Dominica: A tropical paradise

Dominica was the second last stop on my world tour before I made my way back to my motherland. When I arrived there from Barbados, I did not know what to expect because it was my first time there and I had met very few people who had actually been to Dominica for over a day or two. 

I remember wondering what exactly I would do for two weeks on this quiet island somewhere in the Caribbean Sea. But little did I know I would not have enough time to do all the things that I wanted to do in this tropical paradise. 

The immigration process was more than easy, which is not something I say often about travelling with a Bangladeshi passport. They simply asked me what I was in Dominica for and that was it; this set the tone for the rest of the trip, which was nothing short of delightful. 

I was picked up by the resort driver from the airport to take me to my humble abode for the next two weeks – the Jungle Bay Dominica Resort. I checked-in to my villa and fell asleep. I woke up at six in the morning to the sound of birds chirping and the morning light peeking through the blinds. 

The villa was built with stones and wood and had all the luxuries I was looking for such as fast Wi-Fi, air conditioning and hot water. At the same time, it exuded the rustic, natural look that one would expect from an eco-resort. 

I walked out to the balcony with a postcard view – only mildly interrupted with various moringa, mango, papaya and pomegranate trees – of the rolling emerald hills that curved out into the tail of Dominica and the Caribbean Sea.

I went to the restaurant for breakfast but could not resist a dip into their award-winning infinity pool overlooking the ocean. I am not going to lie, I did feel a bit like I was in a movie and living the life of an affluent white woman who holidays in her private jet when city life gets too overwhelming. 

But once that feeling settled, I strolled around the beautiful property. Nestled amidst the lush green mountains of Soufriere, the Jungle Bay has been named one of the top 10 eco resorts in the world.  

It offers a host of adventure activities like hiking, mountaineering, kayaking, chasing waterfalls, snorkelling and diving in the Caribbean Sea. But the beauty of the resort lies in its ability to balance adventure and wellness. 

It is built on 20 acres of land, on which hundreds of different exotic plants and trees thrive – including but not limited to avocado, soursop, neem, rosemary, hibiscus, moringa, cinnamon and bay leaf, to name a few. Many of these are used as ingredients in farm to table meals. Oils are also derived from the medicinal herbs for a holistic spa experience. 

Thanks to my stay with Jungle Bay, my two weeks in Dominica was an experience that touched on equal parts healing, wellness and adventure – leaving me refreshed and ready for the world.

I went tea tasting on one of the first days I was in Dominica, I had done tea tasting before but this was a bit different. Countless different medicinal herbs and plants were foraged prior to our tasting and an expert walked us through how these herbs are incorporated in everyday food and drinks to strengthen the immune system and keep healthy. 

This experience was fascinating because not only did I learn a lot about the herbs and spices that were available to me growing up in a Bangladeshi household, such as bay leaves, cinnamon leaves, ginger and moringa, but I also learned about ways to use them to help live a healthier life. 

We ended the session by making a tea blend for ourselves and learning how to make teas using fresh ingredients forged from nearby. The spa infuses many of these herbs in their oils and offers unique massages and treatments that are geared towards your wellness journey. 

I wanted to have a balance when it came to the tours I picked, as a history enthusiast and nature lover I wanted to ensure that I managed to get a feel of both. 

I communicated this to the resort and they paired me with a very knowledgeable guide – Wee fee, who took me around Dominica over the course of my two weeks in the country. 

I went on the Galion loop hike, which is just outside of Soufriere and studded with gorgeous sites. The hike itself is fairly easy to do, and is extremely knowledgeable when you go with a guide. As we hiked through the trail, I came to realise why Dominica is known as the food basket and the nature island of the Caribbean. 

The entire trail was thriving with medicinal herbs, banana, papaya, mango, plantain, soursop and other fruit and vegetable trees. After hiking through mountains and green fields, you end up near a hot spring where you can soak yourself in the hot waters and enjoy a snack while looking at the gorgeous view. 

The hike itself was a great reminder of how different Dominica is from the other Caribbean islands; the island strives to preserve every element of their nature reserve and with it, it protects hundreds of years of history, culture and holistic living secrets. 

I also loved this hike because Wee fee was very thorough in his explanation of the different indigenous plants, the history of the land we were hiking and the importance of preservation – he even picked up trash he saw on the hike to ensure it was disposed of properly. 

I went snorkelling at the Champagne beach and experienced something I had never experienced before: an actual underwater hot spring with volcanic activity. It is named so because volcanic activity causes bubbles to rise from the ocean floor to the top.  

I was not quite ready for the experience that was awaiting me. Not only was it a very clear day with great visibility, but the wildlife underwater was just breathtaking. 

We snorkelled for little over an hour through the warm water with bubbles rising through it like a sparkling glass of champagne. I learnt that the coral reefs do not do well in warm water and so the wildlife away from the champagne reef was much more beautiful, colourful, and simply put – vivid. 

The kayak ride back was so gorgeous in its own right and felt like we were floating our way back to the beautiful little village. 

Nature has been incredibly generous to Dominica; whether it is underwater or on land. And I learnt this further when I went diving with Nature Island Dive in Dominica. 

You can decide where you want to dive – in the Atlantic Ocean or the Caribbean Sea, both have incredible dive spots in either and are simply a short boat ride away from where Nature Island Dive is located. 

I was particularly lucky because the day was clear as it can be and the visibility was out of the world.  

During my dives there, the dive master showed us many beautiful fishes, corals and other underwater creatures. 

Nature Island Dive does this incredible thing where, whenever they take people diving, the dive master hunts some lionfish. The lionfish is the only fish in the Caribbean that is an invasive species and is applauded by the nature preserve authorities whenever it is hunted. 

This fish is then turned into delicious lionfish salad and sandwiches and some parts of it are even turned into jewellery. The whole experience of diving with them was beautiful. 

A quest to travel to every country in the world brought me to Dominica, a tiny island nation that made me try new things more than once. It took me swimming through canyons, mesmerised me with bubbles emerging from the ocean floor, left me at awe with its sunsets and sunrises and its people warmed my heart with their kindness and openness. 

Maliha Fairooz is a 31 year-old Bangladeshi travel writer, based in Berlin, Germany. She has travelled to 94 countries on a Bangladeshi passport. Through her blog www.maliharoundtheworld.com, Maliha shares her experience of travelling as a brown, Muslim, Bangladeshi woman while simultaneously encouraging a culture of travel amongst Bangladeshi youth. You can follow her current adventures on her Instagram page: @maliharoundtheworld

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Visa, flights and hotel

Visa: Bangladeshis get an on-arrival visa for 21 days.

Flights: There are no direct flights to Dominica from Bangladesh. You could take a flight from the US (Puerto Rico and Miami) or from another Caribbean Island like Barbados or Trinidad and Tobago. 

Airlines:

British Airways-interCaribbean

Dhaka-Doha-Heathrow-Bridgetown-Dominica

Qatar Airways-British Airways-interCaribbean

Dhaka-Doha-Heathrow-Bridgetown-Dominica

Ticket price: Tk7,25,575

Hotels:

• Wanderlust Caribbean Adventure Travel Boutique Hotel

• Jungle Bay Dominica Hotel

• Sea Cliff Dominica Eco-Cottages

Room rates:Tk20,000 per night 

Food: Dominican breakfast and other local items like plantains, tropical fruits and the Dominican style fried chicken.