Dominica

In April 2006, Anna and I spent eight days in Dominica. Anna had a workshop in Barbados in mid-April, so after my exams were done, I joined her and we both went on to Dominica. We stayed at 3 Rivers Eco Lodge for the whole time, which was an ideal place to stay. We camped in our tent for the first five nights and then stayed in a tree house up in the forest for the last three. I wouldn''t recommend tenting unless you have a very ventilated but still waterproof tent. I think it rained every night we were there, so there was no chance of sleeping with the fly off (which we did the first night, woke up in the middle of the night in a panic to get the fly on because of a sudden downpour). But with the fly on it was pretty warm and stuffy. Up in the forest in the treehouse it was much cooler, and quite comfortable.

Dominica is an absolutely gorgeous country. We stayed pretty much entirely on the east coast, where the temperature is much nicer than in the west. It rained every day at least once, but most often the rain comes as welcome cooling. We heard stories of rains so fierce the bridges are washed out and there is nothing to do but wait for the water to subside. But that is during the rainy season in August and September.

The country smells beautiful. There is green growth everywhere, though very few animals. The noise at night from crickets and wind and birds and who knows what else is loud enough to drown out conversation. The sun shines hot, but clouds and the jungle provide welcome shade, and misting rain and cold mountain rivers bring sweet relief. We drank water straight from the streams, filling our bottles wherever we pleased. The only other place I have been that had water so good is the glacier streams in Jasper - certainly no bottled water comes close.