DESTINATIONS DOMINICA | CARIBBEAN Call ofnature i travelweekly.co.uk


Dominica is the Caribbean, but not as you know it, writes Nigel Tisdall


n today's business speak, Dominica would be dubbed a ‘disrupter’ island. Rising up between Martinique and Guadeloupe, this green and mountainous former British colony shuns the Caribbean holiday clichés.


Most beaches have black, volcanic sand,


there are no monster, all-inclusive resorts and only a few cruise ships swing by. Two years ago, it was hammered by the 160mph winds of Hurricane Maria, leaving a near-apocalyptic landscape of roofless homes, snapped bridges, leafless forests and debris-strewn reefs. Now the fortunes of the ‘nature island’ are on the up, thanks to a trio of new upmarket hotels and increasing demand for healthy, active and eco-friendly holidays in destinations that feel authentic and uncommercial. With slow and winding roads, magnificent peaks soaring to 4,747ft and exhilarating


experiences such as diving with sperm whales and hiking to the second-largest hot-water lake in the world, travel in Dominica is a guaranteed adventure – but one still spiced with the tropical warmth, vivid flora and charismatic people that make this region such a hit with British travellers.


WHAT TO SEE Almost twice the size of Barbados, Dominica is all about immersing yourself in splendid mountains, rampant rainforest and thundering waterfalls – according to the tourist board, the island has 365 of them. At the heart of the island, Unesco-listed


Morne Trois Pitons National Park is home to a cluster of natural attractions that can be reached on restored trails. Some you can do under your own steam, such as to Middleham Falls which culminates in a


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28 NOVEMBER 2019


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