While I did a tour through the jungle of Dominica, I left the group to get to know a local. I didn’t talk long to John, but I really liked his story.
Why did I go to him?
While walking through the forest, I saw someone sitting on a river and fishing there all by himself. After walking back outside of the rainforest, I saw him again. He was cooking his caught fish.
I didn’t know why, but I really wanted to talk to him, just getting some local experiences while doing this tour. During tours I miss the local experiences, so it was the chance!
I was in Dominica and in general in the Caribbean because of a cruise in 2019. During a cruise it is in general not easy to get in contact with locals. Usually the only locals you would meet are tour guides or people you want to sell you things. I also felt a connection to Dominica, which is a beautiful country.
Usually I am a shy person, but I wanted to hear the story from him.
How did it go?
I introduced myself to John and asked what he was doing. He told me that he goes every week one day out in the rainforest to go fishing. For him that was a kind of a way out of the normal life he has. Having some time for himself, without his family and enjoying nature.
He was talking about the bad Hurricane which was hitting Dominica in 2018. Hurricane Maria hit Dominica at the beginning of 2018, around 80% of the population was affected. John himself told me about how his house had effects from it as well, but still his family was fine. He was sad about what happening, but still talking positive. With a smile he was saying, that he can at least go into the nature and enjoy this time by himself. He is healthy and fit and his family as well, that is most important for him.
He pointed into nature and showed me what kind of impact Maria had on the rainforest as well. One year later, it was possible to see the big impact. Not the whole part was hit, but the parts which were, didn’t look well. During the tour, the guide wasn’t talking about it that much. So actually it was good talking with him.
During the talk, the fish was cooking. He was making a little fire, right next to a little river. It looked like he would do that every day. He wasn’t expecting that someone from the tourists would walk up to him, at least he hadn’t had that before.
Summary
Everyone has a story to tell, just usually nobody is listening to them. I always like to listen to stories from people, especially from other countries. Like this you can gain more knowledge and also understand people and cultures better.
Many stories were told to me during my travels and this is also a place, where some will be mentioned as well. It is all part of my journey visiting every country in the world.
The picture of John at the lake, cooking his fish, is also printed out and possible to find in my home in Germany. Even three years after this event, I need to think about this talk.
When leaving him, to get back to my group, I had to hurry, because they were already far away. They were a bit annoyed because of that, but for that I was able to experience something nice. I wanted to stay longer there, but it was not possible.
Those are the experiences that make traveling special.
I would love to hear your experiences about similar stories, or questions. Share it with me in the comments.
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