Easter weekend Dominica (2)

We booked a small studio on the hill above Roseau, but when we arrived we were told the studio was not available that night so we got a suite in hotel in town for the same price. First we were disappointed, we came for nature and quietness, but after having seen the room we didn't complain:). 

On Saturday we wanted to hike to Middleham Falls but by accident we first arrived at the very (for Dominican standards) touristy Trafalgar Falls. It was impressive and beautiful. On the way to Middleham Falls we an old man a ride, and he helped us find Middleham Falls. The people are the GPS here, you really need them, but it's always a pleasure to talk to them. This man had never left the island, not even to go to Martinique or Guadeloupe two hours away. At Middleham Falls we took a bath in under the falls and that was much nicer as we were almost alone with the birds and lizards. You should have heard the singing of the birds, I've never heard anything like that, it was a real song!

We saw very few cars and most of the cars we saw were rental cars driven by tourists. But overall we didn't see very many tourists. It's very much a nature island, with some villages but it's not at all like Martinique where you always see at least one and very often many more houses.

We wanted to buy bread and visited almost all the villages of the valley as most shops were closed. It reminded me of Tanzania with the tiny shops at the side of the road. They sell everything and nothing. We found home baked bread, small rolls baked over a fire, you could smell and taste it, it turned out to be the best bread we ate during our stay in Dominica.

After our first hike we decided to do another short hike to Boeri Lake. It was very different from the previous hike and really peaceful, with amazing views on the lush mountains and the sea. Flowers of all colors everywhere and more singing birds.

On the way back to Roseau we gave a French couple a ride and visited Titou Gorge, it is gorgeous! It seems like nothing special when you get there, but once you swim into to canyon it's paradise. It was the end of the day and the evening light was shining through the green leaves above the canyon, inside it was dark, so the rocky walls shaded from black to bright green where the light shined on the moss. We swam till the waterfall at the end of the canyon, it's a well hidden piece of paradise.

We brought the French couple back to their cottage an took a bath there at the hot sulphur baths. It was smelly but warm and very relaxing after a day of hiking. We could watch the stars from the pool and little fireflies were magically fluttery above us like shooting stars that lost the way. 

we finished the day off with a delicious local meal, even vegan after replacing the fish for a salad. Beans, lentils, sweet potatoes, veggies. 

Easter weekend Dominica (1)

This year I spent Easter weekend in Dominica, a small island about the size of Martinique but with much less inhabitants, north of Martinique. It's two hours by boat to get there, but counting in the waiting hours and passing customs on Dominica, it's an indepent island, it takes about 5 hours. It was interesting to sea the coastline of Martinique as we sailed along the northern half of the island. Once there we rented a car, yeah yeah I'm all grown up now, because there was almost no public transport during the Easter holidays. All shops were closed almost the whole time we were there as well. But we drove around at the left side of the road in our 4x4 and saw amazingly beautiful places. The first day we went snorkeling at Champagne Beach, we saw colourful fishes and bubbles as if the water was champagne because it's a volcanic island (like Martinique) and hot water bubbles up in the ocean there. After our swim I discovered big bright green iguanas in the bush near the beach.

On the road we stopped for lunch at a local food stall where we met our first Dominicans, drunk because it's a holiday weekend but super friendly, even more than in Martinique. It was funny but good to speak English again. In Martinique I'm usually the only non native French speaker and it can get tiring sometimes. But now I was the one communicating more easily and I enjoyed chitchatting with the locals. It's interesting to hear people from Guadeloupe or Martinique talk to Dominicans. They don't speak English and most Dominicans don't speak French but they both speak Creole and I learned that they actually understand each other very well.

All along the road from Roseau to the beach and later further to Scottshead to watch the sunset the landscape was green and lush and the road goes up and down and is narrow and in not very good shape, let's say in between Belgian roads and Tanzanian roads, but much narrower.