Roseau Dominica

Mor Toad / Moy Toad
David and Jocelyn Fawcett
Mon 23 Feb 2015 18:15
We have had 3 excellent if somewhat soggy days here at anchor in the bay at Roseau. They call it 'liquid sunshine' and it's the dry season. The locals we have met have all been very friendly and helpful and Mr Sea Cat (Octavius) and his team have helped us a lot. We have had a good mooring, lifts to and from the jetty and he has helped organise trips for us and also led Alex and Dan on a very good all day fun expedition to The Boiling Lake which they said really did bubble whilst we looked after the children.

It is certainly a mountainous land covered in rain forest with several dormant volcanos. On our first day here we went on a tour of the southern part of the island The Morne Trois Piton National Park a UNESCO site. Unfortunately at 2500' when we were visiting the Freshwater Lake the mist was right down and we couldn't see anything and couldnt do a walk round which is what we intended - could have been in The Lake District or other parts of the UK on a bad day we were even chilly. We did however have a fun time at Trafalgar falls - a short walk. David and Dan scrambled up to one of them to the cold pool which apparently was quite difficult with the rocks being very slippery but the rest of the team remained in one of the hot pools - a warm bath - bliss. We also saw steaming vents too and learnt quite a lot about the island. The next day Dan and Alex went off on their expedition quite a walk up and down through rain forest and then through pretty desolate volcanic scenery even billing eggs in a plastic bag In a steam vent . Bathing in various warm pools along the way.

We looked after the children and took them on the bus to Champagne Reef where you can snorkel and dive and see bubbles rising from the sea bed. Again the staff there were all very helpful. Merryn is a great snorkeller and she really enjoyed seeing the bubbles and the myriad of fish and also some good coral. There was a small cafe there too so we were able to get lunch and we kept seeing the local resident iguana and with difficulty spotted a green one in the tree. After this we caught another very packed bus to Souffriere where there is Bubbling Beach. Some locals have built a little cafe and small pool on the beach where again there are more steam vents which are warming the beach and their little pool. We then had to get back to where the boat was and again very helpful chap ran and stopped the bus for us. Both children fell fast asleep but we managed to wake Merryn up who said she wasn't sleeping just resting and Sam I carried off the bus and we then spent the next hour whilst he slept on one of the hotel settees and we had an ice cream before taking the dinghy back to the boat. Alex and Dan came back later having had a really good day out and although we had a bit of rain it hadn't been too bad for any of us unlike the previous day.

However yesterday rain wise was a different story. They all went to Champagne Reef and we did a hike to the waterfall Middleham Falls 250 ft. - a very very wet hike through the rainforest across some fast running streams and once we got to the waterfall so much water coming over it it was too dangerous to swim in the pool below. But good to get the walk. They had a good trip to Champagne Reef again getting quite wet sat on the beach but all doing lots of snorkelling and then went to Bubbles Beach and stayed there quite a while enjoying the warm bath. Yet again the locals were very helpful and friendly and found a guy to bring them back in a truck as very few buses running as Sunday.

We are then moving north to Portsmouth Prince Rupert Bay for several more nights before sailing to Guadeloupe.