Yeah, the rain finally ended. That video above was clearly filmed on a Caribbean island not too different from this one.
River Tour
Shortly after finishing the last blog post we got to take our river tour up the Indian River. Sure, the water was still murky and the river a bit swollen – but it was still well worth it. The river we headed up reached the ocean in the middle of town, but very quickly you felt like you were poling up a river with Charles Marlow, miles from humanity and civilization. Fortunately for us there instead of a mad Mr. Kurtz there was a nice looking little restaurant with much interesting native vegetation growing around. Unfortunately it was close, but Martin found a coconut for us.
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| Recreated hut from the movie. |
One of the things that distinguishes the Indian River from others on Dominica is that not only is it one of the longer, deeper rivers, but some scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest were filmed on this river. There is a shack that was (according to the local story) supposed to be left from the movie, but apparently was removed after filming but later re-built as closely as possible to the original in order to recreate the scene as it was filmed. It’s not the witch’s house, but one they pass as they travel up river.
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| Looks familiar… |
Rowing slowly and quietly up the river, the most prevalent wildlife was the crabs. Lots and lots of river crabs. Apparently these are a staple of the Dominican diet during crab hunting season and are quite tasty. Several different species are in evidence and appear to be on almost every flat surface and in every crevice.
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| Passive-aggressive crab glares at passerby |
In addition to the crabs we saw a number of different birds – egrets, kingfishers, herons and others. The variety and beauty of the trees and flowers was just overwhelming. Roughly 600 meters up stream the current becomes too much to continue under oars and engines are prohibited, so the typical tour end is at a little restaurant in the woods. This is quite literally in the middle of nowhere and seems reachable only by boat or goat path from what we could see. Sadly it was closed when we took out tour, it seemed a lovely place to stop for lunch.
We did walk around and admire the flowers and plants, and get to sample a coconut that our guide, Martin, found and opened up for us. All in all well worth the trip!
A Brief Word on Coconuts in Dominica
I must make a brief diversion to talk about coconuts, and all we’ve learned about them. Several times here on Dominica we’ve been walking around with our guides and they stop and grab a coconut off the ground. With dexterity, skill, and a machete they quickly clean it up, crack open the top and pass around the water then break it the rest of the way open. You have never, in your life, bought a coconut in Stop & Shop or paid for one anywhere but on an island which is half as good as this thing that was lying on the ground under a palm tree. Kathy, who has had nurtured a life long hatred of coconut, loves them. The kids…forget about it, the will eat the whole thing and try to find another. And they are lying around on the ground in the forest. So when I write “Martin found us a coconut” it’s much, much, much better than it sounds.
Demonstrations of Manliness
After a couple of days of drying we were ready to head back to some of the rivers and waterfalls we had to pass up. One of these was the Chaudiere Pool, which is on the upper reaches of the Hampstead River. It is supposed to be about a 15-20 minute hike from the head of the trail to the pool, however we were warned that the rains from the past few days had washed out some of the road. So Paul, our guide, opted to park well before the head of the trail so we didn’t get stuck or caught on a road that on it’s best days was pretty near impassible without four wheel drive.
The gravel road back was the usual up and down through the jungle. The trail head itself headed into the semi rainforest, where we were once again treated to some of the spices that grow in the wild here – this time some fresh cinnamon bark. And Paul found a coconut…
The Chaudiere pool is so named because it looks like it is boiling due to the way the small falls crash down into it. Surprisingly this pool is more than thirty feet deep. Which of course means you can jump into it from great heights. We were a little unsure of this at first since with the bubbles we couldn’t really see to make sure the pool was clear, but shortly after we arrived another party showed up. Their guide climbed a tree over the pool and jumped off. This of course encourage some of us to climb up onto the cliffs, thump out chests and make the manly leap off the cliff.
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| That motion blur is me, leaping from the rocks in manly fashion |
Some of us of course being me, my friend Matt, and Danielle – who went off twice. OK, it’s STILL a show of manliness for us old farts even if we’re being joined by a thirteen year old girl.
After a few leaps from the heights and an hour or so paddling around in the bubbles. There was allegedly some discussion about whether to take the “long way” back that we came down, or take a short cut that “might involve a little climbing”. Somehow I missed the actual discussion, but we went the steep way. Most of us were ready for another swim by the time we got to the top.
Eventually we made it back to the van and headed off to another excellent lunch of local food at the same lovely waterfront restaurant we had lunch at on the prior tour. The final stop of the day was at Red Rocks, which was just visible from the lunch restaurant.
Red Rocks as a name is a slight misnomer. It looks like rocks, but the area was apparently causes by the packing of volcanic ash mixing with some of the iron in the soil. The surface is loose and crumbly, and a touch slippery when damp.
The landscape looks almost alien – you could fake up a report from the Mars rover if you kept the lens angles tight enough to cut out the water and vegetation. It’s one of those spots where you get that beautiful desolation, and you can feel the fresh breeze and clean air and just enjoy the peace.
