The Misconceived Path

The boiling lake hike has been one of the most reoccurring subjects that I have written about during my short interval as a blogger.  I’m sure many frequent readers of this blog have realized this fact.  I find the trail irresistibly fascinating as the path takes the hikers through several vastly different settings within the roughly eight mile trek.  Also, the weather variable creates a unique experience each time I have journeyed on the path.  Even though there are many fascinating, wondrous locations upon the island of Dominica, the boiling lake is my favorite to visit.

My exuberance for the trail has many Dominicans chalking me up as “one of those crazy thrill seeking people from the states.”  The common view about the trail among locals is that the boiling lake hike is dangerous and therefore they will not partake in it.  Some Dominicans who have trekked the boiling lake say that they will never go back because of how death-defying and scary it was.  This accepted narrative about the path has led to a repercussion of lower amounts of Dominicans attempting the hike. 

The people who I work with and their families are the individuals who I feel closest to in Dominica.  This is the group of people, besides my neighbors, who I interact with every day.  I consider them essentially my Dominican family.  Anyway, they have fallen victim to the poisoning report about the boiling lake hike.  Since I completed the trail for the first time in April of 2011, I would casually bring up the idea to my close Dominican friends about walking the trail together.  I said it could be a nice staff outing/bonding experience.  My persuasion led to no avail as they always shot me down because of their collective apprehension and misconceptions about trail.

After much coaxing I finally convinced my close friends to commit to attempting the dreaded boiling lake path.  They promised that we would organize a date in late July or early August to plan the expedition.

On a day in July, my Dominican friends and I set out for our staff outing adventure.  Alicia, Elisha, Jason, Maureen, Kenson, Kensha, Rickey, and Cleve all joined in on the fun.  We hired Alicia’s husband, Kent, as our driver so that we could transport ourselves with ease.  My friends all joked around how “the white man” was their tour guide for the day since it was my eighth time on the trail. 

Everything went smoothly and my friends thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  The majority of them were surprised about how the path was not as laborious as they had imagined.  I recall prepping them while we were coming up to the more arduous parts of the trail with tips about how to cross the part successfully. Immediately after I would get a comment from one of them signifying how they thought the section was easier than advertised. 

After we completed the trail, the group and I traveled to a place called Screw’s Sulfur Spa which is a tourist attraction so we could soak our tired muscles.  The sulfur pools are fed from natural hot water springs.  This was a perfect spot to recuperate after the strenuous hiking activity.  Only one other person from our hiking group had been to Screw’s Spa besides me so it was awesome for them to all have this new experience as well.

This will go down as one of my favorite, most memorable days as a Peace Corps Volunteer.