This past weekend there was a faculty outing to Rosalie Bay Resort. This is a new resort that has been in the headlines recently (Top 10 Romantic Caribbean retreats on CNN!). And it was extremely nice. The purpose of the trip was to watch for the sea turtles that come ashore to lay nests of eggs and to relax and get away from campus. But, let me start from the beginnning.
So, Rosalie Bay is on the eastern side of the island (it's about an hour and a half drive from campus) midway between the northern and southern tip of the island. When we left it was nice and sunny and hot, but the closer to the eastern side of the island we got, the more rainy and dreary it became. So essentially the entire Saturday was spent in the rain. :( We took around 50 people (their largest crowd yet) and about half of those stayed the night. (When I booked my room, I got upgraded for free plus a 30% discount for the weekend for being Ross, divided between myself and my roommate = US$80 for a room that would normally be US$250!!) The people at Rosalie pulled out all the stops for us. They even had a 13 person steel drum band that played for us by the pool (They were actually really good! I've got a 2 min. video up on facebook if you want to check it out!). I don't know that I've ever seen that many people in a steel drum band actually... Good food and great service! We also had a turtle presentation given to us by DomSeTCO (Dominican Sea Turtle Conservation Organization) and NET (Nature Enhancement Team). We learned that there are 3 types of sea turtles that lay their eggs on Dominica (Leatherback, Green, and Hawksbill). Of these three sea turtles, the most common is the Leatherback. These are the largest of the sea turtles weighing 800-1000 lbs. In fact, there was a Leatherback that laid a nest the night before we arrived. They measured it at around 180cm (5ft. 9in). The picture I've posted is of the sea turtle tracks from the ocean up to the higher beach where it laid it's eggs (around 100 eggs per nest depending on the species). We were told that the process takes about 2 hours (from the time the sea turtle leaves the ocean, makes its way up onto the appropriate type of sand, makes a nest, lays its eggs, and then goes back into the ocean). The sea turtle nesting season begins in March, peaks in May/June, and ends in September. From 2003-2006 and 2008-2010, there were an average of 150-200 sea turtle nests reported on Dominica, and in 2007 there was over 700 nests reported (don't know what caused the huge spike)! Unfortunately, there was no sea turtle that came to lay the night we were there, but now we know to come back in May/June to see if we can get lucky!!
Even though there was a lack of sea turtle excitement, the getaway was nice, and the sun even decided to come out for a little while on Sunday so we could enjoy the pool and swim in the river. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to relax!
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