Welcome to Roseau, the capital and largest city of Dominica. This small, compact town sits on the island's west coast, framed by the Caribbean Sea, the Roseau River and the hill of Morne Bruce. It was built on the site of the ancient Island Carib village of Sairi, and it is the oldest and most important town on Dominica. Its name means reed, given by French woodcutters, and you will see a mix of modern and French colonial buildings. Roseau is also the island's main port, shipping bananas, bay oil and cocoa. Let's explore the town and the volcanic wilderness beyond.
Morne Trois Pitons National Park
Photo: Aneil Lutchman · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsHead into the mountains with me to Morne Trois Pitons National Park, established in July 1975 as Dominica's first national park and named a World Heritage Site in 1997. It takes its name from its highest mountain, the mountain of three peaks. This is a land of intense volcanic activity: steep volcanic hills, deep canyons and spectacular waterfalls. Look out for the Valley of Desolation, with its boiling mud ponds and small geysers, and the calm waters of the Emerald Pool. All the major rivers of the island's southern half rise here.
Boiling Lake
Photo: Bayukjdr · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsDeep in the national park, about 10.5 kilometres east of Roseau, lies the Boiling Lake. It is a flooded fumarole, and its bubbling greyish-blue water is usually wrapped in a cloud of vapour. Measuring 60 to 75 metres across, it is the second-largest hot lake in the world. In 1875 two investigators measured the water at the edges at between 82 and 92 degrees Celsius, but they could not reach the centre, where the lake actively boils. Surprisingly, after a nearby eruption in 1880, the lake vanished for a time, replaced by a fountain of hot water and steam.
Dominica Botanical Gardens
Photo: Postdlf · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsStep into the Dominica Botanic Gardens, once known as one of the finest in the region. The gardens were planned in 1889 to encourage farmers to grow a wider range of crops and to supply them with properly raised seedlings. They were laid out on 16 hectares of a former sugar plantation, and planting began in 1890. Their first curator came from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. In 1979 Hurricane David caused severe damage, yet the gardens remain a focus of cultural life in Roseau and a centre of conservation research.
Roseau Cathedral
Photo: Nelro ( talk ) · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsBefore you is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Fair Haven, the Catholic cathedral of Roseau and seat of the Diocese of Dominica. Its original French name means Our Lady of the Good Port of the Roseau Anchorage. Built in a Gothic and Romanesque revival style, it was consecrated in its present form in 1916. It may look small from the outside, but step through the doors and you will find the interior spacious and full of light. The cathedral stands in the south of the town, on the banks of the Roseau River.
Fort Young
Our tour ends at Fort Young, once a major military installation, built by the British in 1770 and named after Sir William Young, the island's first civilian British governor. The fort was expanded to hold 17 cannons. In 1778 the French invaded Dominica and captured it, renaming it Fort de La Reine, and they held the island until 1784. Today only ruins remain, and the site is home to the Fort Young Hotel.
Lomakuume
