Gym's Ramblings: Winter 2022: The Amazon Expedition

A little Dominican

On the morning of December 6, 2022, the Insignia arrived in Roseau, Dominica. Gym and his bride had organized a day of hiking. It was their second visit to this island nation. In 2006, accompanied by a couple of related teenagers, our travelers made their first landing here. The Gym family was cruising on the MS/Regatta, that year, a sister ship of the Insignia. On that first voyage of discovery, the whole clan elected to jump on inner tubes and careen down one of the numerous rivers on the island. Miraculously, there were no injuries but everyone did get thoroughly soaked. Dominica is known as the land of 365 rivers, one for every day of the year.

Like St. Vincent, Dominica is a very vertical island. It rises straight up out of the sea. And like St. Vincent, this island sits on the Lesser Antilles subduction zone. So, there is some volcanic stuff going on here. However, instead of a history of violent stratovolcano eruptions, most of the volcanic activity today is evident in what is going on at Boiling Lake. Now Gym and his dear bride didn't visit Boiling Lake because it's a little dicey getting up there but it is an interesting natural wonder. Boiling Lake is the second largest such lake in the world. The largest boiling lake, Frying Pan Lake, is in Rotorua, New Zealand, which was covered in a 2018 posting of this blog.

There are numerous outstanding hikes on this island. Several well-maintained trails lead into some pretty spectacular scenery. Our travelers would spend their day exploring two trails that rewarded them with some breathtaking natural vistas. In the morning, they would ramble down an excellent trail to the Emerald Pool. One must descend down from the trailhead where there is a pristine pool fed by a beautiful waterfall. In the afternoon, they visited the Trafalgar Falls. Another short slog leads down from the trailhead, to the perfect position from which to view two large waterfalls separated by a vertical spire of volcanic rock, covered in dense tropical vegetation. Gym's camera did not do some of these scenes justice, so he asked his dear wife for her pics which were much better (see below).

On the way back to the ship they stopped at the Morne Bruce Garrison, where in the 1700s, there was a British battery and fortifications built, high above Rosseau. This was a perfect place to situate guns to protect the capital in the 18th Century and today it turns out to be an ideal place to hang out and enjoy an unparalleled view of the capital and the sea beyond.

In general, Gym liked the laid- back feel of Dominica. The locals seem very friendly and you can't beat the draw of the beautiful scenery on the island. Again, we did not have time to visit any beaches on the island but Gym has learned that there are several nice ecotourism resorts on some of the beaches. The island is also a magnet for the diving enthusiasts.

Later that evening, the ship set sail for the British Virgin Islands.