World Cup, Distilleries, And Hikes Galore

If you only have a little bit of time, this 1 minute video summary of the hikes is a fantastic demonstration of our travels. Definitely make it full screen though!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykcx-WzyJso&feature=youtube_gdata

This weekend was an extra exciting weekend, as we accomplished a great deal in a short span of time. Our first event on the calendar was to attend the Dominica vs Canada World Cup Qualifying match in Windsor Park. We arrived at the arena an hour early, as we were told that there was expected to be a large showing of support for the Dominican team, and there was no assigned seating. This speculation was correct, and the arena was jam packed with roaring football fans, considerably more than at the cricket match. Upon arriving at the stadium, we were greeted by one of the only other fair skinned patrons there, a die hard Canadian Football fan who had logged 22 away traveling with the Canadian team. He hoped to recruit us to be temporary Canada fans for the evening, offering to bribe us with oodles of Canadian swag ranging from hats to flags. We unfortunately had turn him down, as our hearts belonged to the other team, which he fully understood after we explained how long we planned to stay on the nature Island. He then proceeded to recruit some German tourists to fill our spot, and found several other french speaking friends to enjoy the match with (as Dominica has some french people on the island). The match ended with Dominica losing by 2 goals, but still proved to be a very fun evening. We then proceeded to return to our house, and hung out with some locals around our age at one of the small house side shops up the road. It was a very fun evening.

Dominica Vs Canada World Cup Qualifier

The next morning we slept in, and then decided to tour the Macoucherie Rum Factory on the island. The distillery is roughly a 25 minute drive from our home in Eggleston, and we almost missed the "exit" to the factory, as there was no signage to direct us, and the place looked to be falling apart. However, to our surprise, it was indeed the factory, and we arrived just in time for our tour. The first thing incredibly interesting about the factory, was it was still stuck in the 19th century. The entire distillery operation was still powered by a stream that ran alongside the centuries old machinery, and still used the original watermill to power the equipment. Sugarcane was grown and harvested much by hand, as we saw several workers in the field lugging heavy sacks of cane over the back to the pile to be processed. One interesting thing to note was that all the manual labor positions were held by Haitians (people from Haiti), and lived on site in the same quarters that used to house the slaves that previously ran the factory. The tour guide said it was impossible to find Dominicans who would agree to work in the fields, which was extremely surprising for a country with an unemployment rate of 23%, (26.2% for young males). So instead, the managers of the company had to import workers from the island of Haiti to work in their factory.  The tour continued to show us some old store houses with shudders hanging crooked from one hinge, and water run offs with dead crabs laying in the gutters. Inside the distillation building, we were shown to the hydrometer, which was still the original antique alcohol content meter from the factories origins. Here, in this building, the mash was pumped from large caste iron tanks several floors above into the the distillation chamber. The supports for these heavy containers were simply old planks of wood, which made me wonder how such a vast amount of weight could be supported for centuries by such a small amount of wood. The most interesting aspect of the tour was how old fashioned the distillery still was. When you visit distilaries in the united states, they show you the old equipment that was used long ago, and the machinery that is used now. This place, on the other hand, was still reliant on the old methods of production, which was somthing that I had never seen before, and made the trip completely worth it.

Water Wheel That Powers All Machinery

Storehouses Still In Use

After the distillery, we continued onto the nearby Mero Beach, where we visited very early in the trip. Here we swam, skipped stones, and laid out on lounge chairs along the sea by a seaside restaurant known as Romance Cafe. The owner of the Cafe was a French woman who had heard us on the news, and was very eager to hear about our work on the island. She gave us advice on how to reach the masses, as well as a round of free drinks for chatting with her. She was very kind and ran the most peaceful seaside cafe this side of the equator. We enjoyed the beach long past sunset, and came home to eat a quick snack and chat for a few hours in our living room. It was a peaceful end to a peaceful day.

A view After Sunset From Our Cafe Table

The next day was our day of adventure, as we woke up at 7 am to begin our journey into the jungles of Dominica. The first hike on our list was the famous Trolfalga Falls, as seen on the East Caribbean 5 Dollar Bill. The drive took us fairly high into the mountains, and into a beautiful part of the island we had never seen before. The drive was under 30 minutes, and proved to be quite scenic. The walk to the falls, however, proved to be even more so. The trail was short and very well defined. Here, there were solid steps and no steep hills to deter us, and we reached the falls in just under 10 minutes. The view was breathtaking from the observation deck, but I wanted to get closer. I ended up following a small stream that took me through lots of rocks and boulders, to the place where I took the photo below. I wished to get closer to the falls to get a more perfect selfie, however, my group was not brave enough to accompany me along the stream, let alone through a sea of boulders. So I returned to them, and happily proceeded out to our next destination.

Trofalga Falls

A View From My Hike Up The Stream

Group Shot at Trolfalga

The second location on our itinerary was freshwater lake. To reach the lake, we had to travel much further up the mountain. We traveled so far up the mountain that we were completely surrounded by clouds on all sides, and visibility at points was next to none. The temperature dropped so low that we all had goosebumps and were freezing by the time we reached the trail head. The lake itself looked like something out of Harry Potter, as the water was completely covered in a thick fog that obstructed the view of anything more than a few feet out. The clouds continually rolled through, with occasional gusts of wind briefly revealing the glimpses through the fog, and the enormity of the lake. A trail wound around the 2.5 mile circumference of the lake, and lead us on an extreme expedition way up into the mountain. The trail was extremely slippery and dark, as the clouds keep the place constantly soaked, and between the clouds, fog, and complete tree cover, very little light made it through to the trail. Their were logs dug into the steep hills as steps, but proved to be immensely slippery since they were soaked. These log steps wound up and down through the mountain side to immense heights, and at times were so steep had to be climbed almost like a ladder, with hands holding the step directly in front of you. It was surreal looking down with one moment seeing a hundred foot drop, and the next seeing nothing but the grey fog concealing the gorge below. The ghostly fog and the wipping wind were such a unique and breathtaking experience that really reminded us we were on the top of a mountain at the top of the world.

The Clouds At Freshwater Lake

Me With Cloud Concealed Mountains Behind

Dont Look Down

1. Truckin

Me Walking The Narrow Mountain Top

Group Shot With STEEP Path Behind Us. Look How Straight Down It Goes

After we completed the Freshwater Lake (it took us several hours of climbing straight up and down) we continued on to a trail known as Bori Lake. Bori lake was very close to freshwater lake, but was at a slightly higher elevation. The trail to Bori was mostly rocks, which proved to be more slippery than the logs, and at times much more treacherous. We had to scoot ourselves over some of the bigger boulders, and constantly used handholds to ensure we would not slip. This trail also took us up and down very steep hills through the mountains, with breathtaking views every time the fog would slightly give way. The end result was a breathtakingly teal lake concealed most the time by the thick fog with a large boulder shore. This pool in the mountains was absolutely gorgeous, and the pictures taken cannot do it justice, but absolutely made this two hour round trip hike worth it. What I still cannot get over was how DARK  it gets in the rain forest. The pictures make the environment look much lighter than it really was, and it was in fact very similar to dusk lighting for most the trip.

Our Path Through The Rain Forest

Some Sunlight Creeps Through

We Reached Bori Lake!

Me With Bori Lake Behind

After that hike, we refueled at one of our favorite restaurants, and continued down to hike up Scott's Head, the location where the fierce Atlantic ocean meets the calm Caribbean Sea. This was a relatively short hike directly up the rocky shore. The climate down at sea level is much more arid, and the dry heat was a stark contrast to the cool dark environment of the rain forest. We ended up losing the trail at one point, and had to scurry up a rather scary cliff that made me fearful to look down. The strong ocean winds were whipping from the top, but the peak provided a fantastic view of the island and ocean. The peak was also used as a fortification, and a large cannon and steep ammo reserve still serve as the area's eternal guardian overlooking the bay. 

'

The View From Scott's Head. (Atlantic on Left, Caribbean on Right)

Group

We then traveled back up the mountain and into the clouds for our 4th and final hike of the day. The destination was Middlehelm falls, an estimated 2 hour hike, which was exactly how much time we had before the sun was supposed to set. Lucky for us we had beaten all the other "estimated times" and found ourselves to be quick and proficient hikers. This hike lead us up high through a forest with trees as big as redwoods and sounds of tropical birds echoing through the dark forest. The view of the falls was absolutely spectacular, and due to it's such great stature, we struggled to capture it all in a single picture. Thank goodness Samsung has a vertical panorama feature so the falls could be captured in all their glory!

The Hike To Middelhelm

The View of Middelhelm

Michael at Middlehelm

The final event of the day was a trip to Screw's Spa, a natural freshwater spring pool to bathe in. While we expected a simple hole in the ground, we were shocked to discover the places size and beauty. There were statues and beautiful rock walls lining the many pools that connected through gorgeous man made waterfalls. The pools looked like they were out of a zen garden, and the water in the pools ranged from super hot to comfortably luke warm. We stretched our muscles and enjoyed the springs for a few hours before we returned home to make pancakes and watch the Imitation Game (which is apparently on Caribbean Netflix). It was a fantastic end to a fantastic day.