South East Dominica – jus’ hangin’ out in de forest mon!

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Kate enjoys the refreshing water in one of Dominica's waterfalls

They call this a forest but it looks like jungle to me. There is a real Jurassic Park feel to the place. You’ll walk down a track and look up to see a fern 30 feet above your head and vines hanging from trees so high you can’t see the top. Living in the tree house was great fun and an unmissable experience. There were a few other campers in huts and a couple in a tent (yes, a two-man tent in the jungle!), plus a little communal kitchen where we all cooked over a wood fire. Each time we wanted to go somewhere we had to descend the 15 minute trail to base camp before starting out. We swam in a deep pool in the river called the mermaid pool a couple of times. We went up into the village of Grand Fond and down the steep half hour trail to Secret Beach. On the road persons are always hitching lifts, waving or shouting greetings. We have given a few lifts. There’s a lot of humour here.

We gave a lift to one local who showed us the way to a small waterfall, so we dropped him off and went back to Riviere Cirique where the trail starts. Not long into the trail we took off our boots and carried on in the river. After 20 minutes or so we came across the falls. We took a shower on the rocks before heading back refreshed.

On the Secret Beach trail, we picked up a coconut which looked OK so Kate carried it all the way back to Rosalie Forest - by then it was a good friend and called Wilson (from Castaway). A charming local lady called She She was in camp and she professionally hacked open the husk and the shell - we snacked on coconut with the other campers before dinner.

We just love hanging out in the tree house with our neighbours the lizards watching out for humming birds and parrots.

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