Dominica hike

After 8 hours hike

Pirate of the Carribean scene

Refreshing swim

Middleham Falls

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Shortly after we arrived at the Roseau Anchorage we met two experienced Caribbean sailors, Darryl and Sarah from Northumberland, UK. They convinced us that we MUST make a hike, preferably with the SeaCat guides. The island of Dominica has large areas declared as Nature Reserves, with about 500 km, well maintained trails across areas of rain forest. So, 9 am next morning we joined the group of in total 9 people, led by our guide Octavius. First hike went to Middleham Falls, a nice 30 meter water fall, about 1 hour from the where we left our minibus. The trails are very well maintained. You wonder how much work there must be behind.

Octavius is a fantastic entertainer. Besides knowing every part of the island, he knows everyone around, while driving he suddenly stops, jumps out, grabs a fruit or some leaves and passes them on to the group. Examples include coffee, cacao, lemon grass,bay-leaves, star fruit, lime leaves, nutmeg. After reaching the water fall including a refreshing swim in the pool below, we returned to base. Next hike goes to Freshwater Lake, passing a slightly scary ridge. After these in total 5 hour hikes, we enjoy a bit of “cruise ship” adventure, meaning a couple of hundred meters walk to Titon Gorge, a fresh water pool which we could swim in to through a narrow 30 meter deep and partly only 2 meter wide passage. This place was a scene in the Pirate of the Carribean 3. Finally we get to Trafalgar Falls. Dominica was badly hit by Tropical Storm Erika August 2015 with more than 30 people killed. Plenty of the devastating flooding can still be seen and several roads are still blocked by huge boulders. The final climb was apparently made easier by some rocks washed away by the 400 mm rain/ 6 h that hit the island. All in all, we had a fantastic day hiking, with great company and with a super guide SeaCat who we can warmly recommend. Not a dull moment all day long and lot of laughs (and some blisters).

In the Roseau anchorage we also met our friends and the crew of S/Y Swede Dreams, Lola, Carlos, Luna and Paco. They looked to be in good shape and were actively looking to buy a bit of rain forest land, potentially for settling down as a family in this tropical paradise. We wish them all luck, maybe, once we have explored a bit more of this planet, we will do likewise and become landowners in some remote paradise…