A Hike in the Woods

On another adventure during Rebecca’s trip in the DR we embarked on a very remarkable mission. She and I with a pretty large group from my youth group went for a hike into the hills/mountains near my town. The hike up was INTENSE to say the least. We hiked up a very steep hill (in the sun) and then up and down the hills behind that one until we reached a thick forest with very steep parts along a path up to our water source. The source, I found out upon getting there, is a beautiful set of pools under a few trickling waterfalls. (The idea that I am 30 minutes from the most beautiful beach in the world and 2.5 hours from those fantastic waterfalls was almost overwhelming, and seemed to be a great piece of info to mention in a blog so potential visitors would see one more reason to come visit.)

The other fantastic part of the trip was the fact that a young boy in my youth group cooked a fabulous Dominican meal for all us hikers when we were up in the mountains. You see, we were all responsible for bringing a few pounds of rice or spices or something to cook for the meal and he put it all together. The food was incredible, and the “con-con” (the burnt rice on the side of the pot, a Dominican delicacy, usually given to the pig, dog or other animal in the house, or the local PCV) was to die for!

The hike down the hill was much easier than up (obviously) and along the way we tried coconut water (and had limoncillo and passion fruit on the way up.) We made it home in much less time and I was delighted to see all of the little old ladies in my town waiting alongside the road to catch a glimpse of the crazy Americanas who went up the hill. They all seemed very validated when I told them that I was indeed quite tired after the hike as they knew I would be.