Water, Water Falling Everywhere on the island of Dominica

Trafalgar Falls and its two waterfalls, Poppa and Momma

The theme so far on this trip to my 104th country, the Caribbean island nation of Dominica, is water. Water falling from hills as waterfalls, water collecting as pools in the jungle, and of course, rain from the skies. In fact, water in its frozen form almost scuttled our trip here. Columbus would receive at least five inches of snow on the Tuesday morning of our departure. The flight from Columbus to Miami would arrive hours too late to make our connection to Dominica. However, we had outsmarted Old Man Winter’s way too early arrival and flew out Monday evening instead. An airline friend helped us out and we arrived as planned, Tuesday afternoon.

The left hand waterfall, nicknamed Poppa by the locals

Our next adventure was on the roads in our rental car. The airport is about an hour and a half away by road from the biggest town, Roseau. Our research told us that Dominica’s roads were awful. Not only do they switchback their way through jungle-clad hills on this very mountainous island, they are also narrow and in a poor state of repair. We actually went back and forth about whether to even rent a car (never my first choice when abroad). In the end, it seemed most travelers not on a guided tour chose to rent cars, so we decided to take the risk. Our Apple Maps app guided us adequately from the airport to our hotel 10 minutes outside the capital, Roseau. We arrived as the sun was setting, which would be our goal all week long. The advice to travelers driving in Dominica is simple and straightforward: Don’t drive at night!

Supposedly, a trail starts here at the base of the falls and leads to hot pools - we chose not to risk getting lost in the rainy jungle

Dominica is on “Atlantic Time” - I have to be honest, I didn’t know that existed! So, the sun rises at 6:15 or so and sets by 5:30. To take full advantage of our daylight, we would have to be up and moving early. And so it was on our first actual day of sightseeing. We wanted to beat the cruise ship passengers to our first stop, Trafalgar Falls. It was about 45 twisting and turning minutes away in our car, and we took off for there immediately after breakfast. Sure enough, we appeared to be the first car in the parking lot empty of all but the worker’s cars. It is a 15-minute hike up rocky stairs and paths to the Falls. We arrived and immediately celebrated having the site to ourselves. Trafalgar Falls is a twin cascade with one set slightly larger than the other. Of course, the bigger one is nicknamed Poppa and the smaller Momma. The two falls are separated about 50 yards from each other by a jungle-clad peak. It’s an impressive sight, and we took pictures of first one, then the other, and finally switching to wide angle to get both waterfalls in the image.

One of the best parts about Trafalgar Falls is we had it all to ourselves!

There is a short set of stairs you can climb down to where the water from Poppa rushes by. So, of course, I did. However, there is also supposed to be a hike nearby to a set of hot springs pools you can soak in and watch the falls. We didn’t see any trail, and it was supposed to be risky when it is is raining. You have to clamber over slippery boulders and brave the risk of a rainfall-induced flash flood. Not having a guide, path, or other hikers to follow, we decided to skip it rather than blunder around on the rocks in the jungle in the rain. Just as we turned to go, the first group of about 15 or so arrived - very likely from the cruise ship in port, today. Unfortunately, there will be at least one ship docked on Dominica all nine days we are here. We had dodged any crowds at our first site. Would our luck continue to hold? Our fortune had been dodgy on the weather, as it had sprinkled rain the entire morning, so far.

The incredibly well-maintained path leading to the Emerald Pool

Although our next stop, the Emerald Pool, isn’t that far from Trafalgar as the parrot flies, it was more than an hour away on Dominica’s stress-inducing roads. I mentioned they were narrow. That doesn’t deter huge trucks from plying their switchbacks, each collecting their own columns of cars behind them waiting impatiently for the rare straight sections to pass. Oh, I forgot to mention the road construction. Frequently, one side of the asphalt has crumbled away and sometimes collapsed and sunk completely. When that happens, the road crews put up fences and disinterestedly signal traffic in each direction when it is clear to zip through the one lane wide section. So yeah, stressful! We arrived safely at the Emerald Pool, though, which is actually a UNESCO World Heritage site. There were more cars in the parking lot, but it was by no means crowded. We immediately began the forest walk to the pool on what is likely the best maintained path on the island. I won’t compare it to the roads - honest!

This little guy was also enjoying the well-maintained trail to the Emerald Pool

Much to my surprise, Dominica has colorful land crabs. They were scuttling sideways on the path, likely appreciating the smooth surfaces like us. When we came to the first scenic overlook of Emerald Pool, we saw quite the crowd below us in and around the water. We shrugged our shoulders, took some photos of the view, and continued on our way down. The pool itself seemed quite small to have such a lofty title of UNESCO site. A small waterfall fills the pool, which does appear green with all the lush vegetation surrounding it. There are moss-encrusted rocks all around the pool like squat bathing attendants waiting to hand you a towel. Vines hang down from projecting trees overhanging the pool. It is a very idyllic spot, which was marred only by the two dozen or so folks floating in the water or exiting it to towel off and re-dress. They were leaving, though. As we waited, the numbers around the pool dwindled until it was only an older French couple taking pictures of themselves and relaxing.

Our first view of the Emerald Pool from an overlook: “Oh, no! People!!”

I had my bathing suit on under my pants, so when I finished taking photos, I headed down to a small cave-like area beside the pool. I finished taking off my hiking boots and socks, and when I was ready to get in, I looked around and noticed we had the Emerald Pool to ourselves. Everyone else had gone! The water was shockingly cold. I guess that it would have felt a lot better on a typical, muggy 80+ degree day. However, with the drizzle and gray skies today, it had felt relatively cool. I floated or waded around the pool for a while. I got somewhat used to the chilly water, but it was still a bit uncomfortable. After about 10 minutes, I gave up and returned to the cave to dry off. I switched from my hiking shoes to my hiking sandals. Since we were still alone at the site, I changed out of my swimming trunks into my dry clothes. Why not? Surely the birds, tiny lizards, and land crabs wouldn’t be offended!

The Emerald Pool -perhaps a little small for a UNESCO World Heritage site?

it took maybe 20 minutes to complete the rest of the loop trail. There were two more scenic overlooks. One was of green hills across a river valley. Mist rose here and there across the valley and into the hilltops opposite us. The other looked out into the distance where you could barely see the Atlantic Ocean. We saw a few more sideways scuttling crabs and a bird or two, but little other wildlife. When we arrived back at the visitor center we checked out the small room with displays and information about the geography, wildlife, and history of the island. I was interested in the section on the Maroon Wars during the 1700s and 1800s. Jamaica had Maroon Wars, too, so I was interested to read about Dominica’s. Maroon refers to escaped slaves hiding out in the jungles and hills - not the color! When we finished with the displays, we decided to grab lunch at the snack bar. While waiting for our food, a staccato roar began pounding on the tin roof of the open air shelter. It was pouring! We had timed our Emerald Pool visit perfectly, after all. We couldn’t imagine trying to visit the pool in that downpour, which actually just got stronger and stronger.

Although small, the Emerald Pool is an idyllic spot that you might expect to see sylvan elves bathing in

We had to wait about 20 minutes for the rain to stop. Heck, we were also glad we weren’t driving when the rainstorm hit. There are few places to pull off the road and wait it out. And drivers in Dominica are rather impatient. And in a hurry. And don’t always take curves carefully. So, when the rain stopped, we crossed our fingers and drove back to Roseau. We stopped at a supermarket for some water and found an ATM for some local currency. After completing both those tasks in the light rain, we headed back to our hotel for the night. We hung up our wet clothes, had dinner, and hoped for less water falling from the sky tomorrow. We had a whale watching tour scheduled (more water!) and would like a clear day for that!

The loop trail for the pool also took in some great views of mist rising from the jungle