Dominica - Geography

Geographically, Dominica is distinctive in many ways. The country has one of the most rugged landscapes in the Caribbean, covered by a largely unexploited, multilayered rain forest. It is also among the earth's most rain-drenched lands, and the water runoff forms cascading rivers and natural pools. The island, home to rare species of wildlife, is considered by many as a beautiful, unspoiled tropical preserve. According to a popular West Indian belief, Dominica is the only New World territory that Columbus would still recognize.

Dominica, largest and loftiest of the Lesser Antilles, is only thirty miles in length by fifteen in breadth, yet contains within its confines so many natural attractions as to have received merited mention in an English publication called the "World of Wonders."

Dominica is located in the Eastern Caribbean (EC) and is the largest of the Windward Islands, situated between the French Overseas Departments of Martinique to the south and Guadeloupe to the north. The Nature Island as it is called, has coordinates of 15 25 North, 61 20 West. With a rugged interior, mountainous terrain, the 291 sq mile island (754 square kilometers) has 91 miles of coastline Dominica’s rugged landscape is covered with multiple layers of virgin rainforest that produce cascading rivers and water pools, mountain peaks and ridges. The highest peak is Morne Diablotin at 4,747 feet (1447 meters) in the central part of the island, Morne Trois Pitons, with an elevation of 4,669 ft (1,423 meters), lies farther south and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As a consequence of its elevation, Dominica’s vegetation is diverse comprising of over 1000 species of flora and fauna. More than 80% of the island receives annual rainfall of at least 2500 mm.

Dominica is mostly volcanic and has few beaches; therefore, tourism has developed more slowly than on neighboring islands. Nevertheless, Dominica’s high, rugged mountains, rainforests, freshwater lakes, hot springs, waterfalls, and diving spots make it an attractive eco-tourism destination. Cruise ship stopovers have increased following the development of modern docking and waterfront facilities in the capital. Unlike many Caribbean islands, Dominica is blessed with several freshwater lakes that provide a wonderful refuge for wildlife as well as fun activities like kayaking, swimming and picnicking.

Besides rivers, Dominica has no shortage of mountains. Where Dominica lacks in horizontal space, she gains in vertical green cushioned edifices competing for space in this small island. Geologically, Dominica is part of the rugged Lesser Antilles volcanic arc. The country's central spine, a northwest-southeast axis of steep volcanic slopes and deep gorges, generally varies in elevation from 300 meters to 1,400 meters above sea level. Several eastwest trending mountain spurs extend to the narrow coastal plain, which is studded with sea cliffs and has level stretches no wider than 2,000 meters. The highest peak is Morne Diablotin, at 1,447 meters; Morne Trois Pitons, with an elevation of 1,423 meters, lies farther south and is the site of the national park. There are at least 26 mountains, 9 of which are dormant volcanoes, and the highest being almost 5000 feet. Dominica has the highest concentration of dormant volcanoes in the world, adding to her already unique status.

Dominica's rugged surface is marked by its volcanic past. Rock formations are mainly volcanic andesite and rhyolite, with fallen boulders and sharp-edged protrusions peppering slope bases. The light- to dark-hued clayey and sandy soils, derived from the rocks and decomposed vegetation, are generally fertile and porous. Only a few interior valleys and coastal strips are flat enough for soil accumulations of consequence, however. Although scores of mostly mild seismic shocks were recorded, volcanic eruptions ceased thousands of years ago. Sulfuric springs and steam vents, largely concentrated in the central and southern parts of the island, remain active.

Its volcanic origins manifest themselves most noticeably in the Boiling Lake (one of the largest of its kind in the world) and many other smaller fumaroles around the island – including a few underwater. Its wonder-in-chief is a geyser in the mountains known as the Boiling Lake; but the mountains themselves, with their tarns embedded in tropical vegetation more than two thousand feet above the sea; the cascades and waterfalls that gleam against their lofty walls of rock; the forest-covered mon1es and vine-hung precipices; the Edenic vales filled with lime-trees and fringed with cocoa palms, and the rivers that flow through them and mingle their sparkling waters with the foaming surf on silver-sanded beaches—all these combine to make Dominica fascinating.

The most famous of Dominica’s trails, the Boiling Lake, is a flooded fumarole reached after a hard 3-4 hour hike (one-way) from the village of Laudat. But it’s well worth it – the Lake is a cauldron of bubbling greyish-blue water that is usually enveloped in a cloud of vapour. The lake is known as the world’s second largest boiling lake, at approximately 200 ft (63m) across. It is believed that the Lake is actually a flooded fumarole, a crack through which gases escape from the molten lava below, rather than a volcanic crater. The natural basin of the Boiling Lake collects the rainfall from the surrounding hills and from two small streams which empty into the lake. The water seeps through the porous bottom to the hot lava below where it is trapped and heated to boiling point.

Situated east of the picturesque village of Trafalgar is one of Dominica's most popular natural attractions: the Trafalgar Falls. A 10-minute walk will take the visitor to a viewing platform for a panoramic view of twin waterfalls which plunge about 125 ft and 75 ft respectively. A major rockslide in September 1995 buried the once popular hot springs and pools at the base of the waterfall to the left. The once taller waterfall, i.e. the one to the left, is popularly referred to as the "Papa Falls" and the shorter, but stronger one is affectionately called the "Mama Falls"; they are both on tributaries of the Roseau River. The "Breakfast" River that hikers cross en route to Boiling Lake is one of those tributaries, and it tumbles into the shorter waterfall. The water that leaves the Freshwater Lake area flows through Ti-Tou Gorge before cascading in the Papa Falls.