One of the 27 falls. We jumped from the platform on the right. The other option was to take the stairs to the left.
We mentioned in our last blog post that we sailed to the Dominican Republic from Turks & Caicos with four other boats (S/V Irish Rose, S/V Saint Somewhere, S/V Altitude Adjustment and S/V Imiloa). Once we were rested up from the passage, we wanted to start exploring the area so we contacted a local guide to see what was available. We agreed on a full day trip with quite the assortment of activities. A couple from another boat who had beat us here from George Town (S/V Timmie’s Run) decided to join us.
We had a very nice modern 18 passenger air conditioned bus all for our group with a skilled bus driver and our wonderful tour guide, Jose.
During our meeting to discuss options, Jose had offered to have the dogs (Riggs and his bestie Mango) ride along and the bus driver could watch them while we were doing activities that they wouldn’t be allowed in. I had previously found a teenager who could dog sit on our boat, but this was an offer too good to pass up so the dogs came along. Mango is very well behaved, but Riggs has been known to chew the furniture when left alone so I was a bit nervous, but the bus driver seemed very at ease with the situation.
We left at 8 in the morning and headed through the lush countryside to the 27 waterfalls at Damajaqua. This was the one activity that we had all read about and was a must do. We had had a lot of rain the previous few days and this was the first day that the waterfalls were open. We could only go to the bottom 12 waterfalls, but that sounded like a full half day. We had to hike and climb about a mile through a pretty forest to reach the first waterfall. We had been outfitted with life jackets and helmets and told there would be several jumps into deep pools and slides, but for those who didn’t want to do them, there would be ways to walk around. Our three young and fit Dominican guides (did I mention fit???) gave us detailed instructions at every turn and jump on where to jump, how to hold our bodies and heads, where to land, etc. The first jump was a great warm up, probably 10 feet down into a churning pool. We were instructed to do a cannonball so that we wouldn’t hit the bottom. Many of the men touched bottom anyway. We waded through some gentle rapids and slides to the next big jump. This was the highest jump at about 30 feet high-and remember your eye balls are in your head so it looks pretty scary. A few in our group elected to climb the ladders down, but for the rest it was quite the adrenaline rush (and a good sinus cleaning for some!). We had a great time sliding down chutes, swimming, wading and jumping our way down the mountain. The guides were fun, clearly safety minded, helpful and kept us moving along. They called us all "Papa" and "Sexy Momma"! At one of the jumps, many people disappeared under the turbulent water a bit longer than expected until a guide’s hand reached down and grabbed us back to the surface! At another jump, the guides threw out a helmet attached to a line for people to grab onto and be pulled out of the current. As you can imagine the mountain water was cold and by the time we had finished our 12 waterfalls, we were all chilled and ready to hit the showers and enjoy a fantastic buffet lunch and a cold Presidente (an excellent local beer).
I have some fun video from my GoPro that I will post on Facebook later.
MB on one of the slides
This is part of the "jungle ambulance". There was a donkey tethered nearby to this saddle.
One of the falls
The beers are served large and cold and in one of these wooden coolers to keep the beer cold to the last drop.
Our group at the end of the falls. Our tour guide, Jose is front left.
Back on the bus we went, dreaming about taking a little nap, but more adventures awaited. Jose gave us all sorts of interesting information about the region as we drove through various towns and the countryside. Our next stop was in the city of Puerto Plata at the Brugal rum factory, a family owned and operated business since 1912. We had a short tour, got to view the production floor and had bottomless tastings of various rums. We did not leave empty handed after a visit to the gift shop.
Brugal Rum factory tasting
Next was the chocolate factory, definitely one of David’s favorite stops. We had chocolate tasting as well as hot chocolate and brownie samples. Our guide was very informative and answered our many questions about their process. This was definitely a chocolate loving group! We left with ten chocolate bars and some hot chocolate mix (great mixed with coffee on those long night watches!).
Tasting cocoa nibs which are used to make chocolate
Next was the Amber Museum. There are mines in this region where much of the amber (fossilized tree resin) in the world has been recovered. Parts of Jurassic Park were filmed here also. It was a small museum but we found it very interesting, especially all of the various insects captured in the amber resin.
We stopped for a little bit of shopping in the historic district and my sweet husband suggested I should buy a necklace with the rare turquoise mineral Larimar, found only in the DR. It is the color of the Caribbean Sea. How could I say no?
Political rally in Puerto Plata. The election was this weekend.
A colorful street in Puerto Plata
Plaza in Puerto Plata
On the way home we stopped at several roadside stands where we requested to stop. Jose was so flexible and agreeable throughout the day as we switched up the planned itinerary a bit. The first stop was a stand that had fresh queso (cheese) made that morning from cows milked on the property. It reminded us of mozzarella, but more flavor. Delicious!
Roadside Cheese stand at a dairy farm. We also bought some little baked bread/spiced cakes that were delicious.
Next was a produce stand where I bought a prickly green fruit that I haven’t figured out what to do with yet! The last stop was a corn on the cob stop. We cleaned them out buying all of the roasted and steamed corn on the cob they had available.
Roadside produce stand. The stalks on the left are sugar cane.
Show me your corn!
We arrived back at the marina about 7pm, tired, but happy. It was such a fun day with a great bunch of people. And how much did all of this cost you might ask…$55 USD per person including lunch and all admissions except the rum factory. And, yes, the bus survived Riggs and the bus driver got a BIG tip!
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