Dominica - hiking

Date: January 21, 2017

On our third day in Dominica we went for a long hike. On the way we passed through a small village. The plants growing along the way which look a bit like sugar cane are in fact plants used for making hats and baskets. The plant is called roseau and the capital of Dominica is named after them:

Here is Félicie standing on a wooden bridge over a small stream. It is early in the day so she is still smiling:

A lot of the hike was on paths of wooden steps. The terrain is very steep with virtually no horizontal parts:

Getting closer to the top:

....but still some way to go:

View from the top:

Félicie at the top. Notice the white smoke behind Félicie. It is steam from a hot spring. The whole area around the mountain smells strongly of sulphur:

Looking towards the largest hot spring in Dominica, Boiling Lake:

Walking down the mountain towards Desolation Valley:

Desolation Valley from afar:

The last steep steps towards the valley:

....and then a few more:

Desolation Valley:

In some places the water seemed grey, leaving a grey deposit on the stream bed:

In other places the water was black:

After seeing Desolation Valley we turned around a walked all the way back, up to the top and down again and then to a small village where we could catch the bus back to Roseau. Except the bus did not come so we had to start the 7 km walk along the main road back to town on our tired feet. Fortunately after a couple of kilometers the bus drove by and we waved it down and got a ride the last part of the way.