The difficulty level of this hike? "Moderate." In all, there are 365 rivers on Dominica - some easily explored; some strenuous. Locals joke that Trafalgar Falls' 10-minute stair-stepped "hike" was designed for cruise excursions. Emerald Pool, Dominica's most popular tourism destination, is another easy one. The green-hued natural pool sits pretty in the island's UNESCO World Heritage Site and is a 15-minute walk through the rain forest, marked by vistas overlooking the seemingly bottomless green valley below. Stop even for a minute and you'll spot parrots and hawks flapping by nonchalantly. The phrase "Wow" is uttered a lot here, even by the locals.
Get out on the water - or, better yet, in it - and the wows continue.
Perched above Grand Bay on Dominica's south side is the tiny village of Stowe, where the locals get most of their fish. From here, conditions are nearly perfect for kayaking a half-mile out to Carib Point, then snorkeling along the reef below. The waves are relatively calm in this bay, even when mild storms pass through.
It's always raining somewhere on Dominica, but excursions are rarely canceled as a result, because the weather is so changeable. Snorkeling in the rain isn't glamorous but floating just below sea level, looking down on schools of exotic fish while millions of little drops of water dot the ocean's surface, is surreal.
Post-kayaking, there's an obligatory stop down the road at Nick's Spotlight, a popular snackette (bar-shack) at the crossroads of Berekua and Pichelin. When he's not out guiding excursions to landmarks such as Sari Sari Falls, Nick serves Kubuli beer and treats tourists to the traditional Caribbean rum tour - a one-stop sampling of at least a half-dozen locally produced rums, not unlike a Napa Valley wine tasting.
In lieu of the tour, I give Nick permission to pick my poison, requesting only that it be something local and something interesting. After offering a pause long enough to make me a little nervous, from under his corrugated metal counter Nick produces a worn, plastic, gallon-sized fuel jug labeled, in shaky handwritten black lettering, "JAH RUM." Barely visible through the opaque plastic, the shadow of a dark-green bush bobs in the foreign liquid. Down the hatch it goes. And then, there's that phrase again: "Wow."
If the first rule in Dominica is Always Wear Your Swimsuit, the second should be Always Bring Your Snorkeling Gear.
