After a day-long tour of the northern part of the island, we found Dominica to be lush, tropical, mountainous and so well kept. The roads are very well maintained and there are committees in each village that take care of the plantings on the roadside. It was hard for me to capture in photos the steep volcanic peaks and the lush valleys where families have plots in places you couldn't imagine farming. They grow many different Caribbean fruit and vegetable, including yams, squash, pineapples, coffee, cocoa and lots and lots of mangoes. Our tour guide, Buddha, took us on hikes to a cold soufriere pool, a waterfall at the end of a gorge and a bat cave. To get to the bat cave, we waded through thick piles of stinky sargassum that were teeming with bugs, across a rocky point and over a rickety bridge with waves crashing below. I felt like I was on an Indiana Jones adventure! Then, when Buddha stirred up the bats in the cave and hundreds came flying out, I was sure of it. It was a great day.
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| The Bat Cave is in the village of Thibaud but it is difficult to get to the cave. I don't think we would have found it without our guide, Buddha. |
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| Buddha at the Bat Cave entrance |
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| Hundreds of bats swarming out of the cave |
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| More bats, NOT birds! |
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| Buddha instructed us to make sure and stay on the outer side of the bridge. It was definitely not in the best condition. 😳 |
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| Waves crashing below the bridge |
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Roads were very well maintained with beautiful plantings everywhere.
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| Pineapples growing by the side of the road |
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| Coffee beans, growing wild |
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| The views from up high were great in spite of the clouds and haze. |
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| So many different ferns and orchids |
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| Farms in the valley |
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| Our tour guide, Michael, better known as Buddha. He married a woman from Columbus, Ohio and lived there a couple years but couldn't stay away from his home, Dominica. She did not come back with him. Except for the hike to the Bat Cave (we had to hike across very sharp rocks so he wore flip flops), he hiked barefoot. |
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| Joli at a mooring in Prince Rupert Bay, Portsmouth, Dominica |
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| We were expecting a dinosaur to emerge from the forest. |
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| A cold soufriere pool, bubbling with sulfurous gases. The water is about the same acidity as strong vinegar and is about 75℉. |
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| The day was cloudy and hazy but we were still able to see the Saintes and Guadaloupe (about 25 miles away) in the background. |
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| Gorge at Bwa Nef Falls |
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| Looking up the walls of the gorge - there is a large rock balanced up there near where the waterfall comes down. |
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| Bwa Nef Falls |
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| We stopped at a roadside food stand for lunch - rice and lentils, vegetables (salad), chicken and Fig Pie, which was a dense mixture of fish and plantains with melted cheese on top. Bananas are called figs here and the Fig Pie was like a fish and potatoes casserole. All the food was delicious! |
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| Tatoo fern |
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| The underside of the fern is bright yellow with pollen and you can knock the pollen off by placing the leaf right side up and smacking it. |
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| Chocolate making - a bit touristy but fun anyway |
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| Cocoa pods |
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After drying, roasting, and separating they product is mixed (emulsified) for 6 days.
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| Cocoa beans drying |
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| Cashew and bay leaves growing wild. The cashew fruit hangs from a tree upside down with the cashew at the bottom. The fruit is edible and it tasted good but had a weird texture. |
