Saturday morning dawned bright and beautiful, so we picked up David and Trudie on SV Persephone and headed out for the 27 Charcos or puddles, also known as las cascadas. We walked downtown and hired a taxi for 300 pesos to drive us to Imbert. We got off and just as we paid the driver a bus was heading our way along the route we needed. I flagged the pusher who was hanging out of the open bus door and he yelled at the driver to stop, which he did rather rapidly to the surprise of those already on the bus. The pusher waved to us to hurry and so we ran to the bus and climbed aboard asking in our broken Spanish if the bus went by the Cascadas. The bus driver and the pusher did not seem to understand but another gentleman who was riding the bus said that it did in fact go by the Waterfalls and that the driver would stop and let us off there. We expressed our gratitude and paid the pusher 60 pesos each for the ride. The gentleman who had assisted us in explaining our destination gave us the heads up and let us know when our stop was coming up. We were let off at the side of the road next to a sign in espanol with an arrow that directed us to take a dirt road to the waterfalls. We had no idea how far it was but that was part of the adventure. The road led into a hilly area where we assumed that the waterfalls would be. We walked about a 1/4 mile and found the well marked entrance to the park. There are 3 prices for up to 7 waterfalls, 8-12, and 13-27. We purchased our tour tickets for 12 of the 27 waterfalls (310 pesos each) also plan on a customary tip of 100 pesos per person for your hardworking guides. There are changing rooms for men and women where we put on our shortie wetsuits we had brought. We were able to leave our backpacks with our extra clothes with the ranger at the ticket counter. We were then outfitted with helmets and lifejackets and met our guides Kelvin and Franklin who would assist us in our journey up the waterfalls…..yes up! We hiked about a ½ mile to falls and then proceeded with the assistance of Kelvin and Franklin to climb using ladders, ropes, and the brute strength of these young men to haul ourselves up twelve of these beautiful cascades. The water was pretty clear even after the rains over the last few days and waterfalls were running strong. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face during the entire experience. I kept turning around to Mike and saying, how the boys would love this. The trip down was the easy part so long as heights do not bother you. We were given the option of jumping into the pools or sliding down the falls and did both. Mike even did a front flip into the final pool. We made our way back to the park entrance and tipped Kelvin and Franklin for their hard work dragging our butts up those falls. We changed into our clothes and toasted our adventure over a couple of beers at the Bar there at the Park entrance. We walked back out to the main road and waited for about 20 minutes before a bus came along and took us back into Imbert. We were planning of having Pizza but the Pizza place in Imbert was closed. Just as well, as we found a local restaurant and had some great Dominican food, Roast Chicken, Braised Pork, Rice, Beans, Salad and of course, a couple more beers. We stuffed ourselves for less than 500 pesos for all of us. It was a great ending to a wonderful day. We caught a taxi back to Imbert and dropped David and Trudie back at their boat. They were real troopers, albeit, a bit sore, the next day after following Mike and Crystal on yet another crazy adventure.
Tag: Dominican Republic
A Day in Puerto Plata
April 13th, 2010
David, Trudy, Michael & I took a day and traveled by gua gua (public taxi) to Puerto Plata about an hours drive away. Costs for transportation for the 4 of us came to about $24.00 round trip. The countryside outside of the towns is just beautiful. At one point during our drive we passed a large group of people walking along both sides of the road, all wearing black pants or skirts and white shirts. I was able to ask and understand from the driver that there was a funeral and the immediate family, were the ones in black and white. We also got to listen to some great Dominican Music along the way, so we were introduced to the music of Rubby Perez. We were dropped off at the city center and were immediately met by a tourist host. These kind gentlemen are provided by the office of tourism and are available to assist tourists in seeing the sights in and around Puerto Plata. Rafael was our guide for the 1st hour or so of our visit. He took us into the beautiful San Felipe Cathedral and then walked with us out to the San Felipe Fort that overlooks the Town and Harbor. We walked around the fort and took some pictures, we then stopped for a cold drink. We tipped Rafael and thanked him for his assistance but told him we wanted to explore on our own. He looked very disappointed but left us in peace.
We wandered around a bit more and found the post office where David was able to get his taxes postmarked and mailed(we of course had to take a photo of that monumental occasion as well). Since we paid Uncle Sam we figured we would continue with giving money to another Sam here in Puerto Plata. We walked over to Sam’s Bar & Grill in the Hotel Castilla, just off of the main square where we enjoyed an early dinner.
We wandered back to the main square and took a taxi out to the Teleferco, a cable car that takes visitors up to the top of the mountain at 7500ft. We purchased our tickets and boarded the Cable car that carried us up into the clouds at the top of the mountain. During our ascent we enjoyed the spectacular views over the town and port. At the very top we were delighted to discover a scaled down statue of Jesus, similar to the one that stands above Rio de Jainero that we could not see previously because of the clouds covering the mountain top. It was surrounded by a beautiful botanical garden. We walked around for a bit enjoying the gardens and the cool air at that altitude along with the clouds that drifted atop the mountain. We took numerous photos and I, being the graceful person that I am, went to pose for a picture atop a wall and promptly lost my balance and fell off the opposite side. The steep slope on that side was fortunately covered in dense foliage that I grabbed onto and so I only fell about 4 feet down the 75 ft slope. I was able to climb back over the wall with only my ego bruised. Michael had rushed to my rescue but seeing that I was uninjured could only repeat over and over how he wished he had taken a photo of me on my back with my eyes wide and a death grip on the shrubbery. We rode the cable car through the clouds back down the mountain and headed back to Luperon after a terrific and almost exciting day exploring Puerto Plata!
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Living the Dream 