A 4 hour flight from New York in a fairly empty 757 to St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands where there was a quick introduction there to the humidity of the rainy season in the Caribbean.
From there on a 28 seat LIAT Dash 7 that had seen better days, via Anguilla to Antigua. LIAT has "free" seating which means that you have to move fast if you want a window seat.
At Antigua there was a bunch of passengers in the terminal as the weather had closed in down the island chain and flights couldn't leave Antigua for the south. The airport there is designated "international" but the word needs to have a Caribbean definition put to it. It's kind of small when there are just a few Dash 7s worth of passengers caught up there.
Left Antigua an hour late so was late into St Lucia. From the airport at Castries the drive to Soufriere in the south of the island took over an hour.
2 days in St Lucia were spent in Soufriere Village around the Pitons and local bus rides to Castries, Vieux Fort and the Sulphur Springs, billed as "The World's only drive-in Volcano". Then an early morning flight to Dominica. Simple immigration and customs at Dominica and no requirement for a visa fee payment for Australian passport holders.
Then a ride through the centre of the island from Melville Hall airport on the northeast of the island to the capital, Roseau, in the south west. About 1½ hours to do the 40 or so kms on the steep, narrow roads through the mountains.
A great thing about both St Lucia and Dominica was that the water was quite safe to drink out of the taps.
Dominica is not as tourist oriented as St Lucia. As the pitch says:
"Burn some energy in the land of waterfalls. Largely rural, uncrowded and unspoiled, Dominica touts itself as a 'non-tourist destination' for divers, hikers and naturalists - partly because it trades the lazy white-sand beaches so predominant elsewhere in the Caribbean for verdant peaks, killer hikes and breathtaking underwater scenery."
In Roseau tour operator Peter introduced me to my hike guide, Alvin, and he suggested doing the most challenging of the hikes first - the Boiling Lake trail.
We agreed on a 06:30 pickup at the hotel for the next morning for the drive out to Laudat Village to collect Alvin. Even at 06:30 it was starting to get quite steamy in Roseau but as it was the rainy season, wet from humid and steamy still beat wet from rain.
A 30 minute drive from Roseau got us to Laudat Village and then another 15 minutes to Titou Gorge and the start of the hike to Boiling Lake. As it's not the tourist season it was just me and Alvin. First 45 minutes was uphill through the rain forest on a wide path but quite slippery underfoot. At that point we entered the Morne Trois Pitons national park and the path then headed down into a valley and the Breakfast River. That was the first of many river crossings during the hikes. There's no support to hold onto to cross the rivers, just a number of slippery stones sticking out of the water at odd intervals.
From the Breakfast River it was uphill again for nearly an hour where a lookout marked the half way point on the outward walk to the Boiling Lake. From there the path became more challenging with a steep descent into the "Valley of Desolation". It was that part of the return that was going to be the hardest for me. We crossed the valley which is crisscrossed by hot streams, bubbling pools, rising steam and sulphur. That was followed by a final ascent up to the Boiling Lake itself. There are no facilities there at all. Not even a tree for shade. Stand in the open with one or two rocks to sit on to enjoy the spectacle. Stayed there nearly half an hour to recover and enjoy the spot and prepare for the return.
The return was cruel. Crossing the Valley from the Lake wasn't too bad but climbing out of the Valley was a killer. After about 5 hours of hiking, sweating in the heat and humidity, climbing the steep and at times unstable path out of the Valley was one of the hardest things I've done recently. At some stages I was barely able to take 10 upward steps without stopping for a rest. With about 2 hours of walking still to do to get to Titou Gorge my legs started cramping up. Eventually made it to the Viewpoint and then started the downhill track to Breakfast River. I really longed for a small sector of level ground on the track instead of always up or down hill but I doubt that even 1% of the track could be classified as level.
When I got back to the hotel and into my room and the muscles started to relax the cramping started in earnest. I think every muscle in both legs and both feet took it in turns to cramp. I tried to lie still on the bed but that didn't help much. Spasms of pain kept shooting through the muscles and I lay on the bed cursing. Took about 2 hours before I could get off the bed and bend over to take off my socks.
For the 2nd day's hike I was talked out of Victoria Falls. I was told that there were a number of river crossings which required walking through the river and I didn't like the idea of having feet sloshing around in wet boots for hours. So that hike was changed to Middleham Falls (Dominica's tallest at 275 feet), Freshwater Lake and Trafalgar Falls.
Middleham Falls hike was about an hour each way A bit of climbing and descending but nothing like Boiling Lake. Freshwater Lake was a hike around the lake but there was such a lot of mist and swirling clouds that I wouldn't have seen anything so that was shortened and we set off to Trafalgar Falls which was another short hike. It rained on the hike to Trafalgar.
Day 3 hike (Sunday) was the 2nd best - the cross island hike. Started at Freshwater Lake in the middle of the island and walked to Rosalie village on the east coast. It was mainly a downhill hike along a narrow but very overgrown path as a result of few tourists tramping it during the rainy season. Having a guide was essential on that hike as the overgrown path was very narrow in many places (down to 10 cms or so), perched between the upward and downward mountain cliffs. There were often hidden "holes" in the path so Alvin would stop and point out where I had to take care over placing my feet. The track was also sometimes almost invisible through the undergrowth.
The hike went okay for the 1st half hour then the rain started. Quickly put on my raincoat and continued to stumble down the path which soon turned into a stream. My decision to abandon the Victoria Falls hike to prevent wet feet sloshing around in wet boots was made pointless in an instant as the narrow track turned into a small stream. The rain continued for over half an hour. Luckily the raincoat kept the upper body and backpack dry (apart from the sweat from the humidity) but everything else was soaked. After the rain stopped we still had nearly 2 hours of hiking along the mountain track to get to the village of Grand Fonds after which the walk continued down a country road and ended at the village of Rosalie. Rain came again on a few occasions after that 30 minute downpour but it wasn't as ferocious - just enough to make sure I stayed wet. By the time the hike was over my knees were pretty sore. Every downward step for 4 hours putting all the weight of the body on them, in addition to whatever work they had to do to compensate for the slipping and sliding over the stony path, made sure of that.
Monday was a disappointment. I had arranged to be picked up at 10:00 to do the Layou River hike which, with Boiling Lake, was one that I had wanted to do from the programme. When driver Peter arrived he was without guide Alvin and the story that Alvin had been told that rain inland meant that the Layou was likely to flood and that a hike there would be dangerous. So, Peter asked, what did I want to do? Without much knowledge of Dominica and with no guide I was at a loss. I had previously agreed to cut the hiking to 4 days and replace the 5th day with a tour of the island. Peter suggested doing the island tour then but as it had got to 11:00 I wasn't keen as it would have meant lots of rushing so the day was canned by me. I took the opportunity to catch a local bus at the market behind the hotel to the south of the island - Soufriere and Scott's Head.
Day 4 hike was almost a non event. Way up in the north of the island in the Morne Diablotin National Park. First hike was to Syndicate Falls. Got there along a track that started amongst coffee plantations and vegetable gardens high in the hills. Not a long hike but very tricky river crossings. Had to do them on hands and knees to avoid slipping into the river. Not too elegant but managed to stay largely dry. Then further into the park and along a nature trail which was really just a walk - not at all strenuous like the other hikes.
For Day 5 I'd agreed to convert the hike to an island tour. My knee was beginning to feel the effect of taking so much strain so I wasn't too sorry but feel a bit deprived for missing out on at least one more good hike.
Driver Peter arrived at 09:30 and we set off up the west coast in his bus, across the Layou River and through Salisbury Village to Portsmouth. I think the distance is about 40 kms but will have to check my map. It took nearly 1½ hours to get there. Very scenic road.
At Portsmouth we stopped at Indian River where local guides row you for a short way up the river, proudly pointing out the sector of the river where "Pirates of the Caribbean" was filmed.
From Portsmouth, which stands on Prince Rupert (of the Rhine) Bay we went to the far side of the bay to the Cabrits to walk through the ruins of Fort Shirley and that was an interesting walk. Then a drive across the north of the island to the very scenic northeast coastline and down past Melville Hall airport and into the "Carib Territory" - an area of 5 villages where some of the original Carib inhabitants still live.
Next morning Peter arrived in his bus at 04:30 for the 1½ hour ride to Melville Hall to catch the 06:50 flight to Antigua. A Dash 8 as this plane was going right through to San Juan.
Nevertheless, when we got to Antigua we were all asked to leave the plane and go through the terminal to go through security again and then reboard. Just what LIAT thought could have occurred between going through security at Melville Hall and landing in Antigua I haven't worked out. Then it was on to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands where we were asked to disembark and go through the terminal and .... security - followed by immediate reboarding and on to San Juan. Got to San Juan about 10:10 and waited there until my plane to Chicago left at 15:00. Got to Chicago just in time to connect to Los Angeles and had a couple of hours there before getting onto Qantas for the 14 hour flight to Sydney.
Arrived in Sydney about 07:30 local time then a 737 to Perth. I'd left the Garraway Hotel in Roseau at 04:30 their time (16:30 Perth time) on Thursday and got back to the house just after 14:00 on Saturday - over 45 hours in transit.
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