Testing Fate: a road trip to remember

I rented a car. And I drove it.

Yes. Even better than my attempt at something so brave is the fact that three people put their lives in my hands and I didn't kill them. You may be thinking "Wow! This may end up being a better story than the sailing adventure!" To that I would respond, "Oh yes, it is. Keep reading please."

Pretty much the whole time we were in the car (okay, at least half the time), I felt confident, which of course makes for a rather boring story. Actually, it would be a completely different story from the point of view of Chris and Tyler who sat helpless in the backseat. I mean they didn't even have the front floor panel to press their foot against to help me brake the way Justin did! And with these brakes, I needed all the help I could get. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

For those of you who can't quite understand the importance of this feat, this "brave" attempt at driving in the third world, here are a few things to remember: 1. I don't enjoy driving (could be a key point, don't you think?) 2. Most roads here are slightly wider than one lane, with enough room for two cars to pass with what seems like a two inch clearance between the side windows, and no shoulders or stripes on the road, no stop lights, one stop sign you get the point 3. You drive on the left side of the road, but in the right side of car 4. did I mention I don't particularly enjoy driving.

If you still need some reasoning as to why it was left up to me to drive, as opposed to Justin, let's consider this:

1. Familiarity with the roads: me (Justin's knowledge of roads would be exclusive to Banana Trail, from the apartment to campus and back, exactly as it should be)

2. Valid Drivers license: me (Justin's is expired) although I wasn't able to get a Dominican permit because the rental company was out and the police station was closed on Sunday. We were advised by the rental guy to just not get pulled over. We couldn't help but laugh. Traffic cops? Here? Yeah, right.

So Sunday morning Justin and I rented a Toyota Camry for a day of sight seeing with our guests Chris and Tyler.

Our first stop was Trafalgar Falls. When we reached Roseau, we discovered the road we needed to take inland was blocked. Using a very vaguely marked map, we navigated through a neighborhood (okay it was more like driving up and down a street) trying to find this obscure road that would merge with the road we needed after the construction. Finally we asked directions to discover we had been passing the road, but hadn't thought of it as an option because it was marked with a "do not enter" sign that listed certain dates. Our first test of fate for the day, we decided to go for it, and traveled down this extremely narrow, hanging off the edge of a cliff "trail," against traffic. It must have only been a tenth of a mile long, but since we were all holding our breaths it felt like thirty minutes of pure stress, especially when the huge bread truck came around the corner and miraculously there was a pocket of space against the side of the mountain that protected us as the driver passed, honking his horn at the dumb white tourists. Although I bet he got a small kick out of the fact that a little white girl was driving three grown men around. Eventually we met up with the real road and were on our way to Trafalgar.

It was about this time when we realized the brakes on the camry were not top notch. The squeal of brake pads became our soundtrack, with alternating moments of absolute silence (some may call it stress, I'd like to think of it as contemplative) as we slowly made our way through the mountainous roads.

Just when we thought we'd never make it (there are no markings or signs, you know), there it was! The parking lot I mean. The feeling of solid ground beneath our feet was almost was good as the prospect of seeing the waterfalls. Almost.

At the start of the hike, we met Jackson, a local guide who offered to help us hike up over the boulders to get to the waterfall. If you have read about my other hikes to waterfalls, you may remember that there aren't cute little stone lined paths right to the perfect picnic spot here. He was hired.

Trafalgar Falls, before the hike

Jackson helped us climb over, around, and over again. All in his red Crocs. We told him he was a walking advertisement for the shoe company. I can't imagine hiking in those!

Our final destination.

After a quick swim, we had a quick picnic of pb & j and oranges. Jackson offered to take us to another little place nearby called Titou gorge. I had heard about it from other people, but never had the chance to go. So we headed back to the car and Jackson hopped in to show us the way. I missed the expression on his face when he realized I was driving, but Justin assures me it was priceless.

Jackson also noticed the condition of the brakes and you know that means they were in poor shape. The intensity of our road trip increased with another diversion because of construction. At one point the hill we were climbing was so steep I couldn't see over the hood of the car. It was a good thing we had Jackson with us, because we would not have passed our second test of fate if he hadn't pointed to the right and told me to turn at what I guess was the top of the hill (I still could only see sky), which was also a "T" intersection with another road. Going straight would have taken us off the road and back down the hill. A little further we encountered a road crew paving a section of the road. Since the road was so narrow there was no reason to pave one side and then the other, so the paved the whole width. As we sat there waiting, Jackson reached over and honked the horn at them to remind them that we would like to pass eventually. Of course when they looked over, all they saw was a white girl in the driver's seat. I reminded Jackson of that fact. After a few minutes, the road was cleared enough to pass over the freshly pressed asphalt and continue to Titou.

Well, we made it to Titou, bad brakes, rough roads and all. Titou Gorge is a freezing cold pool of water on the backside of a waterfall.

We swam through the gorge to see the waterfall. The water was surprisingly deep, none of us could reach the bottom!

It was the first time I've ever been behind a waterfall.

There was a large rock to the side that we all stood on while Jackson took pictures of us jumping.

By then it was getting to be about time to head home. Although we were only about 35 miles from home, it is a two hour drive. It is crazy to believe that is how slow everyone drives here, but you really can't go any faster on the curvy (some may say treacherous) roads. Plus, the sun sets every evening around 6 and I wasn't about to test fate a third time by driving in the dark! Fortunately we didn't have to return the way we came, and made our way back to Trafalgar to drop off Jackson. Then it was through Roseau (no scary detour, thankfully) and back on the main road to Portsmouth.

We made it home safe and sound, where the boys immediately began washing away the day's stress with Kubuli, brewed with natural spring water.