21^st April 2013

Dominica, the island of seven volcanoes and always rainbows.  We took a tour with Octavious of Seacat along with four Norwegians.  Octavious is unforgettable, brimming over with enthusiasm for his island and yelling out of the van window whenever he sees a friend.  First stop was to check why a young boy playing at the side of the road wasn’t at school.  He had earache, his Dad confirmed it and gave us a bunch of bananas.

On the way up (and up and up) to Victoria falls  we sampled ‘moonshine’, a local medicine, very good for sore throats. It came out from under the counter and was made by a great lady who distilled the moonshine and then added healthy herbs to the bottle, so that was okay.

Back on the bus and upwards again. Then down again.  Dominica makes Greece look flat.  The cars drive on the left.   Oh, no they don’t, they drive down the middle, or on the right. They just veer back over to the left when a van comes the other way.  The Norwegians seemed a little perturbed. 

We parked outside Moses Rastaurant then set off across the river to Victoria Falls.  There’s no other way to get there other than trek up the river bank.  We crossed the river at least five times, up to our nicknackeroonies in water, scrambling over huge boulders and along ledges. It took us about an hour of trekking to reach the falls.  Objective now was a swim.  I was expecting a cold placid pool.  What we found was a warm pool of milky green water with waves and spray whipping across it.  Clothes off and in we went.  Oooh it felt good.  The falls come thundering down a vertical wall.  Everywhere there are ferns, vines trees and flowering plants clinging to the cliffs.  It really feels like the Garden of Eden. Lunch was papaya soup, served in a half coconut with a piece of shell for a spoon, bloomin’ delicious.  Moses grows it all himself and as he’s a Rastafarian it’s all vegetarian. We watched hummingbirds doing what hummingbirds do, then on to the caves and more swimming.

The caves are really a split in the rock with a waterfall at the top.  We swam in in single file, always able to see a thin sliver of sky above us with the walls rearing up high above.  Half way the split opened up to form a pool.  Here’s where in Pirates of the Caribbean 2 someone (must watch it again) jumps in. Tony made it to the second waterfall but I stopped at the first, not fancying the climb up slippery rocks and the plunge back down again.  The reward here was a hot shower, courtesy of the volcano.

The final stop was a soak in hot pools.  Bliss bliss bliss.  Natural hot water and the first bath I’ve had for about a year.  All outdoors surrounded by exotic plants.

It then poured with rain for four days.  Well at least we managed to fill our water tanks by making a dam with a towel and letting the water in from the hole in the deck. 

Photo of Moses.  What a face.