Titu Gorge and the Emerald Pool

                                  

            While visiting the island of Dominica, we had two awesome swimming experiences. On Wednesday February 20^th, we hiked as a group to the boiling lake. It was an amazing hike that I am sure I will never forget. After our long day of hiking we were able to swim in the Titu Gorge. The gorge is a system of caves and waterfalls located at the boiling lake trailhead. The gorge was made famous after it was filmed in the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It is shown when Jack Sparrow is in the giant ball escaping from the natives. While we were visiting, all of the local vendors made sure to tell us that this was the spot filmed in the movie.

            From the outside, the gorge looked like a normal river flowing between two rock ledges. As we got closer, we could see that the ledges continued and only left a four-foot wide passage up the river. As we swam against the current, the water became quite deep. The swim was less than 100 yards from the mouth of the cave to the first waterfall. One at a time, we each climbed up the four-foot waterfall to the holding pool above. The pool was small, maybe twelve feet long, and had a large current. This was where we saw the larger waterfall. It was maybe ten feet tall and three feet across, pumping out a considerable amount of water. We all stayed for a short time but quickly became cold in the chilly water. It was so much fun to jump off of the first waterfall and float downstream with the current. The swimming concluded an awesome day seeing some of Dominica’s natural treasures.

            On Thursday the 21^st, we explored Dominica for a second day. We drove around the island in cramped 15 passenger taxis. We stopped several times but eventually made our way to the Carib territory. The day was filled with short stops aimed at learning about the culture and resources of the island. Again, we were lucky enough to end our day with a swim. This time we swam in the Emerald Pool. We had a ten-minute walk from the parking lot to the pool. The pool itself was thirty feet in diameter. There was a waterfall that fell forty feet into the pool, which was around five feet deep. It looked as if the space around the pool had been hollowed out. The water was a refreshing temperature, and we all had fun jumping off the rock outcroppings. Almost everyone went in to the water but a few decided to stay salty. The fact that the water in the pool was fresh made it all the more appealing to the rest of us. Dominica is an awesome island that had so much to offer.  The natural parks we visited were spectacular and made for great fieldtrips. It will be hard for our next stops to match up to the beautiful island of Dominica.

Ben Crosby