But first, let me begin at the beginning. Sea Cat is Roseau's answer to Portsmouth's Martin. He has been a tour guide here in Roseau for many years and we engaged him to take us to Victoria Falls (actually going there was his choice when we asked him what we should do on our day tour with him). He has his own boat that picked us up and took us ashore to his dock in front of his house where there were 3 other couples, one with two boys, aged 8 & 9 all waiting to head up to Victoria Falls. This was at about 9:30 this AM. But don't think for a minute we head straight to the falls. Not here in Dominica where one must stop at least 4-6 times. There is just so much to see! First stop is at an overlook where we can see Roseau laid out in front of us.
Next we stop at a friends house where Sea Cat climbs a tree to send us down some guava to eat. He also opens a young coconut so we can not only drink the water, but eat some of the gel which, if left to age, would become the nut.
Next up is a small private guest house called Zandoli Inn where the view is breathtaking. When you stand on the patio and look out it just doesn't look real...definitely more like a painting.
Finally, a mere 2 hours or so after departing, we get to the point where we leave our van and begin the hike to the falls. This point is where Moses, in all his Rasta beauty, lives and will prepare lunch for us when we return. He is known as the "guardian" of the falls.
Now the hike. It is unbelievable! We are, essentially, climbing through a rain forest that looks like what I imagine The Garden of Eden must have looked like. It is the lushest and the wettest and the greenest place I've ever visited. The White River runs through it and we must cross it 5 times before we get to the falls.
The trip easily takes about an hour and it feels longer as the concentration required to scramble up and over rocks and tree trunks and roots that are bigger and taller than me as well as ford through the river when you can't see the bottom so you don't know if you'll be stepping on a rock or plunging 4 feet down is intense. And then you hear them...and then you begin to almost feel its spray...and then you see the falls. The picture at this link will give you a better sense of the scale of the falls. We took off shorts and T shirt and took the plunge. We followed Sea Cat to almost directly under the falls. I can't believe I did that. The roar was so loud one had to scream to be heard by the person right next to you. You had to hold on to the rocks around the perimeter of the pool created by the falls or you would just be swept away. And, it was cold!
I have to thank Sea Cat for his caution. He was very protective of me and watched to make sure I wouldn't fall and helped me cross and climb some of the more challenging points of the hike. I was so, so, so grateful I did all of this with no injury,
We arrived back at Moses's place for the most delicious potato soup served is a calabash bowl with spoons made of coconut.
There was more to the day...we went to a black sand beach
where we ate more coconut and ended the day at Emerald Pool.
I don't want to dilute the experience of the hike to Victoria Falls and the falls themselves by describing anything else.
I can only end today's post by emphasizing what an incredible day we had and what an incredible island is Dominica!
No comments:
Post a Comment