Adventuring!

This past weekend, 5 girls and I went on an adventure to the northeast corner of the Dominican Republic to the Samaná Peninsula.  We had an idea of what an adventure we wanted to have, but we had no idea what adventure we really would have!  Armed with a 3-day weekend, a rented Honda CRV, and 6 girls waiting to have a great adventure, we were bound to have one. :)

Day 1:  Saturday - Driving to Samaná, Playa Las Galeras.

Saturday was an adventure in itself.  with Christy at the wheel, we rolled out of Jarabacoa at around 7:30 am.  of course, being girls, we had to run back into the houses a few more times to collect things that were forgotten, but we were still outta here by that early!  Aren't you proud?  With Christy and Karyn in the front; Brooke, Anna, and I in the backseat; and Christie Collver snuggly fit in the trunk area, we were finally off.  We were all a little groggy, but the drive was fun.  It was good to get out of Jarabacoa, seeing the sights, wow.  Happy day it was.  Our first stop was in San Francisco de Macoris  (no golden gate bridge here...) at La Serena to grab groceries, a rest stop, and potty break.  After that, we were back in the car for another leg of our trip.  While driving through San Fancisco de Macoris and its surrounding areas, we saw many rice paddies (Christy wanted to stop and harvest some rice...okay.)  and then we saw combines and I saw 2 crop dusters!  My first glimpse of small airplanes since I've been here, and let me tell you what, it was a welcome sight. :)  After San Francisco, we lost the comfort (literally.) of kind, paved roads.  Unfortunately we hit something and a piece of plastic underneath our car started dragging, so we had to stop and immediately had 6 Dominican men there willing to help us fix it.  What can we say?  They can't resist our white skin and blond hair!  

After that, I had the chance to drive!   Wow!  What an experience driving in the Dominican.  It's a constant fear of hitting potholes (which I rocked the car on a few...) swerving to miss people on motorcycles, and trying to glimpse the amazing vistas that you are constantly driving by. 

 

It was so fun to have the experience driving, and although I wasn't too scared of it, I think my passengers had a small amount of fear.  :)  After a while, we finally arrived in Las Galeras, our stopping point.  After 6 hours, I was exhausted and ready to take a nap.  Others were off to the beach.  After a short nap, I was ready to hit the beach.  It was so nice to relax, to sit, and to feel the water (albeit, it was a bit chilly.)  Christy and Christie decided to swim to this island that was semi-far out in the ocean.  Afterwards, we ate dinner (pizza!), did backrubs, then went to bed.  Our hotel room was 3 full size beds, 1 bathroom, and a small kitchen area.  Perfect for us.  :)

Day 2:  Sunday-  Frontón.  oh wait.  nope!  Playa Rincón.

What a crazy day this turned out to be!  We woke up super early to be on the road to Frontón.  We ate breakfast, and went out to the car...to find that the car wasn't working.  It wouldn't start.  AWESOME.  So we went and asked the lady at the hotel to help us.  She found a guy named "Loco" and asked him to find someone to help us jump our car.  After that unsuccessful attempt, Christy and I went walking to see if we could find someone to help us.  She finally found someone who was willing to look at the car.  

Needless to say, after about 4 hours, the car was fixed, but our trip to Frontón was not going to happen.  ENTONCES We decided to venture off to Playa Rincón.  None of us had any idea what

 we were getting into, but we knew the road was crazy bumpy and it  came highly recommended by one of the other teachers from the school.

Christy braved the treacherous roads and we finally arrived.

What awaited us there, was almost enough to make us throw in the towel.  There was a large stretch of land that was knee-deep (we saw people walking through it...) in that was between us and the beach.  At this point, we were all exhausted, frustrated, and just wanted things to be easy!  Well, praise the Lord, look what rolled  up, an Estilo Tours bus.  Hallelujah.  After Christy flagged them down and asked them if we could pay them to ride across, we were on our way!  We drove through the crazy high water (see picture below) and were so thankful that we didn't have to walk through that.  

The beach was BEAUTIFUL.  I love living on a tropical island.  Have I mentioned that before?  It was great to sit on the beach, relax in the sand, frolic in the waves, and enjoy friends.  

Then it was back to the hotel, another nap, dinner, and sleep. 

Day 3:  Monday - FINALLY Frontón.

Our day began like the one before, although praise the Lord our car started!  We were off. 

 Christy and Christie dropped us off at the beginning of the trail, went back, and dropped the car off at Negrito's house then we were finally on our way.  Frontón is a secluded beach that you can

only get to by hiking for an hour and a half or by boat.  We chose to hike.  After a beautiful hike, many glimpses of the beautiful ocean, and beautiful music.  :)  I took my speakers that I had gotten from my aunt for Christmas, so we were entertained with some Spanish music and Enrique Iglesias.  

When we finally got to Frontón, we were marveled by the beauty.  On one side was the beautiful ocean and reef and on the other side was a high cliff.  BEAUTIFUL.  I loved relaxing on the beach and frolicking in the ocean, and walking on the beach.  Some of the girls enjoyed snorkeling!  It was so great.  

Happy day.

The scariest part of the trip:  Boca del Diablo.  HOLY COW.  This was the scariest thing I've ever seen.  "The aptly named Devil's Mouth is a blow hole gouged out of the rocks that roars when it spouts water, sometimes up to 150 feet."  SCARY is what I call it.  Basically it sounds like Satan roaring and then it blows stuff out of it.  like water.  or if you correctly time it, a huge palm branch.  I made Karyn hold my hand the whole time we were near it because it was so scary.  I tried to find a video on YouTube or something, but seriously nothing does the noise or the scariness justice! :)  (here is one link though...boca del diablo)

All in all, que buen adventure! :)

...more soon...