HAMSTEAD RIVER

Our friend and guide Bertrand Jno-Baptiste (aka Dr. Birdy) led a hike to the Hamstead River along the north coast of Dominica in search of orchids.

We encounter several species of orchids. The first is Vanilla, a liana that can be seen here climbing one of the trees of the rainforest. Vanilla extract is made from the long pods of this orchid - noted the pods on the right side of the tree.

A common epiphytic orchid in this valley is Epidendrum difforme:

The most exciting orchid discovery was Dichaea cf. hookeri. The Hampstead River below - draining the dense rainforest vegetation.