Friday afternoon we arrived at the Mercure Comercial hotel of Santo Domingo in the Zona Colonial. The Zona Colonial is centered around a pedestrian street with lots of shops, hotels and places to eat and drink. It is called the Zona Colonial because the buildings and statues date back to the colonial times with the Columbus brothers, Christopher and Bartholomew founded the first streets and churches of the “New World.” The hotel was an indescribably amazing change from the rural accommodations of Rancho Campeche. We basked gleefully in the air conditioning, wi-fi, hot showers, access to civilization and the overall glory of being in the capital of the DR.
We toured the area with a guide who showed us ruins, churches and statues. It was a really great experience. We saw a fort that has an underground dungeon (We did not get to go in) that Trujillo used to hold and torture political prisoners.
That night we searched all over for a pharmacy to buy contact solution for Alyssa. It ended up costing equal to $20 USD for a large bottle of Renu. After that we pigged out American-Style at pizza hut.
Saturday we went on our first official Adventure Tour outing. We drove about two hours to a Rancho Capote which is in Hayto Mayor. There we were warmly greeted and sat down for fresh squeezed orange juice and a breakfast of small sandwiches. We were then suited up in stylish rappelling suits and harnesses. We mounted our horses, hard-hats in tow and trotted off. Eventually we reached a place where we could no longer ride our horses, and we set off on foot. We were promised a forty five minute hike that was “mostly flat” well… I’ve since learned what “Dominican Flat” is like: uphill, down hill, rocks and more rocks. We came to a place where there was a hole in the ground. Rappelling ropes were bolted into the rocks above. Third in line after our brief lesson on how to rappel, I did all I could to contain my anxiety and waited my turn. Sidney went down, followed by Kori, and next was me. The guide fastened my “figure 8” with the belt and I was reminded once again the three rules: hold the rope in your right hand low and behind you, use your left hand to push on the rock wall and look up. Into the darkness I went. It took everything to concentrate on slowly lowering myself using my right hand; which was good because it left nothing in my mind left to think about the situation I was in. Needless to say, I did it and, it was awesome. We all descended into the “devil’s mouth” and then followed our guides through a series of caverns and passage ways. One point was so low we had to crawl and others were so cavernous I can only compare it to standing in a majestic cathedral . In fact, many majestic cathedrals all lined up in a row, one after another.
We saw stalactites and stalagmites… with huge circumference. They had been “growing” there for thousands of years. We saw rock formations that resembled Bob Marley, The Predator, a mother and her child, Aladdin’s Lamp and more. Eventually we began reaching pools of water, and the pools of water became deeper so we swam. Nothing was terribly deep, but there was no way to see the bottom. I was leading the line, following the guides as we reached a point where, in order to continue, we had to go underwater—under a rock. The guide went first and held out his hand for me to hold on to. Uno, dos, tres and I dove under for a only a second and emerged on the other side. He guided my hand to a rope where I was able to swim and pull myself along until the water was shallow again. At this point in the cave there were many ropes that zigzagged across the cavern at about shoulder height. We were told that if the water had been higher due to rain we would have been harnessed to the ropes in order to safely swim through the next section of the cave. As we reached the end light began to filter through and in the distance we could see the green foliage from the outside world and the silhouettes of bats flying near the entrance of the cave. It was and amazing feeling. Where we exited the mouth of the cave was a large cavern. Overall, I know my descriptions fall short of the awe I felt throughout this experience. At the mouth of the cave we were met with our horses (brought by other employees of Rancho Capote) and buckets of ice cold beverages. We relaxed with our drinks then mounted our horses for the ride back to the camp. Downey, my horse, and I cantered up a hill to see a beautiful Dominican countryside and I knew this had been one of the greatest days of my life.
That evening we returned to Santo Domingo. We went to dinner at a far-from-typical Italian restaurant. The food was Italian; I had prosciutto and mozzarella balls, but the atmosphere was far from Italy. The back “room” which was under a canopy was filled with “beds.” King size leather(ish) mattresses, each with its own sheer red canopy lined one wall. We should have known by the neon sign “BED” … but nothing could have prepared us for this club’s level of suave.
After dinner we walked to Casa de Theatro. We stopped shortly at our hotel – which had no power—and then went along on our way. Xiomara Fortuna was playing and we were determined to be her American cheering and dancing crowd. The concert was awesome, the music was all in Spanish but beats and notes are universal. It was an amazing way to end a day of a lifetime.
We toured the area with a guide who showed us ruins, churches and statues. It was a really great experience. We saw a fort that has an underground dungeon (We did not get to go in) that Trujillo used to hold and torture political prisoners.
That night we searched all over for a pharmacy to buy contact solution for Alyssa. It ended up costing equal to $20 USD for a large bottle of Renu. After that we pigged out American-Style at pizza hut.
Saturday we went on our first official Adventure Tour outing. We drove about two hours to a Rancho Capote which is in Hayto Mayor. There we were warmly greeted and sat down for fresh squeezed orange juice and a breakfast of small sandwiches. We were then suited up in stylish rappelling suits and harnesses. We mounted our horses, hard-hats in tow and trotted off. Eventually we reached a place where we could no longer ride our horses, and we set off on foot. We were promised a forty five minute hike that was “mostly flat” well… I’ve since learned what “Dominican Flat” is like: uphill, down hill, rocks and more rocks. We came to a place where there was a hole in the ground. Rappelling ropes were bolted into the rocks above. Third in line after our brief lesson on how to rappel, I did all I could to contain my anxiety and waited my turn. Sidney went down, followed by Kori, and next was me. The guide fastened my “figure 8” with the belt and I was reminded once again the three rules: hold the rope in your right hand low and behind you, use your left hand to push on the rock wall and look up. Into the darkness I went. It took everything to concentrate on slowly lowering myself using my right hand; which was good because it left nothing in my mind left to think about the situation I was in. Needless to say, I did it and, it was awesome. We all descended into the “devil’s mouth” and then followed our guides through a series of caverns and passage ways. One point was so low we had to crawl and others were so cavernous I can only compare it to standing in a majestic cathedral . In fact, many majestic cathedrals all lined up in a row, one after another.
We saw stalactites and stalagmites… with huge circumference. They had been “growing” there for thousands of years. We saw rock formations that resembled Bob Marley, The Predator, a mother and her child, Aladdin’s Lamp and more. Eventually we began reaching pools of water, and the pools of water became deeper so we swam. Nothing was terribly deep, but there was no way to see the bottom. I was leading the line, following the guides as we reached a point where, in order to continue, we had to go underwater—under a rock. The guide went first and held out his hand for me to hold on to. Uno, dos, tres and I dove under for a only a second and emerged on the other side. He guided my hand to a rope where I was able to swim and pull myself along until the water was shallow again. At this point in the cave there were many ropes that zigzagged across the cavern at about shoulder height. We were told that if the water had been higher due to rain we would have been harnessed to the ropes in order to safely swim through the next section of the cave. As we reached the end light began to filter through and in the distance we could see the green foliage from the outside world and the silhouettes of bats flying near the entrance of the cave. It was and amazing feeling. Where we exited the mouth of the cave was a large cavern. Overall, I know my descriptions fall short of the awe I felt throughout this experience. At the mouth of the cave we were met with our horses (brought by other employees of Rancho Capote) and buckets of ice cold beverages. We relaxed with our drinks then mounted our horses for the ride back to the camp. Downey, my horse, and I cantered up a hill to see a beautiful Dominican countryside and I knew this had been one of the greatest days of my life.
That evening we returned to Santo Domingo. We went to dinner at a far-from-typical Italian restaurant. The food was Italian; I had prosciutto and mozzarella balls, but the atmosphere was far from Italy. The back “room” which was under a canopy was filled with “beds.” King size leather(ish) mattresses, each with its own sheer red canopy lined one wall. We should have known by the neon sign “BED” … but nothing could have prepared us for this club’s level of suave.
After dinner we walked to Casa de Theatro. We stopped shortly at our hotel – which had no power—and then went along on our way. Xiomara Fortuna was playing and we were determined to be her American cheering and dancing crowd. The concert was awesome, the music was all in Spanish but beats and notes are universal. It was an amazing way to end a day of a lifetime.
July 13, 2010 at 8:42 PM
Wow. Ur my hero! It sounds like you had a 30 hr day; with a week of experiences! Can't wait to see more pics and to see U! love, dad PS: Your writing must be good; it gave me a couple of chills!
July 27, 2010 at 1:18 PM
AHHH! The diving in the dark until a rock sounds terrifying! Wow, what an amazing experience!