Dominica
Roseau, Dominica.
We had a wild ride up across the channel between Martinique and Dominica (dom-in-eek-a). A little bit of help from the current saw us flying along at 7 knots in fairly big seas and we even overtook another boat! That never happens. When we arrived in the capital Roseau (rose-oh) we contacted our agent (the use of which was mandatory and expensive, causing us some irritation) to find out what we needed to do next to check in. We had already had to send him all our documentation, vaccination certs etc. etc. etc.. He cheerfully replied that he'd already checked us in and we were free to explore ashore and pick up the paperwork from his office whenever suited. Well that's a good start.
Apart from being the quietest, least
chaotic, most chilled and probably cutest capital we've seen, the
most striking thing about Roseau was the ongoing scars left by
hurricane Maria in 2017. This cat 5 hurricane (with maximum sustained winds of 280km/h) hit poor Dominica two weeks after the cat 5 Irma hit Sint
Maarten/Saint Martin. What a horrendous hurricane season. Despite
lots of rebuilding there are still some significant buildings in
ruin. It really brings home the longterm impact of a storm like that
when places are still rebuilding years later. Even Sint Maarten/Saint
Martin, that has the benefit of big European state resources, was
still cleaning up wrecks in the lagoon last season. It must be so
much harder for little independent Dominica with a population of only
70,000.
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| Roseau |
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| There are some beautiful old buildings still standing. |
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| And some buildings remain in ruins. |
Dominica has seven active volcanoes (seven!) and Karl just couldn't resist hiking up one of them to visit Boiling Lake. Which is a boiling lake. The water is heated by magma at its base to the point where it boils.
He really really really enjoyed the hike. So much so I'm going to let him tell you about it himself.
Karl:
Well, Kara's right, I really did enjoy this hike. To paraphrase Dad, I think it was the best hike I've ever had in my life.
The essential point of the hike was to reach Boiling Lake, but like many of our trips the journey itself was the highlight for me.
My guide was Rob from Essex, an outrageously over qualified tour-guide with masters and PhDs in volcanology. A career path so esoteric that spell-check doesn't even recognise it. He was studying the volcano on Montserrat in '97 minutes before it exploded. The chief-scientist warning him on the radio to get out of there now, he hopped in his car and drove down the mountain to the airport with pyroclastic flows chasing him like a bad Pierce Brosnan movie (aren't they all?).
Needless to say, Rob is a little obsessed about volcanoes and his enthusiasm was infectious.
Initially we had a steep climb up to a ridge where Rob pointed out a waterfall maybe 50m high that he hadn't even noticed before. That's how beautiful it is, you can do it hundreds of times and miss something like that. At one point the ridge narrowed to the point where the muddy path was just wide enough to walk on with a count-the-body-parts-before-you-bag-them sheer drop on one side. "One guy turned around at this point" Rob stated nonchalantly gliding forward. A deep breath and momentum in the right direction carried me inelegantly through. Steep peaks soared in every direction around us, mostly dormant volcanoes. Every shade of green was represented and lush growth clung to the most outrageous slopes.
We started a knee jarring descent tracking along a slender path cut into the side of a valley that narrowed to become a rocky gorge replete with a stream testing the lack of waterproofing in my poorly repaired boots. Oxidized volcanic extrusions rose from the valley floor buttressing the sleeping menace. Rob pointed out The Valley of Desolation ahead of us, a bleak grey scar in the verdant landscape. Steam started to rise from the water as Rob explained how it was being heated from below. "It means there's magma very close to the surface here, it's quite worrying".
Rob has been trying to educate the local government and emergency services on the dangers of an overdue eruption in Dominica. Unfortunately the capital is at the bottom of a funnel for any pyroclastic flow from an eruption. He's seen what happened in Montserrat. But he's had very little success and is trying to educate the population directly with videos on youtube.
We stepped cautiously over boiling acidic streams, Rob warning it was definitely not the time for a careless step. A guide had to be rescued by french helicopter from Martinique when he slipped attempting to rescue a tourist's camera. Small jacuzzi-like pools bubbled amongst ashen rocks and Rob identified a black bacterial growth as a simple form of life thriving in this harsh environment. Similar lifeforms have been found miles deep in vents on the mid-atlantic ridge and are a contender for the origins of life.
Climbing out of The Valley of Desolation we were able to see hints of the steam from Boiling Lake mingling with the low cloud blowing up the valley. We scrabbled up a rocky slope to a platform on the lip of a steep walled crater to be greeted by a dense curtain of steam. Rob urged patience for just the right breeze to blow a clearing and we were eventually rewarded with the sight of water gushing forth violently in the centre of the lake heated by a ground fumarole underneath. "This is actually a phreatic explosion crater" Rob explained tolerantly to me for the millionth time. A gigantic build-up of steam pressure had blasted out the enormous lake filled hole we were now staring into.
Retracing our steps we took advantage of a waterhole for a refreshing warm bath to sooth the muscles. We didn't meet another single soul. We had the hike to ourselves that day.
To cap it all off, when we got back to the trailhead we were able to swim Titou Gorge by ourselves. Touted in the guidebook as a "cruise-ship darling" this was quite the prize. We jumped off a wall of black stone, plunging into surprisingly cold water at the eroded bases of the almost abutting pumice bulwarks. Swimming upriver a cascading waterfall claimed the head of the gorge for itself. Overhead a narrow slit of sky was framed with back-lit jungle green.
Yep, maybe definitely the best hike ever.
Portsmouth, Dominica.
After Roseau we sailed up the west coast to the town of Portsmouth in the northwest corner. This was the first time in ages (like since Saint Helena ages) we arrived in an anchorage and had people spontaneously buzz over to us to say hello. We met three OCC (Ocean Cruising Club) boats there who hadn't yet had all hope sucked out of them by the big-city-don't-make-eye-contact vibe of Caribbean anchorages and were enthusiastic to meet fellow OCC members when they saw us flying the flag. We arrived on Saturday evening which was perfect timing because on Sunday evening everyone who's anyone is at the PAYS (Portsmouth Association of Yachting Services – way more fun than it sounds) all-you-can-eat BBQ with all-you-can-drink rum punch. I can report that the crews of Grainne Mhaol, Ruffian (English), Cerulean (Kiwi) and Zen Again (Australian) tore up the (sand) dancefloor with some amazing middle aged moves without seriously injuring any important muscle groups.
Portsmouth is a very nice fishing town
with particularly cheery vegetable market stall holders. The main
source of its income “before Maria” was an american medical
school but that has now been permanently relocated to Barbados.
There's a lot of “before Maria” and “after Maria” around.
Before Maria the local river had a dark canopy of trees overhead, now
it's open to the sun. After Maria native Dominica birds were found on
Martinique.
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| Main street, Portsmouth. |
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| The market. Got to love a good market. |
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| Taking the shopping back to Gráinne. |
The local river is Indian River – the indigenous Kalinago people who lived inland used the river to transport goods for trade with the early European arrivals, hence the name. It's a beautiful river but it seems its main draw is the fact that it was used as a location in Pirates of the Caribbean 2. A character in the film lives in a little hut upriver which is still there (though damage from Maria is still being repaired). I wish I could tell you more but I haven't gotten around to seeing the film yet.
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| Our guide, Daniel, rowing us up the river. No engines allowed. |
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| Pirates of the Caribbean location. |
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| And further upriver there's a dock and a bar! |
And finally, to prove that Dominica has everything, as well as volcanoes and rivers it has the very impressive Fort Shirley. Usual history, French/English/French/English war war war......
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| Cannons trained on Gráinne in the bay. |
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