Enjoying Dominica's rugged, pristine beauty

VALLEY OF DESOLATION, Dominica — As I picked my way over hot rocks and bubbling mud in the pouring rain, I realized Dominica was not for the faint-hearted.

I was hiking to the Boiling Lake, a bizarre cauldron of steaming-hot water, 200 feet across, and one of the strangest sights on this rugged and beautiful Caribbean island.

The hike is a six-hour round-trip that runs through dense rainforest and over mountain ridges before emerging in the Valley of Desolation — an eerie, treeless swath of volcanic devastation striped black and orange with mineral deposits and swirling with mist and steam.

Like so much in Dominica, the journey takes effort — but it's worth it.

This jagged, densely rain-forested island, about 29 miles long and 16 miles wide, is in the Eastern Caribbean, 375 miles southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico (not to be confused with the Dominican Republic, a separate country that shares a much larger island with Haiti).

A poor country of 71,000 dependent on agriculture and tourism, Dominica brands itself the Caribbean's "Nature Island," and the name is justified. Visitors will find exceptionally friendly people, all-but deserted black-sand beaches and a mountainous interior of dense rainforest, clean rushing rivers and jungle waterfalls. Even for a halfhearted hiker, it is inspiring — almost any walk can end with the chance to swim in a river pool beneath a sparkling cascade.

Nature comes first

Dominica basics

English is the official language, but the majority of people speak Creole. Get visitor information at www.discoverdominica.com or 888-645-5637.

Getting there

There are no direct flights to Dominica from the U.S.; connect via Puerto Rico or other Caribbean islands. Ferry operator Express des Iles connects Dominica's capital, Roseau, with Guadeloupe, Martinique and St. Lucia.

Getting around

Main roads in Dominica are generally good, but minor roads can be rough and wet. A 4-wheel-drive vehicle is recommended. Island Cars and Bonus rental agencies have desks at the country's main airport, and more car-rental agencies are based in Roseau.

Lodging

3 Rivers, www.3riversdominica.com or 767-446-1886, charges $77 a night for a cottage that sleeps up to three people. There is also space for camping, a dormitory and a bamboo tree house that sleeps up to three.

For other hotels, including beachfront hotels and luxurious eco-resorts, see www.discoverdominica.com. Some hotels offer diving, jungle-exploration and spa packages.

Associated Press and

Seattle Times travel staff

"We've got everything — heavy rain, heavy sun, volcanoes, earthquakes," said Jem Winston, an enthusiastic Englishman who runs 3 Rivers Eco-Lodge, an environmentally friendly retreat near Dominica's wild east coast.

My friends and I based ourselves at 3 Rivers, the rough-and-ready resort Winston has carved out of a former banana plantation.

Winston fell in love with Dominica years ago as a young backpacker and worked as a taxi driver back in England to raise the money to buy his piece of the island. Opened four years ago, 3 Rivers consists of four simple wood chalets, with beds and mosquito nets, kitchen and bathroom. Each has a hammock-slung balcony overlooking lush green grounds, paths lined with mango, guava and papaya trees, and forested hills. Four more cabins nestle in woods above the main site.

The lodge takes its environmentalism seriously, and has a clutch of international awards to prove it. Electricity and hot water are solar-generated. Winston's pickup runs on cooking oil. The cabins have showers, but guests can also take the locally made biodegradable soap provided down to an idyllic swimming hole in one of the site's eponymous three rivers.

The on-site restaurant provides hearty meals, with fruit and vegetables drawn from 3 Rivers' organic gardens.

"What I loved about here compared to other countries was that the people cared about the nature," Winston said. "They want development, but they don't want to destroy the land to do it."

Trekking to Boiling Lake

After a night at the lodge, we decided to tackle the hiking opportunities offered by Dominica's wild, mountainous interior.

Much of it falls within the 17,000-acre Morne Trois Pitons National Park. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the park is home to freshwater lakes, rivers, mountain pools and numerous signs of the volcanic activity lurking beneath the island's surface — especially the Boiling Lake, a volcanic fumarole flooded with roiling, boiling water heated by the molten lava beneath.

The trail to the lake begins alongside a rushing river before arcing upward through the rainforest. Our guide (arranged through 3 Rivers) pointed out the fauna and flora of the forest: the Mountain Whistler, which mimics other birds; giant gommier trees, used by the island's native Carib people to make dugout canoes; the bwa bande, whose allegedly aphrodisiac bark is known as "forest Viagra."

The trail emerges into clearing on a mountain ridge, more than 3,000 feet above sea level.

From there, it's a steep descent to the Valley of Desolation, a desolate expanse that looks more like Iceland than a tropical island. Barren of trees, the valley is littered with rocks in black, brown, yellow and orange; crisscrossed bright blue and milky white streams; and dotted with jets of sulfurous steam and hot water bubbling from the earth.

Over one more ridge sits Boiling Lake, gray-blue within its circular crater, its surface shrouded in steam.

Dominica authorities have worked to ease the journey. The trail, though often steep and wet, is well maintained, with wooden steps in parts. A new picnic shelter has been built, from wood hauled up to the site by foot, just before the trail's final section.

The return journey is easier, and our sense of triumph at having reached the lake was only slightly dampened by the rain that fell for three hours.