Couchsurfing in Dominica

Couchsurfing. Dominica. Boiling Lake. Are these words all sounds familiar to you?  

I have this friend who already been to more than 50 countries and mind you, traveling is an expensive hobby. Aside from your airfare, you will also be spending for your accommodation, food and souvenirs and usually hotels would take the big chunk of your travel budget. When we were chatting on facebook, I asked him how he looked for cheap accommodation. He told me, he seldom stay in a hotel. He usually stays with families or friends, otherwise, he will counchsurf.

What's that? He said its staying with a stranger's house, on his/her couch or sofa for a couple of days. He redirected me to its website, www.couchsurfing.com whereas you can create an account and build your profile through references of your guest or host. Good references are very important with fellow couchers, it is a sort of guarantee and assurance that you are a good host or guest.

When I visited Dominica, an island in the Caribbean, I couchsurfed   with a local guy who lives at the foothill of Laudat and he happens to be a tour guide in the boiling lake. I spent two nights in his place. It was a very small house and he lives with his sweet dog.

For the two days that I was in Laudat, it was been raining hard everyday because of its dense forest. I remembered, when the plane was descending, looking from my window, I could not see the airport. All I can see were the canopies of trees. The airport of Rosseau is situated in the middle of the river on the left and the vast forest on the right. And it is very far from Rosseau town, more than an hour taxi ride.

 I missed my flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico that instead of arriving in the afternoon, I arrived after 6pm. All the public transport stopped to operate at 6pm and I ended taking an expensive taxi ride to my host house in Laudat, and it was an almost two hour ride in a dark winding road to the mountain. I paid $150, which according to my host was reasonable given with the circumstances.

When I arrived at my host humble house, he was not yet home, and the place has no nearest restaurant to eat. Good enough, I still have some pretzels leftover and a bottled water and these became my instant dinner and then, I dozed off to sleep. The taxi man had tremendously helped me in locating my host house. I witnessed and experienced the caribbean hospitality in my very eye that night and probably one of the objective of couchsurfing, a local experience on your trips.

I met my host around midnight, and I only woke up to say "Hi" and discussed my plan for tomorrow and went back to sleep. He is so nice and understanding that he even asked if I already have eaten because if not, he would cook for me. 

My first day was already an adventure - missing the flight, sleep hungry and a big stash from my pocket. I feel like that couchsurfing is not cheap afterall. Hahaha

On my second day, my host woke up early to prepare for our lunch on our boiling lake trek. According to him, the 8 mile return hike to the lakes would take a 6 hours trekking and the route is quite challenging and can be slippery because of the rain. He was really nice that he made sure I was wearing my most comfortable clothes, the camera to use for capturing the moments, plastic to wrap the phones to avoid being wet, bottled of water and of course our food. He prepared spaghetti for us for lunch . He charges $50 for the tour trip.

Indeed, the route to the boiling lake is both challenging and enjoyable. You will simply be mesmerized of the beauty and tranquility inside the forest. Our first stop is the breakfast river where we fill in the empty bottle we brought. The water was so clear. It was probably called the breakfast river because that is where we ate our breakfast. :)

Our next stop was the valley of desolation, along the way, we passed the highest point of Morne Nicholls. Going down to the Valley of Desolation can be a bit tricky and scary that after the trip I even wondered to myself how I able to do it.

Coming from the Valley of Desolation, we passed through sulphur spring and hot pools. My host/guide was so adamant to remind me to never touch the sulfur spring because it will harm my skin. And I was so extra careful in avoiding anything that looks dark and hot. It was a long hike in the midst of the sulphuric smell until finally arriving to the peak overlooking the lake.

Wow. Oh wow. The lake was indeed boiling. It gives me both a feeling of amazement and horror. It is amazing, looking on the water that is boiling hard and you can really see the smoke coming out from the lake and can feel the hotness of air around it. And looking to it, makes me think, what if I slipped and I fell to the lake. Oh God, even now, with that thought of it, still gives me a shiver.  

It is in the lake that we had our lunch, we had  my host/guide menu of the day, the spaghetti caribbean style. It tasted good for an empty stomach. If I only had known that there is no grocery or restaurant near my host place, I should had bought some snacks at the airport. But well, sometimes, you expect the unexpected.

On our way back, it started to rain, and thank you for the plastic that it saved my phone and my memories. The descend had been easy and enjoyable. In one of our stop, my host/guide allowed me to have a refreshing bath in the hot pools/spring. That was awesome, I felt like I was in the first class turkish sauna in the world.

True enough, the 8 mile return trek was a 6 hours trip or more and not to include your whining moments, camwhoring and eating time. We arrived back to his house at 6pm.

On the next day, on my last and final day, we enjoyed a morning chat over a cup of coffee and enjoying the morning breeze.

Before he dropped me to the taxi stand in Rosseau, we had a quick tour in Trafalgar Falls and a drive around the historic colonial center of Rosseau. He wanted to show me the awesome panoramic view of Rosseau however the nature did not permit. It started to rain hard that it was not safe to drive to the viewing deck and there might be a chance that i will miss my flight. Again. Argh!

Well, I did not miss my flight, and on my way to the immigration, I can't hardly walk. The more than 6 hours of trekking had a toll on my legs that it pained everytime I walk. 

Nevertheless, I enjoyed my weekend trip in Dominica and my first ever couchsurfing experience. The trek to the boiling lake is one of the best adventure I had.