Hot springs
First I had planned to do a tour to Boiling Lake. It takes probably six hours and crosses hills and valleys. But after my guide canceled because the day care center was closed and he had to take care of his son, I was actually quite happy that it didn't work. I noticed that I was still pretty exhausted from the construction site and had some sore muscles. So I decided for the alternative program Spa and took the bus again to Trafalgar, this time not to the waterfalls but to the warm springs in Wotten Waven.
The neighbour of my guesthouse recommended a bath at Wotten Waven which I then hiked to from the bus. The advice was great. The pool was beautifully landscaped with flowerbeds and a view of a waterfall. So I was in the hot spring and once again - as so often in Dominika - the only visitor. It was especially nice when it started to rain really hard and I was sitting in the hot water.
A little later there were two older ladies. One had known the spa for ten years. She then explained to me in which basin I can get mud to apply it. It's said to be very good for the skin. As I like to try everything a little later I looked like a mud monster hahaha.
Entspannt und zufrieden wollte ich dann wieder zurück. Leider kam ewig kein Bus. Dann bin ich bei einem alten Rastafari, der 17 Jahre in Hannover gelebt hat, mitgefahren. Das wurde dann noch eine kleine Odyssee, weil wir erst noch in eine lokale Bar sind (war auch ganz interessant und lecker: Die Frau hatte Kokosgebäck, weil ihre Kokospalme im Garten vom Sturm nicht zerstört wurde) und auf dem Weg dann noch bei drei Freunden von ihm angehalten haben. Mit dem Bus wäre ich also wahrscheinlich doch schneller gewesen.
Ti Tou Gorge – Schwimming like in a cave
I had already abandoned the idea of the big hike to Boiling Lake and dedicated myself to my St. Lucia organization in the morning instead. That got me out of the house a little late. But I wanted to swim into the cave or gorge. The bus driver I trusted then explained to me that I missed the bus by 30 minutes and it will come again in 2 hours and then it will be very late for me. I then made a deal with him taking me on the bus to the village first, then he dumps all his guests at the bus stop and instead of going back to town, he drives me to the cave.
I am so glad that I still went there, it was an incredibly beautiful experience. You enter a kind of pond and from there you swim between the rocks, which go vertically next to you high and right at the top is the rainforest. If you swim in deeper, you come to a waterfall. And as so often, I was the only one in this place far and wide. Then I found out that you can also jump into the rift and after I have already practiced cliff jumping diligently in Puerto Rico, I also jumped down here:
Afterwards I walked a bit into the rainforest, which would have been the start of the hike to Boiling Lake. So I saw a bit of it, too. It was a beautiful day trip. After I waited eternally for the bus, a bricklayer took me back to the city. I just have to rely on my gut when it comes to hitchhiking. And Dominica is a very peaceful neighborhood. Later in Central America I really can't do that anymore.
The last night in Dominica
In the evening I packed all my things and wanted to go out for a beer. It was Friday night and the city was roaring with music. So I went to a bar/club and danced a bit. I met Kenny from Barbados, who was just working on Dominica and who was on the road with his work colleagues. After the bar we went to a street stand and ate chicken and then moved on to a few local bars (ghetto bars, as they called them). After animated discussions about politics and world history I decided to go home (sorry I just have to interrupt - a frog has just jumped from the ceiling onto my keyboard and I've had half a heart attack - OK, it's gone, let me continue...). So the boys drove me to the guesthouse, in front of which I realized that I had left my key in the room and simply closed the door who locks automatically. After many knocks I gave up and decided that I would probably not come back in until the morning. I told the guys they could just leave me sitting on the stairs, and that I can take the three hours. But they didn't want to. But since neither lived in the city, they did not have an apartment there either. One of them went to the office and slept on the air mattress, the other refused to let me sleep alone in the back seat of the car and, out of solidarity, did not sleep on his aunt's couch but in the driver's seat. 3 hours later he drove me back to the guesthouse and someone opened the door for me. The employees weren't here yet. But the blind grandpa explained me, how the box looks like, in which the spare keys are, which I found then and could enter my room, in which my key was under the bed sheet...
So I packed the rest of my things and went to the ferry to St. Lucia. The good thing was that after 3 hours of sleep I was really tired and almost completely overslept the 5 hours crossing. Unfortunately also the dolphins that swam next to the ferry, but my new St. Lucian friends, whom I met while waiting for the ferry, didn't want to wake me up...
Looking back, I have to say that Dominica simply enchanted and inspired me. Even though it was so destroyed, people made the place look beautiful to me.
