Lost in the Dominica Rainforest Jungle

Lost in the Unspoiled Rainforest Jungle in Dominica. It felt like we were in another world. Waterfalls, Wild Rivers, Sulphur Springs, and Rusty Rocks. Dominica – the Nature Island is in the Eastern Caribbean. We will take you with us on our tour to see:

Syndicate WaterFalls and Trail
Calibishie Red Rocks
The Chocolate Factory
Cold Souffriere
And our favorite – the Indian River

(BTW there are 9 volcanoes on Dominica)

Dominica Sailing & Cruising Video

Watch our explorations.

Lost in the Dominica Rainforest Jungle: Wild Rivers, Waterfalls, Volcanic Springs

Our Dominica Tour

Our Taxi, Dr. Love, drove past Portsmouth shorelines, residences, the old medical college, and a plant farm on the way to the waterfalls.

Syndicate Falls

Syndicate Falls are over 100 feet tall. It is located at the foothills of Dominica’s tallest mountain – Morne Diablotin – and close to the edge of the Picard River Gorge. The 205 acres of land, which is known as the “Syndicate Preserve”, was incorporated into the national park when the latter was established in January 2000. The falls were quite beautiful and we were the only ones there! At the visitor center, they even brewed drinks from the rainforest’s plants and we were able to sample them.

Red Rocks

The next stop was Red Rocks in Calibishie on the eastern windward side of the island. Very unique place – very different for the island. It was formed when a fast moving lava flow ran down and ignited everything in its path straight to the sea. It boiled the ocean, kicked up steam, cooled and left a slate grey earth. Over time, the iron in the earth oxidized – it rusted – and that’s how Red Rocks came to be. We had Lunch at Coral Reef restaurant with its panoramic view of Red Rocks, and Dominica’s longest coral reef where we watched the locals fish.

Chocolate Factory

Next stop the Point Baptiste chocolate factory where they grow, harvest, ferment, cook and blend the chocolate.

It all began with a love story between Lennox Napier and Elma Gordon Cumming. They decided to leave England and the aristocratic conventional milieu with whom they belonged, to live a rural bohemian life in the island of Dominica that they had fallen in love with at first sight in 1930.

Beach, Construction Zone

Next stop is the only white sand beach on the island in Woodford Hills.

Back in the van, we passed by a mountain being torn down. When we asked why, we found out that the materials were being used to build an airport. Actually the Chinese have the contract for building the airport and their trucks passed us by multiple times almost running us off the road.

Cold Souffriere Sulphur Springs

Next we drove up and down hills so steep it felt like a roller coaster ride on the way to the Cold Souffriere, a cold sulphur spring bubbling in the middle of a volcanic crater within Morne Aux Diables. Hot sulphur springs are much more common, but this is quite a unique site.

What was really cool about this is that as we really looked around, you could tell you were in the middle of a former volcano. Hills on each side formed a circle around where we hiked.

Indian River

Indian River takes you down the wildest River in Dominica. This was our favorite – reminded Stephen of the Heart of Darkness – the Horror – oh the horror. We popped in at the Pirates of the Caribbean film set. We stopped at the Bush Bar for a drink and walked the ginger lily gardens. Unfortunately, the Indian River area is being threatened now by some development occurring nearby where they are filling in the land, causing water levels in the river to rise.

Pirates of Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest location

Anchorages – Portsmouth vs Roseau

Last but not least, we wanted to show you the difference between the Portsmouth and Roseau anchorages. We initially stopped in Portsmouth to tour nearby attractions. There were plenty of mooring balls in a large anchorage, a resort nearby, and the PAYS group to help you arrange anything that is needed. The beach nearby had the typical Caribbean buildings on it, and the customs office nearby. We felt very safe.

Then we moved on to Roseau. The geology of these islands is such that the ocean gets very deep, very fast, leaving little room for anchoring. Roseau had that issue. The mooring ball we were offered was so close to shore we were afraid of hitting the nearby cement docks. Our boat was so close to the shacks on the beach, we could see into them. We did not feel safe at all, so we skipped the tour of the volcanoes and hot springs the next day.