When flying into Dominica in 2019 I couldn’t help but think how much this landscape resembled the scenery in the movie “Jurassic Park”. The volcanic mountains rising imposingly out of the deep blue ocean, covered by lush green foliage were unlike anywhere I had ever seen. Upon arrival, I could tell this was a country that was rarely visited.
The airport’s arrival lounge was tiny, Customs was a breeze, and the agent seemed happy that we tourists were here to see their beautiful island. There were no throngs of taxis, in fact I didn’t see any.
But no matter because we had Extreme Dominica picking us up, to take us on a repelling adventure. After about an hour of slowly winding our way up, down and around the islands curvy roads (that are not ideal for car sick travelers!) we arrived at the office where we were fitted for our gear.
Next up was repelling training, learning the proper techniques on a small eight-foot wall. After about then we were off to the sunlit rainforest, where we descended into deep gorges that had been carved by millions of years of rainfall.
For the next 3 hours we repelled and jumped down waterfalls, and hiked and swam down rivers. Let me tell you that even though I’m a fearless adventurer … there were times that you just had to put your faith in your equipment, God, and your 10 minutes of training (lol), and do it. I thought it was a blast … but my wife was traumatized by the whole thing and still has flashbacks and PTSD from jumping from the top of a waterfall into the pool below (actually several times)!
Overall, loved my stay in Dominica, and this is definitely one of the jewels of the Caribbean and worth a visit!