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Dominica
Dominica was one of
our favourite islands. Again we had a private tour guide/driver
named Levi Baron of
Bumpiing Tours who drove us all over the island telling us all about
the flora, fauna and history of this magical island. Dominica is unique in
that it has little in the way of beaches compared to most Caribbean islands. Instead, it it rich in vegetation and rain forests.
The second Pirates of the Caribbean movie was filmed in part here- it looks as though
a Tyrannosaurus Rex might step out of the forest at any moment. It
is also a steeply mountainous island- some peaks rising 2,000 feet
straight up from
sea level. The beaches that do exist are comprised of many small
stones which are hard on the feet and no good for sand castles.
Our tour guide, Levi guided us to a fantastic black sand beach which was
incredible to see and it was the softest sand of any beach I have
encountered. The black sand is created from the breakdown of black
volcanic stone unlike the white coral and sea shells that most beaches
are made from.
We started at the Emerald Pool were Bruce, myself and Abby bravely swam
in the chilly but beautiful water beneath the waterfall. Ben and
Levi played on the rocks while we swam. We went to the black
sand beach, Mero Beach, next and had lunch al fresco. The weather
is quite variable on the island; one moment it is raining and then sunny
then a torrential downpour followed by sun again (Sounds a lot like
Binghamton). Levi reminded us
it is an island of rain forests and the kids had fun splashing
around the water both fresh and saline. The rain managed to keep the
normally scorching black sand quite cool.
Trafalgar Falls was next; deep in the heart of the rain forest there are
twin falls at the end of a beautiful walk through the rain forest. The
falls are about 180-200 feet tall and known as the "mother" & the
"father" falls. We
saw enormous walking sticks and Abby loved the land crabs found there.
A short drive away is the sulfur springs where the water boils out of
the earth at about 93 degrees Celsius (200 degrees Fahrenheit). Abby & Ben thought the "gassy"
pool was hilarious.
The last stop was the Champagne Reef where geothermal bubbles somewhat geologically similar to those that create
the sulfur springs also bubble up under the ocean so the area appears as
if you are swimming in an enormous glass of champagne. Bruce was able to snorkel there but
since time was short, I stayed in the scuba/snorkel station with the
kids and watch the hummingbirds flit about.
If I didn't have gray hairs from Grenada, I would have gotten them in
mountainous Dominica but Levi good naturedly drove carefully and I was fine... most of
the time.
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