What may seem like a lonesome, treacherous journey through the forest in Laudat, Dominica became an exciting adventure for peers and a great opportunity for a few life lessons.
Laudat is home to the Morne Trois Piton National Park – a UNESCO World Heritage Site, several popular attractions like the Boiling Lake, Ti Tou Gorge and the Fresh Water Lake – the largest lake on island, as well as the Boeri Lake.
Boeri Lake, Dominica’s second largest lake, is nestled between Morne Trois Pition and Morne Macaque and sits 850 meters above sea level. Last Saturday (May 12) over 70 individuals navigated through the forest to visit the lake as part of this year’s Hike Fest.
The Dominica Hotel and Tourism Association (DHTA) hosts Hike Fest – a series of hikes carded for every Saturday in the month of May in observance of Tourism Awareness Month each year.
The hike to Boeri Lake, sponsored by Discover Dominica Authority, catered to school children.
Torah Darroux, a student of the Wesley High School and member of its Cool Girls and Adventure Clubs said it was “a fun experience” and concluded that hiking was a great way to bond with her friends.
“We had to use a buddy system to help each other. That was actually a great source of bonding and it was about trust [too]. So, you trust the other person to help you and [that’s] team work,” she explained.
The best moments, she disclosed, was having to trudge through streams. “That was so nice,” she said dreamily. “It was cold, but it was still nice. I wanted to bathe but I didn’t bring a change of clothes.”
Another group, grade 5 students from the Newtown Primary School described their time as “interesting”, “pretty” and “inspirational”.
“They loved it! Somebody just wanted to sit [and stay] at the lake so that was awesome,” class teacher Helen Hector affirmed.
“The children of the Newtown Primary did rather well to finish the hike almost before everybody else,” she started, and went on to say that she felt the experience was worth-while and worthy of repeat.
“I am hoping that this is probably something that can be continued. That children will get to see their island because they live here [and] they should know what their island has to offer. More schools should have turned out for sure,” she concluded.
DHTA and its partners have scheduled two more hikes for the rest of May both ranging from easy to moderate in difficulty. The first is Segment 12 of the Waitikubuli National Trail (Vielle case to Borne) slated for May 19th and sponsored by Range Developments. The other carded for May 26, is the Syndicate Loop Trail.