Day 3 (continued)

The Boiling Lake

The last leg to the Boiling Lake takes less than 30 minutes, but the trail becomes an unmarked rocky scramble up a narrow dry riverbed. I stumble up the riverbed, exhausted and hungry.

It takes all my will to arrive at the rocky clearing at the edge of the lake and collapse against a rock. A picnic lunch gives me the energy to explore the area and take some photos. Most of the time, I simply gaze in awe.

“Can we get closer?” Andrew asks.
Marvin replies with a cryptic “No, we don’t take that trail anymore.”

Contrary to hiker lore of gruesome boiling deaths, Marvin says no one has died in these waters. A local once fell into the lake but was only partially submerged and survived. From the waist up, you wouldn’t be able to tell that anything happened at all.


With Marvin’s story in mind, I keep a far distance from the cliff’s edge. Although the lake isn’t huge (270 feet across), it is dramatic and impressive. Huge white plumes of smoke swirl off the lake. A gust of wind sometimes clears the surface, revealing the lake’s bubbling, boiling hot center.

We return the same way we came, and the trek is just as long and difficult. The last leg seems to last an eternity. We at the end of a road for our trek organizer to pick us up. He arrives 30 minutes late.

“I gave you more time to make it back. I didn’t want to say anything before, but I didn’t think you guys would make it all the way.”

I’m too exhausted to care.


Andrew relaxing in a trail-side pool, fed by a waterfall of hot mineral water.

Relaxing at Papillote

The van drops us off at our lodging, the nearby Papillote Wilderness Retreat and Nature Sanctuary, set among 4 acres of rainforest, complete with a large waterfall, hot mineral pools and meandering walks.

To the untrained eye it looks like gorgeous, dripping, untamed jungle, but it is actually a world renowned botanical garden, reputedly the best in the Caribbean. The whole area is landscaped, plants thematically placed to look as they would appear as they would in the wild. The staff member who greets us is helpful and seems genuinely happy for our company. We are grateful for her graciousness.

We explore the three hot mineral springs scattered through the grounds, the waters are heaven to our fatigued bodies. There are only eight rooms set among the cottages on the grounds, and this evening, we are the sole guests. We ravenously devour a tasty four-course dinner on the restaurant terrace where the only other patron is the resident cat, who immediately jumps into our laps and stays throughout dinner.

The evening ends with a candle-lit skinny dip in the private hot mineral pool at the entrance to our cottage. I can tell I'm going to be sore the next day from our hike, and I'm secretly hoping that the hot mineral waters might have some magical restorative powers.

I'm glad we booked for a nice room this night. The mosquito net proves again very useful, as the windows are open and there are no screens. I love the openness to nature - the cool mountain air washes freely into the room and the sounds of the rainforest surround us in our sleep.

Papillote flowers.Zingiberaceae Etlingera Elatior (Pink Torch) in the foreground and (Red Torch) behind

Papilotte flower - Bromeliaceae Neoregalia.