February! Almost a month since our departure. Weather really has turned nicer, almost no rain these days and very warm so a nice change.
The plan is for us to take the bus to Calibishie to meet Ormond and Ruth. We’re pretty sure buses don’t run on Sundays but Ormond seems to think we’ll be able to get a ride so we go to the bus area around 9 am anyway. Sure enough no buses running but a guy says maybe we can get a ride if we wait over by a bus shelter. There’s 3 guys there already trying to get a ride to Calibishie and they’ve been there a while. When we say we need to get back tonight too, they say “Oh.” Not so encouraging. “Maybe you can get a lift from someone coming from the airport”. That’s enough “maybe” for us, we gift it a 5 minute try then walk back towards the main dock and go to Milu. Call Ormond and he says they’re coming to get us anyway, will meet us at the Purple Turtle around noon.
Around noon we go to meet Ormond and Ruth and they’re right on time. We take a ride up to the Cold Sulfur Spring and walk around. The views along the way are great but the road is steep and Ormond’s new clutch seems to be slipping so he doesn’t want to continue on these steep roads. We return the way we came, I assume the trip is over but nope, we’re going on to the south.
We take the long road back towards Roseau and just after Saint-Joseph we turn uphill along the big and wide Layou River. We stop after a couple kms at a bridge crossing, there are many cars parked here and looks like two family groups down by the river having a Sunday bbq. Maybe 50 or 60 people all together. We walk down to the river, it’s beautiful of course and on the other side there is a hot spring coming out with a small pool where a few locals are lounging. We could swim over there but no need to interrupt the locals as far as I’m concerned.
We walk back to the car and of course someone stops and “Snappy” talks to Ormond. Another old friend, turns out everyone has a nickname in Dominica. Ormond is very well known in Dominica.
Back in the car we start climbing over a barely passable road, no way to go up here without a high wheelbase car like this Mitsubishi pickup. Ormond says it has been pretty much abandoned since the 2017 hurricane and they won’t fix it until the hillsides are stabilized from landslides. We’re glad to exit and get back on a main road.
The main road terminates in a roundabout which is quite close to geographical centre of Dominica. Turns out we missed the turnoff to Sultan Falls (our destination, unknown to us until now) which is just back down the road a km or so.
We do in the entrance, meet the guy who owns the falls and maintains them. He charges us EC$40, a reduced rate because Ormond is a local and also gave the guy a ride to town once.
The concreted road down to the falls is very steep and pretty rough but passable. There is a very small parking area and turnaround spot, not sure what it is like when busy, we’re the only people here as it is after 3 pm. The path leads down, pretty steep but not terribly far, maybe 5 minutes where there are two pools. One sign says “Pool 1”, the other “Pool 2”. There is a picture of Pool 1 which certainly looks magnificent but a bit of a scramble up the hill. Christy and I go up there.
It is magnificent. Spectacularly beautiful. Would be nice to go for a swim but Ormond and Ruth are waiting. Back we go. Ormond insists we go see Pool 2 which is also magnificent. Water coming out of the mountain everywhere.
We take a load of photos and walk slowly up the hill to the car. Tricky 5-point turn to exit the parking area without going in a massive ditch or over the edge to oblivion. We manage it safely, Ormond’s clutch suffering for it.
We’re back on the main road, back through the roundabout and heading AWAY from Portsmouth towards Roseau. Where to? Ormond turns up another dirt track and we’re in the boonies again on what appears to be a road suitable for goats only. He calls his friend where we’re going who assures us we’re on the right goat path and in a couple hundred meters we exit onto a more civilized driveway. His friend’s place is just here, we go in.
Turns out to be a bit of a party going on with 10 or 12 people of all stripes having a few drinks. The view is spectacular from their living room.
We have a lovely chat and an excellent coffee and get invited to a birthday party on Wednesday near Rosalie. We were planning on departing Tuesday but Ormond insists, knowing we have no schedule. And besides, this is the kind of encounter we are looking for in our travels. We accept the invitation.
It’s time to go and thankfully we don’t have to go down the goat track, we go down the real driveway to the main road, eventually reach the bottom and start the drive back towards Portsmouth. We’re all hungry and stop at a few restaurant but not much open on Sunday. Christy suggests the PAYS BBQ and they like the sounds of that so on we go to Portsmouth.
An hour later we arrive, it’s about 7:30 pm so good timing to get some grub – it doesn’t come out til around 8:00 pm usually. Christy and I know the drill now, this is our third rodeo so as soon as the emcee starts his little presentation, we form the line for food. We’re the first or second group. We’re all hungry and don’t want to wait any longer. Turns out it wouldn’t have been a problem as the main crowd is from the Salty Dawg crowd (we’re not sure what that is but some kind of sailing group) and either they didn’t pay for the BBQ or they’re not hungry because the lineup never gets too long. No problem getting seconds.
Soon enough time to go. We show them our dinghy which has suffered badly tied up here all day. The bumper is hanging off again. Sigh.