Not to be confused with the country of Dominican Republic in the Northern Caribbean, Dominica is an island nation in the Eastern Caribbean and is totally wonderful in its own right. It is an island of lush green vegetation, a huge variety of locally grown foods, and people about as friendly as anywhere you will encounter.
When we arrived in Dominica from Guadeloupe on March 21st, 2024, we immediately knew we were somewhere special. When we entered the harbor, a boat from the local mooring co-operative came out to help us get secured and offered us a friendly welcome. Within 15 minutes people came out to offer us various things for sale – roti, local vegetables, island tours even garbage removal. The offers were cheerful and pleasant – no pressure.
We booked various trips around the island with a local tour company, knowing that we would be moving on in a few days. We really wanted to get a feel for the island and the people, so tours rather than renting a car seemed to be the faster way to accomplish that. We were not disappointed. Our first tour was Indian river the evening we arrived. It was very beautiful, and part of the Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed there.
The next day we went on a day tour with guides Omar and Abby. We visited a working farm to pick coconuts, a beautiful waterfall and even an indigenous community. Throughout the rest of the Caribbean islands that we had visited, all the indigenous people had been killed by settlers of one type or the next, so this was a really interesting opportunity for us. We learned a lot and soaked up the beautiful scenery.
The day after our tour around the island, Douglas and I left Gabby on the boat and headed out with Omar to do the famous boiling lake hike. This was a day long adventure driving though most of the island and hiking through a volcano for about 7 hours round trip – uphill both ways. On the way to the hike we stopped in the capital city for blood pudding and pig snout for extra strength and endurance.
The hike was very challenging with very steep sections, some with ropes to assist. At one point we stopped near where steam and hot mud vent out of the ground. We got sulfur facials from Omar and nearly burned our hands on the boiling water there which Omar said is usually much cooler. It was amazing, but also a little creepy in the fact that you are inside the caldera of a volcano, and all ways out are straight uphill.
We continued on and after much more uphill and downhill and crossing hot streams and pools, we finally reached the boiling lake….. It was not boiling. Omar was surprised. He said he had heard this had happened a few days before and no one knew why. Typically, the lake has so much boiling activity that you have to wait for the wind to blow away the steam to see the water. The lake was still and you could see the entire thing. Despite the fact that it was beautiful, it was actually very unsettling and I couldn’t wait to get down and off the trail.
The next day Douglas and I were stiff and sore and hardly moved out of bed. Gabby jumped at the chance to head to the city with her new friend Abby to have a day hanging out with someone her own age. During the day Douglas and I studied the weather and decided to leave Dominica earlier than planned because of an incoming system might stick us there for longer than we had time for.
We were very sad to leave Dominica, and will return when we have more time to explore. Next time though we will skip the volcano hikes and just enjoy the scenery and interesting local foods.
