febrero

I went to Palmar de Ocoa for the weekend in February.  This is the same place I went to one weekend in December.  It was absolutely beautiful with the mountains and the beach.  It was fun to spend time with friends, swim, lay out, etc. We also went dancing at a Colmado in the nearest town Saturday night.  I’m still nowhere close to being as good as a Dominican, but I’m learning!  :)

the view just doesn't get old

amigas

I made sure to be sitting on the dock every day at sunset.

majestic

Las Terrenas is a beach town on the northeastern peninsula of Samana.  It’s known for beautiful beaches and that proved to be absolutely accurate.  We went to two beaches there Playa Bonita and Las Terrenas.  The town of Las Terrenas has a very interesting feel.  Many European ex-pats have settled there and own the local businesses.  We ate a French restaurant and had homemade Italian gelato for dessert.  We stayed in an adorable hostel with livestock roaming freely, recycling (an unknown concept in the capital) and European owners that spoke five languages…all for $10 a night.

the donkey roams freely at the hostel

Fata Morgana hostel

Playa Bonita

Las Terrenas

This little girl was fascinated with putting sand on Matt's legs.

el 27 de febrero

February 27^th is the Dominican Republic’s Independence Day.  In ways, it felt like the July 4^th-it was hot, and the colors of the Dominican flag are red, white, and blue.  There was a military Independence Day parade.  Although it would have been better if it hadn’t started over two hours late, it was still interesting to see.  February 27^th commemorates the Dominican Republic’s independence from Haiti in 1844.

Happy Independence Day!  (yeah, we wore patriotic colors)

mofongo and aguacate...mmmmm

Playa Guibia

el desfile militar (military parade)

Carnaval-Santo Domingo

I spent some time at the capital’s carnaval celebrations on two different Sundays.  There were free concerts in the street, lots of costumes, dancers, parade, etc.  There were similarities and differences to the carnaval celebration in La Vega.

Juan Pablo Duarte play

I went to a play about Juan Pablo Duarte (the father of the country).   While learning more Dominican history, it suddenly hit me that I was feeling oddly patriotic during the play, especially during the triumphant final scene.  I always love embracing and experiencing other cultures and countries.  But, traveling also always increases my appreciation and patriotism towards my home country.  Life abroad often reminds me how blessed I am to be an American citizen and have the rights and luxuries that citizenship provides.  Although I’m still a true Carolina girl at heart, it is for certain that this country now also shares a piece of my heart.

La Vega

Carnaval is a celebration that was brought the island by Christopher Columbus.  The Carnaval also has an African and Taino influence here.  A city about 1.5 hours from Santo Domingo called La Vega has the oldest, biggest and most famous Carnaval celebration in the country.  Carnaval is celebrated every weekend in February with the final weekend being the biggest.  Each city that has a Carnaval celebration has its own special traditions, costumes, etc.  In La Vega, squads participate in a costume contest.  They walk through the streets showing off their ornate costumes.  It addition to the elaborate squads, there are traditional costumes like “Roba la Gallina” (chicken stealer) and “monos” (monkeys).  There’s also a tradition where the devil costumes hit you in the behind with an inflated cow bladder.  Carnaval was unlike any other event I’ve ever been to. 

While in La Vega, we toured the small town’s few “sites to see”.  La Vega Vieja (the old city) was founded by Christopher Columbus in 1494 to hopes of finding gold.  The region was not rich in gold, but it was rich with fertile land great for crops, especially sugarcane.  A huge earthquake destroyed the La Vega Vieja in 1562. We toured the ruins of a fort, church, and houses.

Santo Cerro (Holy Hill) has a beautiful church (Iglesia Las Mercedes).  According to the story, Christopher Columbus placed a cross from Queen Isabela at this church.  When the Spanish and Taino Indians were fighting the natives tried to burn the cross, but it wouldn’t catch on fire.  Then, the Virgin Mary appeared and scared off the Tainos.  Now, this is a popular pilgrimage site.  There is also a nispero tree near the church.  Supposedly, this tree is a descendent of one planted in the late 1400s that was used to build the original wooden church.

The new city has the Catedral de la Concepcion that is known for its odd architectural style.

view of the city from our hotel

I thought the clothes drying on the roof made a cool design.

visiting the ruins

La Vega Vieja

THE tree

view from the top of Santo Cerro

Iglesias Las Mercedes

every cosutme was so unique

That is just one person in the costume!

some costumes were a lot scarier than others

Hotel Rey--great place to stay!

mono

catedral

not known for its beautiful style

This guy covered himself in oil in hopes of getting your money.  The creature would threaten to touch you to speed up the donating process.  Parents also found amusement in torturing their children,

lots of colors

These colors and masks are much more friendly.

The pink ball is a plastic version of the traditional cow bladder.

enjoying the crowd

Pico Duarte (January 27-30)

I had an AMAZING trip to Pico Duarte.  Pico Duarte is the tallest mountain in the Caribbean.  That being said, I’m really not sure how much competition it has since the Caribbean mostly consists of beautiful flat beaches.

The trip was 4 days and 3 nights with an ecotourism group from Santo Domingo.  We left at 3:00am Thursday night/Friday morning.  After about a 3 hour drive, we arrived to the start of the trail (la Cienaga).  Each person carries a day pack but my large pack with the tent, sleeping bag, etc is carried on a mule (mandatory).  Although the hike would have been much more challenging with the pack, the mules were one of my least favorite parts of the trip.  The mules walked the same trail as the hikers, so it was difficult to watch the mules constantly be mistreated.

Very quickly into the first day I realized that the terrain was going to be different than I expected.  The majority of the first eight hours of hiking was in deep, squishy mud.  The majority of my steps resulted in my feet being completely covered in mud up to my ankles.  At times the slipping and sliding in the mud was fun, but it was always a welcomed break to get to “normal” ground.

The first day we walked from La Cienaga to La Comparticion.  We arrived around 4:30 pm so we had time to set up the tent before dark.  A local family traveled with us to cook all of the meals.  Everything was cooked over the fire.   I spent the evening around the fire because of the cool temperatures on the mountain.  The low for the evening was 30 degrees Fahrenheit but the wind made it feel much colder.

Day Two was a much shorter hiking day (about 5 hours).  After a breakfast of eggs and plantains, we set off for the peak.  Luckily, this hike was not filled with mud.  Pico Duarte is named for the “father” of the country, Juan Pablo Duarte (the Dominican George Washington of sorts).  The view was amazing from the top.  Again, we spent the night a La Comparticion.  We had pork and rice for dinner, and I slept much better (amazing how quickly you learn tricks to sleep in the cold when needed).

Day 3-We were up and out hiking in the dark in order to see the sunrise over the mountains as we walked.  The majority of day 3 was downhill on small rocks…suddenly I wasn’t sure if mud was so bad after all. J  We were walking to a valley called Valle Tetero so it was nice to see glimpses of the lush, green valley as we walked.  The valley had a river for swimming and bathing (of which I did neither…too cold!).  I did enjoy just lying on the ground reading a book…something I should take more time to do.  There was also more free time this evening to spend with fellow hikers and eat a delicious dinner of sancocho. 

Day 4-We hiked from the valley to where we began the journey in La Cienaga.

 It was a wonderful trip and one of my favorite experiences in the DR!

looking back down the path

los mulos

There were pine trees!

increible!

view from the top of Pico Duarte

otra vez del pico (again from the peak)

I was trying to pretend to be a professional photographer :)

Juan Pablo Duarte 

dinner cooking

Unfortunately, this was almost as common as the mud due to the number of mules.

The next six pictures are a progression of the amazing sunrise.

Valle Tetero from above

slippery path

arriving to the valley

cold but pretty water

a rainbow definitely makes it worth hiking in the rain

a shower was becoming more and more necessary

LODO (MUD)

heading back down