Roseau, The boiling lake, and the visit to POM

Hello everyone,

This will be a semi-long post due to me covering the past 3 days. So lets get started!

So on the 16th we had the opportunity to visit the capital of the country Roseau, and take a quick trip to Trafalgar Falls. The morning started off from what I remember beautiful, and the car ride being about 45 minutes. FYI, and I will most likely post more in depth about this in the future, the roads in Dominica are rough. and I mean...ROUGH. Anyways, we got into Roseau which in itself is a beautiful city. We had the opportunity to go through the market, buy some wares/fruits (I got all my little gifts for people back home), and got to eat at a restaurant named Pearls to try some Dominican food. I had what was called a smoked chicken calallou. Which...uh....didn't exactly look very appealing, but tasted okay. After the city we took a trip up to Trafalgar falls, which was absolutely beautiful. The hike down was fun, and fortunately was not too challenging. The falls themselves were awesome, and what was even better was the presence of the natural hot springs/pools. Much, much better then any hot tub. Then after you could hop down and cool off in the many pools that are further down from the waterfall. Overall a very great way to spend your Saturday.

On the 17th Anthony and I partook with 3 others on the boiling lake hike. This is labeled as "extreme" in difficulty, is 14 miles in length overall, and you traverse 3 different climates. Those 3 climates include rain forest, a kind of arid plateau, and a desert scape in the valley of desolation. Each having their own obstacles and rewards. The valley of desolation is in the last leg of the 1st 3 hours it takes to get to the boiling lake. In a nut shell, you are walking through a active volcano. The area smells of sulfur (you get used to it very quickly), and there is boiling fumes of sulfur deposits spitting up everywhere. Very neat. We even got the chance to put the sulfur mud on our face, which apparently is great for your skin. (it is). The boiling lake itself was amazing, it basically is what the name says. A huge boiling lake, 2nd largest in the world. We then after a quick lunch got to go the entire way back. Overall the hike was not incredibly difficult, my prior workouts strengthened the muscles that are worked the most for this kind of hike which of course are your legs. The one part that I found the most challenging was when we had to basically climb an entire mountain from the very bottom to the very top. Words cannot even describe the challenge of that part. At the very end of the hike we had the opportunity to jump into a awesome cold pool which leads into a gorge which leads to a waterfall. I fortunately had my underwater camera, because nothing is more cool then swimming in basically a cave with a couple open tops that show the rain forest above. I'll post those pictures when I get it all developed.

Today (the 18th), and the first day we started our rotational activities. We got to visit a man named Pom and his family on his farm. This was great because this individual is a pure blood Dominican who lived completely off the land. (no electricity, no plumbing, etc...). It took a hour long hike to reach his house, as we had to climb up a steep slippery mountain and cross a bunch of streams and a river. (good times). When we got there we were welcomed with opened arms, were initially treated to some star fruit (sour, but good), and discussed with Pom his life and lifestyle. We discussed Dominican culture, how health is maintained, what herbs he might use to treat certain aliments, as well as how many children Dominican women have on average. (that number being 10-12...wow....). He showed us around his farm, and we got a close look at numerous types of fruits. Star fruit, breadnut, breadfruit, cocoa, periwinkle, oranges, tangerines, nutmeg, bananas, soy, sesame seeds, and many others. There was also a huge assortment of many different flora which I got pictures  of. Overall a very fun and exciting trip.

Alright so thats it for today, I'll post the link to the pictures from our trip to visit Pom! Thanks!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2080651&id=14003277&l=8a341a06a

- Tyler