Week 3; Dominica : Roseau & Portsmouth

9 hour hike to Boiling Lake

During our week long stay in Roseau, Dominica we hired an experienced guide. His name: Sea Cat.  And let me tell you, we are sure glad that we did !  Sea Cat reminded us of our dear friend Doug, back in Ottawa. For those of you reading this who know Doug, you will know what I mean when I say that every moment spent in his company was an experience we shall never forget. With boundless energy and general mayhem every where he goes, this  wildly entertaining and fearless man really enriched our experience on every outing he took us on. 

Meg and SeaCat…Ya Man !

Victoria Falls.

It was not enough to climb 2 hours over boulders and through streams to get to the foot of the Victoria Falls (impressive in their height of +/-180 feet), but once there, SeaCat coaxed the inner Tarzan in us all to go outside of our comfort zone while taking every precaution to be safe mind you,  to push ourselves just a little more, each time! This is how he convinced us to swim amidst the thundering water, wind and spray, to sit on a shelf next to the falls, and jump down into the falls with Captain Mark (after thoroughly checking the surrounding water first) this is how he got  Meg to swing from a vine and for all of us to try a variety of new food, fresh  from the trees all around us. SeaCat is very knowledgeable about the plant and animal life of Dominica and is proud to share as much as he can with everyone. 

The delicious meal they served us at the RASTA-rant

After our hike we had a chance to eat traditional ITAL food with Moses and his sons. What a treat for us to eat with these superb people and their delicious “one pot” made with the ingredients from their impressive garden. The way that I was introduced to Moses was  quite special; I was taking a walk in the garden before the hike and saw a great little house, I stopped to take a picture and after I had taken the shot, I noticed a man looking out the window,he had been there all along watching me but I had not noticed him there when I was taking the picture seconds before. He was smiling and said to me : “Did you see me ?”He came out, beaming, introduced himself and then started to show me all the vegetables he was growing, such a proud gardener and, just the way he spoke, he reminded me so much of my father. It was a real treat spending time with him, in the peace of his company and admiring his garden, the rastafarian version of my dad !

Moses' house

Moses watching me as I took pictures of his house and garden

A pineapple

 

Moses

Boiling Lake.

40 000 steps.

That’s is how many steps  each of us had to take to get ourselves up to the impressive Boiling Lake here in wondrous Dominica. As I write this, 5 days later, my calves are still stiff and sore, but it was worth every second !

Valley of Desolation on the way to Boiling Lake 

Meg and Mom get a volcanic facial

It was a beautiful but challenging (23 km!) hike which took us up to 3500 feet above sea level to see the strange phenomenon of this crater lake which boils all year long (about 98 degrees Celcius near shore, center temperature unknown). During the 9 hours of our hike we walked up and down,  (&up and down & up and down), through a pristine rain forest, and then through the “Valley of Desolation” where vegetation is sparse and where we experienced strong sulfur smells and boiling mud puddles. Sea Cat gave us a spa treatment (mud facial) and even surprised us with boiled eggs to snack on (naturally boiled in the hot steam oozing from the ground). We had lunch on the crater over looking the lake, it really is quite a phenomenon, which is nearly impossible to capture in a photograph, there is so much steam around it but we were able to capture some video footage which Mark put together for you. See our youtube channel to see it. 

Titou Gorge.

Trafalgar Falls

After the long hike, Sea Cat brought us through an impressive rock formation called Titou Gorge, at the beginning we were all being a bit skittish and hesitating as our feet touched the cold water, we were carefully and slowly wading in, trying to manoeuvre around the rocks, next thing we knew there was a big splash beside us as Sea Cat  jumped in and then lead us in to the cold water and guided us to swim into the gorge, towering rock walls on either side of us, through what almost seemed like a cave, towards an underground waterfall then of course, we were told we just had to climb up to the base of the waterfall as our tireless guide took us , one at a time and held our heads under the water for a few seconds to experience water thundering over our heads !  

Trafalgar Falls. Another great hike, but mercifully shorter for our aching legs a few days later, followed by a dip in some picturesque hot baths.

Indian River

We had a chance to take a row boat tour down this spectacular river with ancient trees and canopy overhanging above our heads this, like the Titou Gorge, was another place where scenes for the Pirates of the Caribbean Movies were shot. It has been fun watching the movies again with the kids and recognizing the places we have seen. 

Trees along Indian River

Indian River

Culinary Courage:

We have been encouraging the kids (and challenging ourselves) to try many new foods and here is the list of things we have eaten over the last 7 days: lionfish, guava, cashew fruit (and fresh nut, but not the outer shell which is poisonous), pomerac, young coconut,  sea weeb (yes weeb not weed).

Cashew Nut (Dark outer shell is poisonous)

Delicious Fresh Guava

Pomerac

"Sea Weeb"

Cashew fruit (red), the nut grows on the outside (dark brown)

Lion Fish- Yum !

Custard Apple

Some call Dominica the “Nature Island”, and it is true that it is very lush and beautiful with seemingly untouched nature all around but what struck me the most was the friendliness of everyone, and this was most apparent when we arrived at the north end anchorage of Portsmouth. What a beautiful and relaxed atmosphere, it was sunday afternoon, the sun was shining, we took the dinghy to the community dock, there were local kids swimming and playing on the beach, music was playing and we watched a man who must have been 55-60 years old (but who had the body of a 25 year old) dance and do what I would label as advanced yoga on the beach for almost 3 hours without stopping !  

The dancing/Yoga sensation on the beach

 The kids were so happy to play on the beach, Meg tried out her kite flying (as part of her “Flight" Science Unit for school) and Matthew just loved swimming and playing with kids all around him. What can I say, we LOVED Dominica and we feel indebted to its people for showing us such a warm welcome to their island. We would love to come back one day!

Same family as the Banana

Turtle Beach on the East side of Dominica