Dominica Rainforest Experience

We left Rodney Bay and had two long, slow, day trips, with entertaining dolphins, first to Martinique and then Dominica.

Dom-in-eee-ca is a mountainous island that was British until 1977, in between the very French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe. It has eight potentially active volcanoes, which is seven more than any other Caribbean island, 365 rivers, the only UNESCO World Heritage site in the Eastern Caribbean, and a very friendly population of some 70,000, which grows by a few thousand on cruise ship days, keeping all the tour guides, dive boats and taxi drivers in business.

We tied Nimrod to a palm tree and went off to explore the rainforest, having first visited the Forestry Department Office as we had read you could get trail maps there. 'Map' is a bit of an exaggeration but I picked up some interesting and informative leaflets for the total sum of $EC 2, about 40p, for which I received a hand written, carbon copied, Ministry of Agriculture receipt!!

Some of the sights had roads and car parks close by - cruise ship passengers can't actually walk - they have even installed a second hand and modified ski lift that they start up when a ship arrives to give the passengers an aerial tour of the rainforest, half an hour for $US60. But many of the better sights could only be reached by some pretty arduous hiking. The paths were quite wet and slippery and the only bits that weren't steep up or steep down were the stones you had to balance on to cross the rivers. Parts of the rainforest were astoundingly and breathtakingly beautiful (even though many of the trees lost their tops in 1979's Hurricane David) with rich, glossy leaves of all shapes and sizes and an infinite variety of green. There were abundant tree lizards, freshwater crabs with bright red claws and Andy gave himself a huge shock when a small tree root he stood on turned out to be a snake - only a little harmless one! We didn't hike as far as a place called 'Stinking Hole' which is a lava cave apparently inhabited by bats and the occasional Boa Constrictor. We visited waterfalls and lakes and came across streams and pools of many different temperatures. Andy swam through Titou Gorge, very cold, but failed to stop under the warm waterfall on the way back!

On our third day we set off with our only slightly mad guide Benjamin, on one of the islands toughest hikes - a 7 hour round trip through the 'Valley of Desolation' to the 'Boiling Lake'. First we had to climb a few hours through rainforest (and it was raining continuously) to the top of a mountain where we went into Elfin or Cloud forest. We saw many different trees, tree ferns, ferns, epiphytes and bromeliads, orchids, wild ginger, almond vine, Antilles Crested and Blue Headed humming birds to name but a few. Then halfway down the other side of the mountain we rounded a corner and were confronted by browns, greys, white, black, reds, yellows and a pungent sulphur smell - the Valley of Desolation!

There was bubbling mud, boiling water, hot streams and clouds of steam - and we walked right through the middle of it. Once again almost anywhere else in the world we would have reached a sturdy railing with a 'Danger - No Entry' sign but not here .....yet. After a bit more scrambling over rocks we reached the Boiling Lake.......only what no one tells you until you are on the trail is that the lake stopped boiling 2 months ago. It is now just simmering somewhat unenthusiastically in a tiny spot in the middle. No one knows why it has stopped and they are all speculating if it will boil again, if it means there is going to be an eruption there or somewhere else and even if it is safe to go anywhere near the lake! (Incidentally there was an earth tremor on Monday afternoon but we managed not to notice!)

On the way back it actually stopped raining for a few hours, which was nice, but the highlight was parrots. Benjamin suddenly got completely overexcited and pointed out 4 parrots sat on a faraway tree. He urged us to run silently closer to them - impossible after 4 hours hiking, in thoroughly soaked shoes, through mud and puddles. Nevertheless we got much much closer before they flew and one ended up on a tree right by the trail, where we stalked it until we could see it really clearly, including all the different colour tail feathers. Benjamin said it was the closest he had ever seen a parrot and we were really lucky!

With seriously aching legs (mine - Andy is much tougher then me!) we then moved the boat to Portsmouth in the North of the island. It was a long beat and about 4pm the wind started dying so the engine and autopilot went on. We were therefore in a not truly alert state of watch keeping when I saw something huge and dark in the water very close in front of the boat. It only took a few seconds to realise that it wasn't a log but a whale (or the small visible part of a whale!) idly floating along and blowing gently and frequently. We managed not to hit it and a while after we passed it flicked its tail fin up and disappeared. From what I can tell from our whale book it was a Sperm whale.

Once in Portsmouth we declined all offers of more hiking and opted instead to be rowed gently up the Indian River to see more humming birds, herons, fish and different trees. It was very peaceful and relaxing (as it wasn't a cruise ship day!) We also met 'Big Papa', a highly colourful local bar owner and character - here is Andy with the details..

So upon arriving in Portsmouth a LARGE man in a boat came to see us, 'Big Papa' himself, inviting us to come to a reggae party at his bar (Big Papa's) that night. Despite good intentions after a long day I flaked out at about 8.30 so we never got to the party. To make amends the next day we decided to go there for lunch, but when we arrivied it was clear the party of the night before had taken its toll. No food, no cold beer, no staff, just a larger than life Big Papa. We asked where else we could get a good lunch and he gave us directions to a very small local cafe, he reflected on this for a while and then said 'wait five minutes and I'll go with you'. So we got in his car and drove to a tiny cafe, which it turns out was owned by his mum and had lunch (more than we could eat - apart from Big Papa) of a local rice and chicken dish - it was the only thing on the menu. This cost us 10Ec each - about 2 quid. We also got a big slice of local culture and were set up with a guide for the afternoon. It was during the afternoon with 'Fire' our guide that we learnt of Big Papa's alleged past, working as a bouncer and bodyguard at clubs around the world. A career terminated by an unfortunate shooting incident, a short spell in prison and a hasty return to his beloved Dominica!

Scary, but not to be put off we returned to Big Papa's for dinner that night where we were treated like long lost friends. Had a superb meal, and drank with the man all night. He even insisted on giving us drinks to take away for our rather drunken return trip in the dinghy to Nimrod!

Dominica is an island we hadn't heard of but where we wish we could spend more time. If anyone wants a serious walking holiday with a difference, which can be combined with diving and whale watching trips then we would recommend Dominica highly.

Lucy

We seem to have had a run on noxious sulphur fumes over the last week or so. Our walk through the valley of desolation was ... smelly, but equally smelly was Nimrod during a long motor to Dominica. But as we had had egg mayonnaise for lunch I blamed it on this. Stupid in retrospect as that eggy smell is also a good sign of batteries running dry and overheating. Ours had and did, and over the next couple of hours half of our battery bank destroyed itself, oops. Hence we are now in Guadeloupe for new batteries, except the choice is poor and expensive so we will wait until Antigua.

By the way does anybody else find Guadeloupe amusing, I always think of guacamole (you know the green avocado stuff) and it makes me smile. However nobody else seems to see this astute piece of humour.

Bye for now

Andy