I slowed way down once I got to my third and final stop, the beautiful Jungle Bay Eco Lodge, noted as much for its “adventure” packages as for its pampering at the Spa du Soliel, where all the treatment rooms are open to the sounds of the ocean crashing on the rocks below. I was in it much more for the pampering, as every day in Dominica had offered some type of “adventure” since I arrived.
Ginger Lily Cottage
This remote paradise offers cottages spread out along the side of a cliff overlooking the rocky Atlantic coastline. Each cottage is carefully positioned among the vegetation to afford maximum privacy. It was worth the 133 step climb (yes, I counted!) to feel like I was living in a “tree house” with no one else around but the birds and geckos.
View from the Hammock
The cottage, made from indigenous materials, had large shuttered windows on three out of four sides, and a spacious balcony with plenty of room for a swinging hammock. The “semi-outdoor” shower was a room built of bamboo poles, with a rain shower head and ample hot water. The remoteness of the location did indeed feel like a “bubble,” insulated from all the stress and troubles of the outside world.
Inside the Cottage
Dominica reportedly has 365 different waterfalls, one for each day of the year. I had only seen five so far, so I still had a few to go. Just 10 minutes from Jungle Bay was the magnificent Victoria Falls. It was located on private property with no signage, just the instructions to turn left at the sign advertising Moses’ “Rasta-urant” and look for the Rasta Man, Israel, to lead you to the falls.
Hiking to Victoria Falls with Israel
Victoria Falls
It was about a 45 minute hike through rugged terrain, which involved crossing a swift, waste-deep river in five different places and climbing up and down boulders the size of a VW Beetle. I quickly swallowed my pride and accepted Israel’s hand whenever I saw it outstretched. The man had amazing strength and balance not to let me pull him over with me as I struggled to stay upright while fording the swift rapids and sliding down the giant boulders on my butt.
Ruined pedicure? Twenty dollars. Massage to relieve pulled hamstring? $100. Swimming in the massive pool beneath the falls, all alone while Israel sunned on the rock? PRICELESS!
Swimming in the White River
My last day in Dominica continued to offer up idyllic spots with no one else around. Just a 15 minute walk from the Jungle Bay property was the White River, named so due to its milky bluish color. This river comes from the Boiling Lake, so the sediment gives it the bluish tint. The “pool” was an area of the river about six feet deep with a couple of rope swings suspended from the trees overhead. I lingered until I could stand the chill no more, then sauntered my way back through the banana trees to my “tree house” for a nap in the hammock.
Blogging from the Hammock
Though Jungle Bay was beautiful, offering remote isolation from the cares and worries back home, I felt it also offered insulation from the local Dominican culture. I am grateful for the recommendation of my brother Don, who suggested more diversification during my stay to experience all this enchanted island has to offer!
View Album Photos
This place looks really, really nice but unfortunately, a little outside the budget of many retired or on a shoestring travelers. However, prices are rising everywhere and I am surprised they have not doubled in Dominica recently like most other Caribbean islands. I wonder how much this room would rent for on St. Thomas (assuming one could find a patch of vegetation large enough to hide the adjacent concrete)?
Ironically just last night I saw a season premiere episode on HGTV about a couple relocating from London to Roseau, Dominica. The house they chose? Only the $700,000 choice of the three available would meet their needs! Amazing. I have lived my life obviously working in the wrong profession. Now apparently that is the going rate for relocating to almost every country, that is, according to “International House Hunters”. I don’t know anyone personally who falls into this marketing group. But there’s always the lotto!
Otherwise and back on topic, what a great experience! I know the few times I was able to spend time in any accommodation similar to this, the experience remains most cemented into my memory. There is just nothing like open air living, including eating and bathing in a climate that supports it. Add to that equation some of the best scenery within 4000 miles along with the calmness and missing crowds, the jungles full of wildlife, ferns and flowers, little or few pests due to the trade winds and you have a winning formula! (Well outside of suffering the “- me” added to the end of that equation. 😉
All of your articles here are providing really great insight to this island but of course, they only compliment your other fantastic narratives of other little known and thus under-appreciated places. Let’s just hope you are not “too successful” in alerting the world to your discovered secrets ;-).