Nicole Kalpin

“[In Santo Domingo] I had a student, a junior actually, who was one of the foremost archaeologists in the country, it was astonishing. Once we went on a safari of sorts through the jungle east of Santo Domingo. It was like out of a movie, we hired some locals who walked ahead of us with machetes, carving out the foliage so we could make our way through the jungle. There was a cave pretty well covered up. They hacked away the growth and we went in, and we saw stalagmite and around it was a very old-fashioned crucifix. We guessed that that goes back all the way to Columbus’ time. That night, we slept on the beach and had a bonfire. It was just a couple of teachers and students. I remember scuba-diving at night there off the beach with a friend and some students. That was quite an amazing dive because at night, you’d think that all the fish would be sleeping. Lobsters were out. I disturbed a sea turtle that was sleeping, I touched it and it shot off. The water was inky black except for the light beams you use with your flashlight.”