The boat left around 2pm with
about 13 people so it wasn't too crowded. We headed out to sea keeping close
enough to the coast for about 30 minutes when the crew decided to use their
sonar instruments to see if they could hear any whales nearby. Unfortunate we
didn't pick up any sounds beneath the water so we headed north for about 30
more minutes and tried again. Still nothing! Dive Dominica had about an 85%
success rate but considering I am impatient I was starting to get my hopes up.
We continued north for another 30 minutes and listened again. This time they
could hear whales 1-3 miles toward the north, northwest and northeast. We
continued north more to head in their directed and listened again. It seems
like we were in the right area so we were told to keep looking since it they
could be underwater for 30-45 minutes before surfacing for air. The captain
gave this information to another sightseeing boat and told them to watch since
they might be heading their way. After about 5 minutes the other boat informed
us they spotted the whales and we headed on our way to see them closer! Luckily
the whales were still 'socializing and catching their breath' when we arrived.
There were two sperm whales ahead of us... Moby Dick whales as the captain
said. This was my first whale watching experience and I was super excited to
see whales so close. It was awesome! They were apparently females since the
male whales will leave the warmer waters while the female whales don't. They
were about 30-40 feet in length, about half as long as the boat. They casually
swam for a few minutes before diving down for more food. After several minutes
we were able to find more whales and catch up to see them. The boat was about
50 feet from the whales so it was a great view. We saw about 4-5 whales total
since and were able to follow some since they did shallow dives where they
resurfaced several minutes later before taking the deep dive for 30 or more
minutes. One whale even swam right beside the boat giving us a great show. We
were able to see the whale under the water while on the side of the boat and
were right there for the deep dive that followed. All of this happening maybe
30 feet away! It was an amazing sight to be able to see the whales so close and
personal. They were so beautiful and I definitely could not capture it on
camera. After that whale it was about 4:30 and we started heading in, arriving
to shore around 5:10pm. It was rumored that the trip last weekend saw 20 whales
but I was just so glad we had to chance to see one that the 4-5 we watched was
awesome, especially since I didn't think I would see anything halfway through
the trip. I'm very grateful I had this opportunity. Such a wonderful day with
the whales!
Sarah S :)
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