This morning we began our excursion by going to the Forestry department so Roger could buy some books on the local plant life. One of the books had pages that were upside down when the cover was held upright. We thought it would be a great way to mess with people if he were reading the book with the cover upside down. Next we went by the post office, where they supplied Elmer’s glue to make the stamps stick on.
We went for a very long drive to a rutty dirt driveway that was supposed to lead to one of the most spectacular waterfalls on the island. For $5 US parking, one could cross the river about four times along a winding trail up to Victoria Falls. I apologize for not getting any pictures of that excursion, but it was just too wet. After crossing the river the first time, we found a few goats tied up to graze; later one of those goats had grazed on his rope and set himself free. We scrambled over rocks and waded waist-deep in the water at times. Sometimes we tried to scoot along rocks to avoid getting in the water, sometimes we just didn’t care. A couple of times we had to do a bit of actual rock climbing, bracing our hands, feet, and shins into contortionist angles to shimmy up some of the stacks of boulders. It was reassuring, however, to stand on a large boulder and see the waterfall up ahead. Just before we reached the rocky shoreline of the pool, we had to slither along a two-foot wide edge, holding onto the two jutting rocks that gave no grip with the feeling of leaning slightly backwards.
With careful footing, we made it to the pool. Diane and Kala refused to go in the water and thus began to eat lunch on the closest large rock. The spray from the water rained on them so much that they had to relocate about 40 yards back. I decided to go into the water and get as close as I could to the waterfall. Dropping some great distance, the waterfall’s spray made it nearly impossible to face the falls as we made our way towards it. I managed to get about 20-30 feet away from the bottom of the fall before just staying place became a workout.
On the return hike, it was interesting to maneuver our footwork into precisely the same path we came on some of the steep declines where we rock-climbed before. Occasionally we had to sit down and slide to a spot to stand up. A couple of times we got out of the riverway and onto a path in the forest, finding crab dens and skirting around squishy mud as much as possible. When we were just about to exit the driveway, a French-speaking couple from Guadeloupe asked us for directions, apparently on a backpacking vacation. Thankfully the woman could speak. They wanted to hike up to Victoria Falls by themselves, which would be practically impossible without knowing the right way.
Skipping over Sari Sari Falls in leu of the possibility of going to Champagne Reef again (we wanted to go back because Roger accidentally deleted all the photos from his underwater camera), we took a very long drive around the island. We drove over to the Rosalie River, one of the sites where we collected snails, and took a water sample. Did I mention before that there are some ruins by the river that were used in a scene in Pirates of the Caribbean 2? There's several other places on the island in that movie as well.
We didn't make it back in time for Champagne Reef, unfortunately. By the time we would have arrived there, the scuba shop would have been closed. We did stop by to get some pictures of signs, though. We also went by a hotel so Roger could get a t-shirt from Dive Dominica to show his diving buddies back home.
Just before sunset, we set out for a short hike to Stinking Hole with Clynton, the station's bartender and chef's son. Stinking Hole is where the bats live. They emerged in waves from a cave in the side of the hole. We estimate that it holds tens if not hundreds of thousands of bats of several different species. We stood at the edge of the hole, Kala and I hiding partially behind Dr. Hains to keep the bats from flying into us. The bats would sweep past us, brushing against our arms or touching the side of our heads. Diane was able to get some really good pictures of the bats in flight, including some great close-ups. A day or so later she found a dead bat wedged under her suitcase. Apparently it got trapped in our room and tried to burrow between the suitcase and the bed she had it on, then couldn't get itself out. I'm so happy we had misquito nets on the beds we slept in so it couldn't have burrowed under our pillows!
We went for a very long drive to a rutty dirt driveway that was supposed to lead to one of the most spectacular waterfalls on the island. For $5 US parking, one could cross the river about four times along a winding trail up to Victoria Falls. I apologize for not getting any pictures of that excursion, but it was just too wet. After crossing the river the first time, we found a few goats tied up to graze; later one of those goats had grazed on his rope and set himself free. We scrambled over rocks and waded waist-deep in the water at times. Sometimes we tried to scoot along rocks to avoid getting in the water, sometimes we just didn’t care. A couple of times we had to do a bit of actual rock climbing, bracing our hands, feet, and shins into contortionist angles to shimmy up some of the stacks of boulders. It was reassuring, however, to stand on a large boulder and see the waterfall up ahead. Just before we reached the rocky shoreline of the pool, we had to slither along a two-foot wide edge, holding onto the two jutting rocks that gave no grip with the feeling of leaning slightly backwards.
With careful footing, we made it to the pool. Diane and Kala refused to go in the water and thus began to eat lunch on the closest large rock. The spray from the water rained on them so much that they had to relocate about 40 yards back. I decided to go into the water and get as close as I could to the waterfall. Dropping some great distance, the waterfall’s spray made it nearly impossible to face the falls as we made our way towards it. I managed to get about 20-30 feet away from the bottom of the fall before just staying place became a workout.
On the return hike, it was interesting to maneuver our footwork into precisely the same path we came on some of the steep declines where we rock-climbed before. Occasionally we had to sit down and slide to a spot to stand up. A couple of times we got out of the riverway and onto a path in the forest, finding crab dens and skirting around squishy mud as much as possible. When we were just about to exit the driveway, a French-speaking couple from Guadeloupe asked us for directions, apparently on a backpacking vacation. Thankfully the woman could speak. They wanted to hike up to Victoria Falls by themselves, which would be practically impossible without knowing the right way.
Skipping over Sari Sari Falls in leu of the possibility of going to Champagne Reef again (we wanted to go back because Roger accidentally deleted all the photos from his underwater camera), we took a very long drive around the island. We drove over to the Rosalie River, one of the sites where we collected snails, and took a water sample. Did I mention before that there are some ruins by the river that were used in a scene in Pirates of the Caribbean 2? There's several other places on the island in that movie as well.
We didn't make it back in time for Champagne Reef, unfortunately. By the time we would have arrived there, the scuba shop would have been closed. We did stop by to get some pictures of signs, though. We also went by a hotel so Roger could get a t-shirt from Dive Dominica to show his diving buddies back home.
Just before sunset, we set out for a short hike to Stinking Hole with Clynton, the station's bartender and chef's son. Stinking Hole is where the bats live. They emerged in waves from a cave in the side of the hole. We estimate that it holds tens if not hundreds of thousands of bats of several different species. We stood at the edge of the hole, Kala and I hiding partially behind Dr. Hains to keep the bats from flying into us. The bats would sweep past us, brushing against our arms or touching the side of our heads. Diane was able to get some really good pictures of the bats in flight, including some great close-ups. A day or so later she found a dead bat wedged under her suitcase. Apparently it got trapped in our room and tried to burrow between the suitcase and the bed she had it on, then couldn't get itself out. I'm so happy we had misquito nets on the beds we slept in so it couldn't have burrowed under our pillows!
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