So this adventure started just like any other. I knew we were going to be needing our 4 wheel drive, and that a friend of Seth's had done it before and blew a tire...I was up for it.
We started in the South, near Ocoa. The scenery was beautiful and full of Dominican charm.
We winded our way up mountain passes and were in awe at the scenery.
I love agriculture in foreign countries. We passed through field after field of tomatoes, bananas, passion fruit, eggplant, onion, and dozens of others. Did you know that the banana had such an amazing purple flower at the bottom? And that we really don't need those fancy cages for our tomatoes?
The flowers here are amazing, and this one is shown off perfectly in front of the bright blue house.
The farmers here have nothing and yet they plant flowers and paint their homes in bright colors. Everyone is entitled to a little happiness. We should have taken more packages of cookies on this trip, we passed a LOT of kids.
We passed through a national park, Valle Nuevo.
No matter the species, mama's can't resist kissing that little nose.
So, all along the way it was misting. The road was getting wetter and the cliffs on each side bigger and steeper. And, it seemed, narrower. I was getting nervous.
And yet the beauty seemed to lure us onward.
Enjoying the tropical forest.
We took this picture a few minutes after someone told us that we shouldn't go "that way", the road was too bad. And this was right
before I totally freaked out and started crying because I was terrified that all 7 of us were going to roll to our death right here in the beautiful mountains of the DR.
We took this picture right
after I freaked out and hit Seth because I thought he was going to let all of us die together. He told me to get out and walk if I was scared, I told him I was too scared to look. I considered taking all the kids out and walking down the hill, but then realized that if anything happened the 6 of us would be watching him roll down the hill...didn't seem a whole lot better, I was stumped. Finally I convinced him to get out and survey the road. Then we prayed and I closed my eyes while he passed. I'm not sure what I freaked out about, because I couldn't look. But we're here, alive, all of us. On the following part of the trail the farmhand stood and watched. We wondered if we were going to slide right into his onion field, but we didn't. I still kind of wonder what would have happened if we had. He probably would have helped us out and said "esta bien" as we drove away.
See all that mud caked on our wheels?
We came across this waterfall that I'm sure not many tourists have seen.
But this waterfall was our final destination. It's called Aguas Blancas. We'd been there before from another road through Constanza. Beautiful and cold.
Seth is the only one
crazy brave enough to swim there. Aren't the kids darling...
Another shot of the fabulous banana flower. Who knew?
So this is a very typical mode of transportation here. They're either piled onto the back of an open truck, like this. Or just as many of them are on a motorcycle (okay, not quite this many, only 4-6 people can reasonably fit on a motorcycle). Pictures of that will be coming soon!