Location: Roseau, Dominica
My day as skipper was a long full day; indeed, it began by waking everyone up at 6:30, slightly earlier than normal, as the day’s agenda had an amazing hike to a boiling lake planned. Luckily a filling breakfast of waffles was prepared to get the group fueled and ready. This is, however, where my day with the group ended as days worth of boat projects was in store for me, ranging from routine maintenance of the boat, checks on safety equipment, touching up paint and varnish, and general tinkering to help keep the boat going……..This is where I will pass it off to the Co-Skipper of the day Hunter who actually went on the hike and will have far more insight into the group’s activity and some awesome pictures and stories of the day………….
Hunter here,
After a fun day of community service at a couple of local schools yesterday, we woke up early this morning, ready to hike. After a delicious waffle breakfast prepared by Ian M, we met up with our guide, Poncho. On the drive to the trailhead, we observed the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Dominica. There was visible damage to many of the buildings; debris was everywhere, and even the trees up in the hills looked as though the wind had ripped away a majority of their leaves and branches. After driving up the winding and narrow mountain roads, we reached the trailhead and began our hike. It was noticeable that different sections of the trail had been washed out. As we walked through the rainforest, we climbed to a beautiful vista overlooking the island.
We then descended into the “valley of desolation.” It was a steep drop down to a wide valley filled with sulfuric rock and boiling hot streams. We stopped for lunch, and some of our crew decided it was time for a sulfuric mud facial. While many of us were covering our faces with mud, our guide, Poncho, made some hardboiled eggs for us in the boiling hot stream. After lunch, we continued hiking until we reached a hot spring underneath a very warm waterfall. We stopped for a brief but very relaxing natural bath. Our final stretch took us up to the boiling lake. From our viewing point, we could see the bubbling center of the lake as steam rose all around. It was a unique sight. After a quick break, we began our hike back out, and when we reached the end of the trail, we were happy to find cold drinks and a waterfall to cool off in. After about 10 miles of hiking, our crew was beat. We headed back to the Ocean Star for dinner and an evening Seamanship class. It was another fun-filled adventurous day for the Ocean Star crew.
We’re looking forward to what’s in store for tomorrow.