WE start with an unscheduled stop. “The alternator broke,” explains my driver, Martin. He closes the bonnet and gives me a look of good-natured resignation. I roll down the window and look around. Below us lie verdant valleys, above us are precipitous mountains; and water, water everywhere.
The lush, mountainous flanks of Dominica, an island roughly the size of Manhattan, stream with water. It’s as if this section of the Lesser Antilles — a speck in the West Indies closer to Venezuela than Florida — just recently burst forth from the sea. (As one of the youngest islands in the Caribbean, at a youthful 26 million years, that’s pretty much true.)
There’s an ominous antediluvian undercurrent to the landscape, with its dark forests inhabited by strange creatures that slither and crawl, and steaming fissures that penetrate deep into the earth’s core. I’ve only just arrived, but already I’m spellbound by this disquieting place.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
This is a well written article. I admire the vivid imagery. Also, the author uses the world “chill” at the back of the van, do Australians speak like this or is this from our cliche he borrowed.
Secondly, I disagree with he said that Christopher Columbus discovered Dominica. How could he have discovered Dominica when he met the Kalinago people there? This is my view needs correction.
Overall, as mentioned previously, it is a good article and this opens the doors for visitors to visit our lovely island.
what an eye opener wow !!!!!talk about refreshing but pretty surprising i must say only 14 comments my God dcans this person is as we say “lifting our nose up. is it because there no “bef ” i am impressed as a dominica here in ny reading this my beautiful dominica
Best article I have read in a while. Worth the time to read. Great description, provided vivid imagery. Someone who really knows and loves nature and took the time to recognize the beauty of our nature island
No where else but Dominica. Now that’s what we are talking about the best nature island in the world!!!!
Best to start the hike from Titou Gorge to Boiling Lake at 6am. It’s a challenging hike, but IT’s WORTH THE EFFORT, you won’t regret it.
This is the best article I have read for many years. And I am not just saying that because it is dca either… He captured dca perfectly and destined it in a way that captures every imaginative aspect of the brain
Well written, it gives you a vivid immagination of the place.
Now this is what I am talking about
good read
love it!
Lovely. Perhaps best written and enjoyable account of the island.
Writing like this gets me excited.
A must read!!!!
Wait, Dominica is NOT the size of Manhattan. Author, please clarify!! Are we speaking of Manhattan in some other location? Because surely Manhattan, NY is 23 square miles and Dominica is about 290 square miles.
In writing it’s referred to as hyperbole.
Yes it might be a bit over kill but it
does not detract from the objective of
the article. Which is to give the individual
who has never been to Dominica a literary
“virtual tour” of Dominica.
thats the Dominica that i’m from…
I was really looking forward to reading more!!!
Very nice story. I love your presentation. However can someone please educate me as to why Dominica is always reference to Venezuela. Is it because its the closest / first country of a continent encountered if some was to travel in any direction of the Antilles.
I would really like to know.