We were driving up into the hills for our next swimming adventure in Titou gorge, which is a freshwater river. Dominca gets an average of 350 inches of rain a year (!!!) so there are lots of rivers and streams. It's also volcanic, so there are lots of mountains. The gorge is about 2000 feet above sea level and it took us about 45 minutes to get to from the city.
Lots of windy roads and many photo opportunities of the lush countryside. So, when we arrived at Titou gorge, some bad news - due to the volume of water in the river, the current was way to strong for us to swim against, so we weren't going to get to see where some of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 was filmed (bummer!) but we've got some nice photos of the area. You have to hike about 1/4 mile to the entrance along the path the diverted water for the hydroelectric power goes (about 40% of the electricity in Dominca is from hydro power) We hiked to the overlook above the Gorge, and could see into it.
Down by where the van was parked, the water volume was slower, so we all walked around in the shallow, cold water.
Then it was off to Trafalgar Falls, for our next adventure (and death-defying climb!)
Pretty, right? What you don't realize, is we climbed down OVER most of those boulders.....
Not straight down, but off from the left in this picture. I have no idea what the heck we were thinking (other than hey, I can do this) but it was something else. I only ended up with 1 scrape on the back of my left calf, so that's pretty good really.
Chris and Michael standing in the middle of the river.
Here's Chris and I with our guide Floorboard. No, he's not 16, he claims to be 23.
The way out was really entertaining, you went up the other side where there were some hot springs and pools to sit in. Here's Chris showing off his guns.
The hike back up wasn't nearly as bad, but I was BEAT by the time we got back to the van, all the way back at the top. Once at the van, we had a beer and water break (learned a new party trick on how to open a beer bottle with a water bottle from Floorboard!) and then climbed in the van for the drive back to Roseau and our ship, which took about 30 minutes.
Overall, I would say this was a great tour because we got to see all the main sights of Dominica, but it's not for the infirm or out-of-shape! Bummer on Titou gorge, but what are you going to do?
We got back to the ship around 3pm, and then went upstairs and sat on our balcony (which was in the shade!) and rested for a bit. The ship departed about 5pm, and we got cleaned up and ready for another dinner in Blu (still no pictures! battery was dead again) and it was excellent. I had the french onion soup and a ribeye steak with a white bean/truffle side (which tasted a LOT like the white bean soup from marmalade, strangely enough!) For dessert, Collins came through and got us some After Eight ice cream (he'd gotten the restaurant manager to ask the pastry chef to make us some) so he gets many bonus points for that amazing feat!
We headed for the Martini Bar (yes Jeffrey, we are there a lot!) but wasn't very busy, I think people are starting to be tired from the long days onshore. I know I was after our Dominican adventure today! We called it a night and headed upstairs to the cabins for some reading and sleep. Nighty night!!!!!
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