Dominica is situated at the northern end of the Windward chain of the Lesser Antilles. It is the largest (although only 29 miles long by 16 miles wide) of this island grouping, lying between the two French Islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe.
Upon arrival in Dominica, after our exciting ride from the airport via wild twists and turns, stopping only once for Tibuli (the local beer), we found our rooms and got settled in. Then while sipping our Island Rum drinks, we convened for an orientation explaining the plans for diving, and options for land excursions to follow for the next week.
Our daily routine consisted of breakfast at 7:30, two-tank dives beginning at 9am. returning just in time for lunch. After lunch some chose to go to town to do their own sight seeing or tours to various local points of interest. After our tour, we would return in time for dinner, and by then be so exhausted most of us would fall asleep only to awake and start that routine again! Some hearty souls did find enough strength to spend significant time at the tiki bar the beach.
I had never been to Dominica, however, several people on this trip had been. From what I am told the reefs were in better shape than before. I can tell you the fish were abundant and overall the diving was very good! The water was warm, the reefs were alive and we did see barrel sponges, clusters of tube sponges forests of black coral, anemones, and many schooling species of fish. I saw my first seahorse, which was exciting, and several frogfish, which are the most incredible little creatures I have ever seen! We dove off of Scott's Head called the Pinnacle, which rises from the inside lip of the crater to within 10 feet of the surface and reached depths well beyond dive limits! One dive sight was named "Champagne" because of the tiny bubbles created by geothermal activity, which created the illusion of champagne bubbles coming out of the sand. There was hot water flowing from an underwater thermal vent. When you see Larry Townsend's video you will think he used special effects, it is so incredible. By the way, see Larry for an application for "Reef Girl". Our dive plans were constructed so that we could dive deep at the beginning of the dive and decompress and still appreciate the sites offered at the shallower depth.
While approaching our dive sights it was not an uncommon sight to be joined by schools of several hundred Porpoise. Hopefully Gint captured this experience with his trusty camera.
Our night dive was spectacular, such sights as huge basket stars and a turtle that was a real ham! Larry and Frank did a beach night dive and captured some beautiful video and still photography.
Some of our touring adventures included: Titou Gorge, Trafalgar falls, and Victoria Falls. Each waterfall was different and majestic. Of the 16 people on the trip, 5 adventuresome individuals went on the full day tour to boiling lake. This tour was an hour drive to Laudat then an 8 hour hike (it was uphill both directions) to the world's largest volcanic crater, steaming fumaroles on a barren volcanic plain, called the Valley of Desolation. Our guides on all the tours were very good. They explained the flora and fauna, were patient when we needed to REST, and paced us accordingly. We did have one mishap in that Nancy Luellan dislocated her shoulder while climbing the boulders to Victoria Falls. We all had black and blue marks and scrapes but all in all we fared well. All the sights were impressive and even without pictures will be in my memory for years to come.
We did get our joke repertoire updated on our return trip from tours, while winding down the ruggedly beautiful but scary "roads" (I use that term loosely), with hairpin turns. Larry, Tim, Gint, and Aaron (the local driver) shared humorous anecdotes, most of which cannot be printed here.
We visited the Emerald Pool and Carib Indian Village as our final look at the breathtaking waterfalls and greenery of the surrounding vegetation, on our return trip to the airport.
I want to thank all the participants for their cooperation and help. It was a wonderful group of people, and let me tell you the "I survived the hike to Boiling Lake" group is bonded forever!
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