It is indeed - complete with sulphurous smells and pools of white-coloured hot water. Dominican geography sounds a bit like a kids' adventure book sometimes - you have to trek down the Valley of Desolation to reach the Boiling Lake. It's a good and interesting day's trek there and back, but a frustrating amount of the route has been carved into steps, which I always find more exhausting than just the hillside!
Carved steps are probably a safety thing, but for me they would detract from the overall experience. A bit like going into a cave system on a concrete path with handrails.
I'm sure you're right with the safety thing. It's a bit of a tourist route and they'll want to be careful. Not that that stopped one of my lecturers from slipping and dislocating his elbow thanks to having a walking pole around his wrist that jammed in the ground...
