The following morning and everything is looking a lot brighter!
Where am I anyway?
I am here!
Early Saturday morning the world is looking much better after a good night’s sleep. My hosts, Tess and Kevin Hunneybell, offer to take me to market in Portsmouth. It is another harrowing drive down the mountainside, along the narrow roadways and beach fronts to the market where I am able to purchase local produce and charge up my Digicel phone. Back up the mountain in the 4 wheel drive and I am alone again in the cottage and able to prepare my own meal, the first time I’ve cooked in a couple of weeks.
The results...
I’m able to enjoy my meal in my hammock and have a little rest before heading out to explore the Manicou River.
The hammock
The Manicou River runs down the side of the property. From the cottage it is a 15 minute hike at an extraordinary angle that is made much less of a strain by using a walking stick. The river runs over a rocky bed varying in width and depth with the rainfall and forming pools. There is a path to a shallow natural ‘Jacuzzi’ where you can sit in waist deep water that is cool and refreshing.
Manicou River Pools
There are approximately 365 named rivers and streams on Dominica (Yes, they have gone out of their way to make sure there was at least one for each day of the year so some of these may be disputed; however, there is no shortage of flowing water on the island!)
I will learn later in the week that there is a price to be paid for wearing your sturdy water shoes in many of the Dominican rivers. But that is a tale for another day.