by Lise van de Kamp | Jul 24, 2020 | Hiking, Nature, River, Uncategorized, Views
This week we will take you away from Hotel The Champs and the surroundings. Behind the Macoucherie rum factory you can hike a long way. The Macoucherie rum Factory is 24 km from The Champs direction Roseau. Just before the (new) bridge you go down to the left where you see a walking trail.
The first part of the trail is “flat”… well as “flat” as it can be in Dominica, nothing is flat in this beautiful nature island but the beginning of this trail is nice and as I call it “flat”. You will see parts of the river on your right hand side on your way up.
After about 1 hour walking the trail goes steep up. (sorry we did not reached that point on or walk) For more information about this walk / hike we will put you in contact with the owner of Tamarind Tree who can also organise a guide if you wish.
The river is nice and calm and very relaxing to look at.
In the next blog we will show you some of the fruits we found on our Macoucherie walk.
by Lise van de Kamp | Jul 7, 2020 | Cabrits National Park, Environs, Hiking, Nature, Rainbows, River, Views
You don’t need a car, you don’t need a taxi if you like you can start walking from Hotel The Champs. You just walk direction Portsmouth an turn to your right at Borrow Square (“Bus station”) direction 1 mile / Calibishi. This will take you about 30 minutes.
When you turned to you right you keep following the road till you see a construction company on you right hand (you will see materials / cement trucks etc) here you turn to your right into the bush where you see a nice path to walk.
We had sun and rain on our early Sunday morning walk. The rain can be a nice refreshment. The walk is very easy and relaxing. After 25 minutes walking you reach the point where you see the signs of the Waitikubuli trail. We turned because we prefer short hikes on our Sunday mornings. But you can turn to your right at the signs (if you keep going straight it will be a dead ended road.
If you follow the road to your right you will go further up and will reach a nice view point. If you continue you will will end up at Ross Castle Estate in Picard where you will have to cross a (half broken) hanging bridge. Not too sure how long this will take it all depends if you are an experienced hiker.
On our short hike we enjoyed the view over Portsmouth and Cabrits National Park.
If you look well you can even see we had a rainbow on our way back.
by Lise van de Kamp | Jun 27, 2020 | Hiking, History, Nature
Very relaxing walk for a Sunday morning. We, Hans and Lise (Owners of The Champs) like to walk for just an hour before starting our day. We take the car and drive a bit, park the car and start walking. For this walk we parked the car at the home of the elderly on Grange road, Portsmouth. If you like to have a nice and longer walk my advice is to start walking from the Champs. From the Champs to the beginning of Grange road is about 35 – 40 minutes walking, great on a Sunday morning when there is almost no traffic. The walk is not spectacular just relaxing and with some very nice viewpoints over the Portsmouth bay and Cabrits National Park.
In the next pictures you can see Prince Rupert Bay and Pointe Round (direction Roseau)
I have added some screenshots from Maps.me In the first 2 you see where you have to turn into Grange Road (after the market place) and in the last one you see the length of the road. Have fun and enjoy your relaxing walk.
by Linda Baudoin | Jun 6, 2020 | Hiking, Nature, River, Travel Tips
A nice walk in ‘the backyard of The Champs’ is to the viewpoint over looking the bay in Portsmouth and Cabrits. You can just start your walk at The Champs and walk up the hill, before the water tank you go left on a small trail. If you are lucky you can spot parrots here!
After about 10 minutes you will reach a gravel road, take this road up to the banana plantation. Each banana plant has one bunch of bananas covered in a blue plastic bag. The bunches are covered with plastic bags for three reasons: to provide a suitable microclimate for the bananas to ripen more quickly, to protect the bananas (at least to some degree) from insects and other pests and to prevent the bananas from being bruised when it is windy and leaves may brush against the bunch. If you are interested you can take a look at the shelter were they sort the banana’s before taken to the market.
Just before the shelter on your left hand side you’ll find a small path winding down through the banana plantation (marked Waitukubuli trail). This path will lead you to the Picard Bridge where you can go swimming in the river or just continue hiking along the trail. This is part of the Waitukubuli trail, which spans 115 miles across the island of Dominica and the Picard Bridge is just a tiny portion of it. The bridge is a little unstable, so be careful when crossing it.
You will follow your way up, some parts are quite steep, there are ropes to help you up. After about 45 minutes you will reach the viewpoint. There is a small shelter to enjoy the view or have a picknick break. From here you can just take the same route down and back to Hotel The Champs where we wait for you with a nice cold beer or cocktail……
by Linda Baudoin | May 30, 2020 | Hiking, Nature, Waterfall
If you would like to visit a waterfall in the Northern part of Dominica, check out Bwa Nef Falls! The trailhead to Bwa Nef can be found off of the Northern Link Road between Lower Penville and En Bas/Vielle Case, about 30 minutes drive from Hotel The Champs. There is a sign marking the trail from the main road.
To start the hike, you walk from the main road down towards the river. There you will see the upstream river trail that leads the way to Bwa Nef. During the hike you will be walking around mud, water, rocks, tree roots, foliage etc. so be sure to have appropriate shoes.
It takes about 35 minutes to hike to the waterfall. You will pass banana plantations and thick jungle where you can spot land crabs. The tall waterfall is in a small canyon, tucked away from view until you are right below it. The cascade is almost hidden behind these towering rock walls. Beams of light, coming around boulders wedged between the rock walls above you, shine down through the water. It’s glorious! There is a small little area to ‘swim’ in if you want.
A nice stop on the way could be the cold Sulphur Springs; Unlike most of the springs on Dominica and other Caribbean islands, these are characterized by very cold water which comes as a surprise considering that they are located just next to the active volcano. But apparently, magma layer lies too deep under the ground to heat the water.
Dominica is geologically a very young island and geothermal activity is still present here. Cold Sulphur Springs is one of many sites that confirms it- you can see how water is bubbling not only in the main pool but also in the numerous geysers of different size. It’s just a few hundred meters from the main road and reachable by a well- prepared path.
