Hitchhiking to the Wavine Cyrique waterfall was hard and far from Soufriere, but eventually, we made it. After asking a few locals finding the way was not too difficult, especially with Organic Maps. The way there was beautiful with lots of vegetation and beautiful plants lining the path. It had rained earlier and the drops of water on the plants made it look special, like little universes contained within the small details. I think we took an hour for what could have taken minutes but I love looking at and photographing these little details, the things one normally doesn't notice, the beauty hidden in plain sight.
At some point, the way was blocked and a big sign warned people that the cliffs were unstable since the last hurricane and that going further was forbidden. We went a bit further than the sign to see how the way looked, trying to see if we could find a way down to the waterfall somehow, but eventually, the climb became too steep and looked dangerous so we returned, in favor of not hurting ourselves and falling down the cliffs to our deaths. A wise decision I think, though I would have loved to see the waterfall from up close... this way, we only got to see it from the cliffs from the distance, and even from here, it looked magnificent with the black sand beach and the big waves crushing upon the shore.
After this little adventure, we hitchhiked a little further down South in the East of Dominica towards Delices. This part is still pretty rural, there are only a handful of buses and little traffic so hitchhiking is a bit difficult, but in the end, we managed to go to the site of another waterfall, known as the Sari Sari Waterfall. Again in the jungle, I admired the plant life all around.
Telling the nice driver that we won't need a guide was a big mistake though, normally the markings on Organic Maps are really good, even for small footpaths in the middle of nowhere and I have hiked with it extensively in the Himalayans in both India and Nepal. Not so in Dominica though! The path left us stranded in the middle of the jungle with nowhere else to go, all treks either ending in an overgrown and dense jungle or near imposing cliffs that seemed impossible to climb down. We maybe spent an hour or so searching for the way but eventually gave up and didn't go to this waterfall either.
Sad and a little discouraged, we sat at the side of the road, thinking what to do. Originally we wanted to go to see Victoria Falls but because of all the hitchhiking and waiting it was already late in the day and getting back to Soufriere was a tall order, especially because we had to make it to Roseau on time for the last bus or get stranded there. We thought about taking a hotel for the night but unfortunately, Viola had to work the next day, so we decided against it and just waited to find a hitchhike back to Roseau. It still makes me sad that we didn't see what we came to see these days but it is yet another reason to come back to Dominica someday in the future, there is still lots more to discover.