Article written by Mark Stevens.
While I’m a beach bum at heart, I’ve recently come to realize that a visit to the Caribbean that includes nothing but sun, sea and sand is like visiting Paris and missing the Eiffel Tower.
To quote the tourism motto of one Caribbean country, “the beach is just the beginning.”
Nowadays tourism professionals and visitors alike increasingly focus on the effects of tourism on the environment; visitors increasingly choose both environment-friendly options and more active experiences.
In short, eco-adventure comprises one of the fastest growing tourist sectors.
While opportunities for eco-adventures abound across the Caribbean, if your dream vacation includes a desire to pair your love for nature with your thirst for adrenaline, consider one of these must-do Caribbean destinations.
THIS IS NATURE ISLAND (Dominica)
With 40% of the island embraced by rainforest, Dominica really is ‘The Nature Island’. Photo courtesy of the Dominica Tourism Authority
Dominica is known as “The Nature Island.” I call it “An Eco-adventurer’s Paradise.” Do the math and you’ll get it.
Think an area of a mere 750 square kilometres, 40% of which are embraced by rainforest. Think 1000 species of flowering plants, 172 different bird species.
Take a hike past active sulphur springs and climb nearly a thousand metres on your ascent of Morne aux Diables. Translation’s all too apt: “Devil’s Hill.”
Ratchet up the intensity with a full day on the trail, making for Bolive, Dominica’s most remote waterfalls.
Visit a world heritage site called Morne Trois Pitons and explore great stands of primary growth rainforest and some of the Caribbean’s best examples of montane forest.
Pit your own skills against the Waitukubuli Trail with a length of nearly 200 kilometres, the Caribbean’s longest.
Visitors seeking eco-adventure activities can also bond with nature under the sea.
Explore an underwater volcanic crater at Soufrière Bay, snorkel the underwater hot springs of “Champagne”.
Just last year BBC Travel selected Dominica as one of the world’s Top Ten Sustainable Travel Destinations.
This is “Nature Island.”
ECO-TOURISM DESTINATION OF THE YEAR (St. Vincent and The Grenadines)
Boasting delights ranging from amazing flora to a wealth of trails and waterfalls, St. Vincent and The Grenadines should be on every eco-adventurer’s bucket list. Photo courtesy of Sharon Matthews-Stevens
Mere hours into the second day of my first of four visits to St. Vincent, crown jewel of the Grenadines, I’d decided that this island was a veritable heaven for eco-adventurers.
St. Vincent and The Grenadines boasts an unspoiled interior blessed by waterfalls, rainforest, mountains and deep valleys almost devoid of human habitation.
On that morning we’d risen before dawn to embark on a quest for the endangered Vinci Parrot.
No parrots but still a fabulous adventure, offering the ultimate in forest-bathing along the Vermont Nature Trail.
Last time here we explored the west coast, strolling along an easy trail to a delightful oasis called Dark View Falls.
Just before turning off the main road toward the falls we spotted a sign as our guide indicated the towering peaks to our north. “Trail to the volcano,” he said. “Quite the hike.”
The prospect of a 7-kilometre challenging trek to the volcano summit made our Vermont Trail efforts seem tame in comparison but it did reinforce two things in my mind. St. Vincent is a must-do for adventurers and it’s equally appealing to mere ecotourists like me.
No surprise it was recognized at the World Travel Awards as “Caribbean’s Leading Nature Destination.” No surprise that just this year the Pacific Travel Writers’ Association honoured SVG with the title of “Destination of the Year” in the ecotourism category.
Welcome to SVG – a must-do destination for the hardiest eco-adventurer.
FROM CAIMAN TO HARPIES (Guyana)
From fascinating wildlife to protected reserves, from forest trails to natural savannah, Guyana will delight visitors, no matter how they define paradise. Black Caiman, Rain Forest Iwokrama Reserve; photo courtesy of the Guyana Tourism Authority
Twilight on the Essaquibo River, somewhere in Guyana.
Our battered aluminum boat shifts into neutral, a low growl accompanied by the occasional shriek of a howler monkey in the canopy high overhead. Our Amerindian guide kills the engine. pointing at bubbles crisscrossing the river’s surface. “Caiman.”
He starts the engine, we travel upstream.
Our guide points at a cow grazing on the riverbank. “Jaguar got a cow there last week.”
As dusk fades into night his companion turns on a spotlight. Now the water’s festooned with diamonds.
Not diamonds. The glittering eyes of caiman.
We soon bond all too closely with several of these cousins to the alligator, partaking in an ecological project, capturing several reptile specimens, dragging them ashore, weighing and measuring them, releasing them.
This is no Caribbean all-inclusive.Next day we take a hike on a quest for the Harpy, the Americas’ biggest eagle. As we exit the forest my guide hollers. A metre-long green snake occupies the trail less than a metre from me.
One night, before the generator in our eco-lodge goes off, plunging us into the blackest night in creation, we clear a bat from our room.
Until I visited Guyana I self-identified as an ecotourist as opposed to an eco-adventurer.
Back in civilization, reflecting on those experiences, I give myself a promotion.
Having experienced Guyana’s interior – from caiman to harpies – I am now officially an eco-adventurer.
ONE MORE STELLAR PERFORMER (Saint Lucia)
The rainforest aerial tram is just one opportunity for visitors to experience the natural wonders of Saint Lucia. Photo courtesy of the Rainforest Adventures Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia offers a multitude of attractions and activities guaranteed to appeal to ecotourists and eco-adventurers alike.
One of my favourite island excursions is the Rainforest Adventures Aerial Tram Tour, located in an ecological park in the Saint Lucia Forest Reserve.
Climb aboard an open-air gondola, soaring above the forest floor, exploring the canopy up close, entertained by flitting hummingbirds. Stop en route, suspended in the sky, and absorb the sounds of the forest.
It is a strangely moving experience.
With 31,000 acres of rainforest (more than 70% of the island is forested) along with breath-taking scenery, Saint Lucia is the ideal destination for travellers who love nature.
Negotiate a backcountry trail then spend the night in one of several island eco-lodges.
One, a Green Globe property situated in a still-working 19th-century cocoa plantation, is the perfect place to rest up for tomorrow’s challenge: scaling the Pitons.
In the interest of full disclosure, I opt instead to hike the nearby Tet Paul Trail. Not as challenging; just as gorgeous.
Gazing toward the Pitons at the end of a trail called, appropriately, “Stairway to Heaven”, I consider the challenge of conquering those slopes, I consider the appeal of this island for both environmentally-sensitive tourists and adventure seekers.
Saint Lucia is one more stellar performer in a celestial quartet that together comprises a veritable eco-adventurer’s paradise.
Article written by Mark Stevens. Photography by Sharon Matthews-StevensFor twenty-five years the writing/photography team of Mark Stevens and Sharon Matthews-Stevens has provided editorial and photographic Caribbean content to a multitude of publications.
They’ve worked with newspapers from The Washington Post to The Globe and Mail, magazines from Travellife to Caribbean Business and Travel, and online publications from ATasteforTravel.ca to VacayNetwork.com. They have hiked the rainforests of St. Vincent in search of the Vinci parrot, sailed the waters off countless islands and traversed Jamaica in search of the world’s best jerk.
In addition to numerous other writing and photography awards, they have been recognized for their writing and photography fifteen times by the Caribbean Tourism Organization during their Canadian Media Awards events. Mark and Sharon are true Caribbean specialists.
