Outback Safari

Our last (professionally)guided tour was a day-long excursion into the "outback" of the D.R. We traveled in a big old open truck into the forest to see some of the local life--how coffee and cocoa are made, some local artists crafting sculptures from stone, a cockfight, a school, a real Dominican lunch, and finally, a river and waterfall adventure.

 

Bob recommended this tour for its variety and because I had put the 27 waterfalls on my list, but the waterfalls are dangerous, especially the higher you climb. This tour only takes you on the first seven so it is considerably more safe.

 

We had to make a few stops in the morning. First to pick up some more passengers, then to buy drinks, then to get gas, then to pick up the photographer. Clearly, this could not have all been organized and arranged prior to our 8:15 departure.

 

Once we hit the road, Nicco was like a puppy with the windows down. While he was awake he really liked the ride. I was actually glad it was a long ride...it was scenic and interesting and my boy woke up early. He fell asleep and got a nice charge in his battery for the rest of the day.

 Some street scenes...

Many buildings have at least the doors and windows barred. In the back country, we saw a pretty nice house completely fenced in by iron bars. What a life! I guess you do what you have to do if you can't live in a gated and guarded community like Bob and Pat's.

There is a woman in this picture carrying a bundle on her head. Lots of women carry their loads like that, and many of them sell fruits and vegetables from baskets on their heads.

 Some homes and more Dominican wiring.

 More homes.

We took a little rest stop at the top of a hill after many minutes of driving. The guides offered us some local rum and soda. Considering how dangerous the waterfalls are understood to be, I questioned the wisdom of a rummy excursion.

 Nicco had sprite.

 The misty mountain.

The fence poles around here will eventually grow into trees. They just stick a pole in the ground and in a matter of weeks, leaves and branches will have sprouted. The fences remain until they are too overgrown and need to be chopped down and started again. You see guys walking around with machetes. At first in my ignorant mind it seemed kind of barbaric, but when I learned that they do EVERYTHING with machetes, it's just like seeing a guy walk around with a tool belt. They don't actually go about lopping off limbs and heads.

Ocean view.

Our first real stop was in a small village to see how coffee and cocoa are processed. Our guide pointed out some of the native plants. This pokey fruit is called bread fruit, I think, and it tastes similar to a potato.

 The roof in the coffee hut.

 A cocoa pod, split open. Yum...

After we saw the dried beans, they passed around chocolate powder. Nicco liked it, even better than Nesquick!

Next they made us put on hats and dance around and grind the beans. Nicco was not happy about that.

 This is Mama Dora, filtering the grounds to make the freshy-fresh coffee and chocolate.

 It was so delicious...the best we've ever had!

After the obligatory walk through the gift shop, we went back to our truck. This basketball hoop was set up in the courtyard of the village.

The next stop was a school. We were greeted by a dozen little kids begging for candy. Our guide shooed them away and took us into the schoolyard.

 He said that particular group of kids would be in class later. At the moment, an older group was in class. There are three sessions each day. One goes from 8-12, the second is from 2-6, and there is an evening session from 7-10. In the three or four hours of class time, there is roughly an hour and twenty minutes of actual instruction. The guide said they have too many kids and not enough schools. Patrice said it would be less of a problem if everyone didn't have 13 kids. True enough, but that is not the only problem. One thing you learn in a third world country is that there is no poverty in the U.S. The poorest people in our country live in relative luxury. We are blessed and fortunate, without a doubt. I hope that my boy is absorbing some of the more subtle lessons and experiences from this trip.

 The kids in class.

All students are required to wear uniforms. They are "free," but the government knows it can depend on donations from different groups to provide the uniforms for the kids.

Nicco peeking in the window. I think (hope) he will appreciate his school more after having visited this school.

At the end of our visit, our guide handed out some treats to the little kids who greeted us at our arrival. He made one little boy dance and sing. It was cute, yet tragic. I haven't taken many pictures of people because I don't like making them into an object of curiosity for tourists.

Our last stop before lunch was a quick little walk near the river to see a demonstration of the third largest sport in the Dominican Republic, behind baseball and basketball. Cockfighting. It is legal here, and the roosters cost between $50,000 and $150,000.

 We saw the talons and the "boxing gloves" of two fighting cocks.

They did a brief demo and someone asked who was winning. Our guide said, "How do you know who is winning? They are killing each other. If you go to an arena, you can see the blood and death."

Once again, we wandered through a gift shop where we saw some local artists carving petrified wood, soapstone, limestone, and lava.

We ate our lunch and headed to the waterfalls. When we arrived, the guide said that one or the other of me and Patrice would have to stay behind with Nicco. He was too young and too little to go up, even on the lower levels. The age limit is 8. I let Patrice have the adventure and I remained behind with the boy. But first, we walked through the forest, over bridges, and through the river to the pool at the bottom of the first waterfall. It was a good hike, about twenty minutes, and Nicco had to keep up. He did a good job.

 The hikers had to swim over to the rocks,

 then climb up a ladder,

Between the ziplining and waterfall hike, Patrice is getting some good practice for when we go on the Amazing Race!

 up, up, up!

Nicco and I swam in the chilly pool. He was disappointed that he couldn't see the waterfalls.

He was mad because the water was cold, he was mad because I didn't bring his goggles, he was mad because we made him walk all that way for nothing. It was the worst day of his life, he told me. I told him there is a solution to prevent future "worst days ever," and that solution is to send him to his grandparents' house while the daddy and I take adventures. So there. He was mad at me for the suggestion. Poor Nicco. Maybe Mister Spoily-pants isn't learning how fortunate he is after all.

On the walk back, we ran into a Dominican road block, a herd of cattle.

After another long drive, we returned home where our kind and gracious hosts fed us out on the patio. We were talking about our vacation and I said something about how it has been especially good for Patrice to really relax and enjoy his reward for working so hard. Bob said something about how it's nice, but it's not like a real vacation at a hotel where you get pampered. I looked at him quizzically and wondered exactly how were are not pampered...we have a chauffeur service, their maid makes up our beds and does our dishes and laundry, and we either go out for dinner our they feed us. Patrice did help Pat with dinner once, but besides that, we are completely pampered. Bob retracted his statement.

After a delicious dinner we watched the sun set on another beautiful day.