The ruins at Fort Shirley.

The view from Fort Shirley...a panorama of Prince Rupert Bay.
The grounds outside of Fort Shirley. This picture doesn't look like it was taken in Dominica. Not the typical landscape you see here.
Looking inside the entrance to Fort Shirley. The fort is located on Cabrits National Park, about 10 minutes from our home.
A massive silk cotton tree. A lot of Caribbean people have superstitions associated with this type of tree.
A picture of what is left of the officer's quarters. Some of the fort's stone ruins have been partially reconstructed, others are somewhat hidden by the trees.
Old cannons lying on the ground.
A lot of work must have gone into building this fort. A combination of volcanic rock and stone were used in its construction.
More ruins. Fort Shirley is not the only thing found on Cabrits National Park. The island's largest swamp can be found here too.
Another view of the officer's quarters.
Looking through one of the windows towards Prince Rupert Bay and the town of Portsmouth.

Afternoon hike.

A beautiful picture of Katie.
Don and Daron. We went on a hike with them after Katie had taken one of her tests. Daron is wearing a leaf on his head, a natural umbrella. They also showed us where citronella comes from. It looked like sap seeping out of a tree.
We hiked to this spot where Daniel and the kids swung on vines. It was a lot of fun.
Daniel and Katie take a break from hiking. It was nice to be able to enjoy some time together.
Katie watches Daron cut off some sugarcane. We then took it home and ate some of it. It was very good.

Random photos.

Katie, at 22 weeks. She has been feeling very well. The baby has been moving a lot. We had an ultrasound a couple weekends ago, but didn't find out the sex of the baby. We want to be surprised.
Katie, holding Neo. Neo is the daughter of a couple that also live in the village of Toucarie.
We fed these two puppies some leftover turkey. They belong to Lionel, one of the Dominican kids.
Katie got this picture after they had eaten. Here they are sleeping on Wes and Jacque's doorstep. The tryptophan from the turkey must have made them sleepy.
Daniel, making homemade tortillas. Tortillas, just like everything else, are expensive to buy.

Boiling Lake hike.

Looking towards the Boiling Lake. This is two pictures combined.
Three friends, Jamie, Alicia, and Eric, joined Daniel for what is said to be one of Dominica's hardest hikes.
The capital city, Roseau, could be seen as well as the Caribbean Sea. It was hard to tell where the water ended and the sky began.
Daniel, with his GPS, sweating up a storm. All of the guide books strongly recommend a guide. We thought we would be ok without one.
The views were amazing. Not only could you see the Caribbean Sea, you could also see the Atlantic Ocean. That is how high up we were.
Jamie takes a break from the steep steps. It was like we were on a continuous stairmaster.
The very pretty and very green mountains.
This shows you how steep some of the areas of the hike were.

Boiling Lake, continued...

Standing in front of one of Dominica's high peaks.
The steps were so steep that sometimes you couldn't see where they were going.
Looking down into what is called the Valley of Desolation. The smell of sulfur was very strong.
Though the steam from the Boiling Lake could be seen from here, we still had a long ways to go.
Daniel kneeling near some boiling water. This water could leave some minor burns.
Looking up out of the Valley of Desolation at the mountains.

Still more Boiling Lake...

Jamie, crawling through the rocks, on the final stretch to the lake. The lake was just around the corner. We were used to the horrible smell of sulfur by now.
Daniel stands in front of the Boiling Lake. Needless to say, we didn't spend much time here.
Taking a break at our destination. The lake didn't make the hike neat, it was the hike and the views that made it worth doing.
Not the greatest picture of the Boiling Lake, but you get the idea. Yes, it actually was bubbling and boiling.
Taking a break from the grueling return trip. Our legs were shaking from exhaustion. The hike took around 4 1/2 hours.

Pirates?

Through the rain and fog, it looks like this could be a pirate ship.
Even the Coast Guard was there checking it out. Their boat can be seen to the left. They were making sure nobody pirated the ship.
This tall sailing ship, which was docked at the Cabrits boat dock, is actually a type of cruise ship that stops in Dominica.
These types of cruise ships are called Star Clippers and are run by a company based out of the United Kingdom.

Thanksgiving Day dinner.

Daniel and Katie after dinner. Katie still had classes on Thursday, so we celebrated with friends the next day.
Katie took this picture of all of us. Jeff and Kelly had us over for dinner. We had a wonderful time.
The dinner table. You can find turkey here in Dominica, but it is very expensive.
Jeff cuts into the turkey. Though we couldn't celebrate with our families back home, we had a good time celebrating with friends.

Chaudiere Pool.

Daniel, holding the sign to Chaudiere Pool. This was a short hike to a very neat place.
Jamie and Teri, some friends who are also spouses, came along for the hike. Jamie had been here before, so he was leading.
Almost there. The river was running strong since it had rained for almost two weeks straight.
Jamie and Teri getting ready to cross the river. We had to leave our backpacks behind due to the river being so high.
Here it is, the Chaudiere Pool. This was taken the second time that Daniel was there. He couldn't get a picture of it the first time.