Unbelievable Rain

Unbelievable Rain

Friday 20th - Sunday 22nd December 2024

After a busy day on Thursday visiting several waterfalls we opted for a quieter day on Friday. In the morning we took a boat tour up the Indian River. It was beautiful, but showery. However, this was only a prelude for what was to come on Saturday. We had planned to meet at 9.30am, drive down to the southern, mountainous region near Trafalgar, and hike, visit waterfalls and immerse ourselves in the hot springs. Torrential rain overnight and into the morning caused us to delay our start. Gloria and I finally made it to the beach cottages where the others were staying around 10.30am, but we were pinned inside our rental car by the torrential rain. When we finally made it to the cottages, Don and Dolly opted for a quiet day at home, whilst Tasha, Mac, Gloria and I decided to head south and go the hot springs. By this point it had mostly stopped raining.

The coast road south was litter with rocks washed down from the hillside. When we finally started up into the mountains towards Watton Waven, the home of the hot springs, we found the road was closed due to bridge repairs. We switched plans and decided to go up to Trafalgar falls, which was close by. We got to within 1 mile of the falls when we found the road was blocked by a massive landslide that had happened ~ 24 hours previously. We contemplated walking across the slide area, but then heard more rumblings and saw substantial boulders being washed over the debris. We beat a hasty retreat and with some concerns about the safety of other mountain roads, we decided to headlock up the coast.

On our way north, Gloria came up with a fall-back plan, and we were able to make it up to the Syndicate Nature Trail. The clouds had finally started to clear and it was lovely to walk around the rainforest, through some enormous trees. The lookout spots gave great views of the lush forest all around. We must have seen a dozen parrots during our walk, mostly from a distance flying away across the valleys. We did hear countless others, making their loud squealing calls.

Overall, we had a good time in Dominica, but the unusually wet weather did make it difficult to do everything we hoped. This morning we met up on the boat and sailed north from Dominica to Les Saintes, a group of islands off the south coast of Guadeloupe. It was a fine broad reach in 12-20 knots of breeze and quite lumpy seas. Everyone did fine and after a 3 hour sail we were delighted to find an empty mooring off Iles a Cabrit. We are all six of us living on board for the next 4 nights - which will be cosy, but hopefully fun!

Mike

15 52.462 N, 61 35.818 W

Our tour guide Andrew on the Indian River

At the dock by the"Bush Bar" in Indian River. The Dynamite punch at the bush bar lived up to its name!

Showery conditions during our return

Andrew, our tour guide, also known as De De.

The landslide on the road to Trafalgar Falls. The large blocks that fell on the road are about the size of a minibus (far left) and a house (center left)

Gloria, Tasha and Mac at one of the Syndicate Nature Trail overlooks.

The view from another overlook.