Travel with Indigo

In stark contrast to the overly touristy, well developed island of Guadeloupe and its sister group including Isle de Saints stands the island of Dominica. Volcanic and mountainous, as are nearly all the Caribbean islands, it is an ecological wonderland that from afar brings to mind the setting of Jurassic Park. And the closer you get the more apt the association becomes.

At its northern end, we anchor near the beach in the lee, protected from the prevailing trade winds by the high jungle covered mountains. There we are met by a local guide in a small skiff who takes me and some crew on a poled ride up small river—creek would be the more appropriate term. Giant iguanas laying about in the trees add to the Jurassic image. Reaching the end of the navigable stretch and numbed by the incessant drone of guide-talk, we stop at a rude camp that serves as the trip’s tourist terminal and partake of a local concoction called with understatement “Dynamite”. The couple who manage the place, really not much more than a wood roofed shack without walls, have six kids wandering about, one of whom, the youngest at two years, I call Mel. Without a stitch of clothes on, Mel is preoccupied with peeing on anything in range. A photo of Mel wearing my sunglasses accompanies this narrative on the web site.

After our jungle river excursion, we arrange for a taxi tour of this ecological dream world. The driver takes us up to the top of a mountain into a rain forest where annual rainfall is 350 inches. He leads us to a roofless cave, dense verdure blocking out the sun 40 feet above. At the cave’s entry is a man-made warm water shower heated by volcanic activity underground. From the shower, we make our way into the cave flooded to 10 feet deep with freezing cold river water. Swimming deeper into the cave, perhaps 50 yards or so, we encounter at its terminus a substantial waterfall flooding its far end. This is one of the sites used in the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Following the cave swim, we hike up a long, steep pile of boulders to a pool into which an enormous water fall is cascading from several hundred feet above. The climb is treacherous thanks to the wet, slippery rocks, but nobody falls. As a reward, we bathe in a warm spring heated to about 100 degrees by the underlying geology.

This island of Dominica has just about every exotic plant and tree that could be imagined. Breadfruit trees, brought to the islands by Captain Bligh on the Bounty, are everywhere, as are cashew trees, calabash, cinnamon, and cannonball trees, and a whole lot more. If flora is your thing, Dominica is the place.

For lunch we stop at a simple roadside cafe hanging precariously over a ravine and dine on curried goat, not a dish encountered every day but tasty enough. After lunch we continue touring the island and its capital finally ending the long fun-filled day back at Indigo.