At 8:00am on the dot we set off. Our tour guide, Andrew, took his place at the front, I followed closely behind, and the three other men fell in line behind me. The first quarter of the hike was the flattest and the muddiest. We made our way through the National Park, engulfed by the lush density of the forest, as we pushed along the half-covered trail. I used the walking stick I was given by Andrew to push the grass out the way best I could, but he paced ahead so quickly that it caused the plants between us to backlash into my bruised legs causing me immense pain. As much as I wanted to ask for our first break, I decided I didn’t want to be the one to slow the momentum – especially as we were only ten minutes in lol – so I kept it moving. The soil was soggy and thick and many times we had to step off the path and into the bushes in order to not get our feet stuck in the mud -though for some reason I kept missing my step and kept falling into the mud! I took the opportunity to get to know the guys I was hiking with and found out that the guy immediately behind me, Sammy, was also from London and here on a two-week trip to the Caribbean. The two men behind him, Leonard and Del, lived in Antigua and were here on a family trip. They were all very encouraging and cheered me on the whole way, which really added to my strength.

About twenty minutes into the first quarter, we began the incline. This is where things really started to heat up. If there is one thing that really tests me on a hike (and if I’m honest, life) it’s steps – and there were loads of them. And no, no, I’m not talking about ordered steps that are equal in height and size, I mean uneven, sometimes missing, and at times wobbly wooden blocks or tree stumps that’d been squished into the mud as part of the trail. Some of the steps were so steep that I had to be lifted up onto them by Andrew. The incline really took the wind out of me and after about five minutes of climbing, I was begging for a rest. Andrew informed us that we were still only into the first quarter and it was at this point that I knew I was in for a serious ride. At times the trail narrowed so much that we literally had to shimmy our way across the edge of a cliff, conscious that simply placing a foot in the wrong place could cause us to fall to the bottom of the mountain. And at other times we had to climb rocks and boulders, swing on ropes and cross open streams.

About an hour and a half in, we made it to the highest point (3,168ft) and what a breath-taking view it was. The top of the mountain gave us a 360 birds-eye view of the whole Island. To the East we could see Roseau, Dominica’s capital and town I was staying in, and right ahead of us was the three peaks and other surrounding mountains. The air was chilled and fresh, I inhaled and took it all in before one of the guys made the call to wrap it up and keep moving as we were doing well for time and so didn’t want to slow down too much.

On the way down the forest became denser, the trail became steeper and the hike got even harder. It rained as we made our way into the Valley of Desolation which made the sulphuric fumes smell even worse. The rotten egg stench filled our noses as we crossed through the open space. Though it stunk, the backdrop was so spectacular that my eyes could barely take it all in with my eyeballs let alone let alone my camera lens. A picture just couldn’t capture it well enough to do it any justice. So I just marvelled.

It rained then blazed with heat then rained some more.

A little further and we were at the boiling Lake. It was not what I expected at all – it was so much better. We climbed through the rocks and came face to face with the 200 by 250ft bubbling cauldron. As if we were even allowed to be this close!! We stood about 10 meters from the drop and I could already feel the hairs on my arms shrivel up. They really don’t call this the boiling lake for nothing. The 197° Fahrenheit cauldron was in constant bubble-ation! Apparently, if the bubbles were to ever stop then it’s time to leave town as it’s an indication that the volcano is about to go off.

Our tour guide was clearly nervous as to how close I was standing, so after telling me for the third time to move back, he began recalling stories he had heard of people falling in and being cooked alive. I backed it right up. We marvelled, took pictures, ate our lunch and then readied ourselves to head back.

In my ignorance, I assumed the way back down would be much easier than the way up as that tends to be the case with many journeys. It wasn’t, though we did make it down a lot quicker. I struggled with coming down particularly because my knees felt quite strained going down the steps, and the steps were so steep that having to bend that far down to climb them certainly wasn’t doing anything for my speed. It got very tricky and it felt like my lungs were struggling to find balance. At certain points I was so out of breath that the tour guide made the call to pause a few times on my behalf in order to help me regulate my breathing again. I managed to pull it together, but only for about 10 minutes at a time before needing to stop again. Like, I said, I was really feeling the pressure now. But the show had to go on. Over the rocks, back across the narrow cliff and through the streams we went, back along the trail which we initially came. Eventually we made it.

As I mentioned, the average time for this hike is 6 hours – 3 hours up and 3 hours down. My group and I completed the hike in 4 hours and 41 minutes; 3 hours and 15 up and 1 hour 26 down. We were definitely pleased with ourselves to say the least.

If you are big on hiking, I would definitely throw this on your bucket list as the sense of satisfaction as well as the incredible views along the way really do make it worthwhile. Not to mention of course, the bubbling reward at the end! Definitely a highlight of Dominica, the Boiling Lake is not something to be taken lightly.

I’d rate this hike a solid 8/10 for difficulty and 10/10 for overall experience.