It's an Adventure Land!

Hello all!



Everyone keeps saying that I should contribute to the blog, giving my version of all that we experience. Up until now I've felt that my "adventures" were pretty tame: cooking without recipes/measurements, hand-washing some of the laundry, etc. No one is really interested in that sort of thing, right? And besides, I'm too busy doing that stuff to take time and write up a blog post. But today I went on a real adventure, leaving Jeremy at home to babysit, and since I was the one taking the pictures (and walking up the mountain) I get to add the captions.

It all started when my new bff, Josian, told me that there was a house a few miles away that was for rent. This house included 80 acres of land, so we thought it was something we might be interested in and therefore merited taking a look. I chose to take Titus with me in the sling, since he still depends on me for all his nutrition and the older girls wanted to come along when they found out we were "going on a hike." In the end the house was not what we are looking for, but the adventure was worth the trip!

Our first stop was "Pinky's house." Valerie is another new friend and member of the church we're attending. Josian wanted to borrow a knife in case we needed it later on(which we did). I love the steps leading up to her house and snapped a picture of them.



I want to take a moment here and say how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE this place. When I was a kid, and my mom and dad took me to Walt Disney World, my favorite "land" was Adventure Land. I loved the Swiss Family Robinson's Tree House, the Jungle Cruise, and the Tiki Room. I think that old Walt must have visited Dominica at some time during his life because walking around here is just like being in Adventure Land at WDW, except the trees aren't made of concrete and you can't go more than a few paces before finding some fruit or other that's so tasty to eat (and doesn't cost an arm and a leg)!

We hadn't gone a lot farther before we came upon some cocoa beans/seeds laying out to dry. A few days ago we were able to enjoy fresh cocoa seeds (you suck the juice and membrane off the seeds) and here they were, being dried by the sun before being baked and crushed into cocoa powder.



 It was just as we passed these cocoa beans/seeds that it started to drizzle. It's no secret that I'm not athletic and I probably wouldn't have survived what lay ahead if it hadn't been for the rain and cooler temperatures as you go further up the mountains of Dominica. Not long after passing the cocoa beans/seeds we saw a tree that was laden with mangoes. Josian planned to bring lots of fruit home (she came prepared with a plastic bag in her backpack) but we chose to wait until we were going back down the mountain to pick it, except for what we snacked on as we walked.



Along the way, there were many interesting sights to see.

  

Dominica Nature Island Challenge This Way

And a challenge it was! But we persevered with the help of snacks picked up along the way.

Picking a cocoa pod to snack on.

Abby tried an "apricot" and liked it!

The fact is around here food goes to waste if there aren't any chickens around to eat up what the people don't get. Look at all those mangoes lying the ditch!



As we drew closer to our destination we were able to take in some older structures leftover from the coffee and cocoa plantations that used to prosper here.

 Even the road was really cool, paved with big old stones some of the time.




Even though we were in a hurry (as much as you can be around here) we took time to smell the flowers and  check out the local wildlife.

Libby found a snail!

The rain fell off and on the whole afternoon, providing us with cooling relief, but it was not so relieving to others. On our way back down someone spotted a bird's nest that had been knocked from a tree during the heavier showers. The babies in the nest were cold and their mama was no where to be found. So sad and yet I found comfort knowing that Matthew 10:29 says:

Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.