Dominican Republic - Soaring in the Dominican Alps

January 2-4

Hello everyone!

Though the DR is renowned for its beautiful beaches, there is only so much time I can spend by the sea before getting a bit restless. Luckily this country has plenty of surprises inland…

Flying high in Jarabacoa...

...after getting low in the white
water rapids of the Jimenoa river

One surprise was how mountainous the country is. A Caribbean island with a mountain which is over 3000 metres high? An area known as the Dominican Alps with panoramas I’d associate more with El Salvador than places such as Cuba or the Bahamas.

It's not this peak, but the high point
of Pico Duarte is 3,087 metres tall

River flow from Salto de Jimenoa Uno waterfall

This area is known as the Cordillera Central, which is found by two national parks. To the east of these, and a little bit lower in altitude, is the peculiarly busy town of Jarabacoa.

A nice climate for bananas to grow

One of the main streets in Jarabacoa

Tough to pronounce (ha-ra-ba-co-ah), tough to get to from Cabarete (involving a minibus locally called a guagua, then two big yellow buses)...totally worth it. 

Total travel time from Cabarete was about 5 hours

A stock photo of a guagua

Jarabacoa sits on the Jimenoa river. This river flows northwest from the Cordillera Central and joins the larger Yaque del Norte soon after flowing through the town. It passed by my hotel, providing a relentlessly tranquil background noise.

The water is cold!

View from a walkway at the Gran Jimenoa Hotel

The river is the basis of two of Jarabacoa’s main draws. One of these is a series of waterfalls set below the town. I visited one of these, called Salto de Jimenoa Uno. I’m sure it is Uno, even though Google Maps suggested that I was at Dos.

Can you see it in the distance?

The hike down to the waterfall is quite steep in places

One of the opening scenes of Jurassic Park was filmed here. Based on the fact that filming also occurred in Santo Domingo at Los Tres Ojos, I feel that the DR was a popular spot for the franchise. I can see why.

Apparently it's 75 metres high. It didn't seem that tall...

Salto de Jimenoa Uno

As well as waterfalls, this river is the only place in the Caribbean where you can go white-water rafting.

The river is almost 300 km long

Rapids are graded one to five, with five being the highest and most extreme rapids you can encounter. Though the names such as ‘Mike Tyson Senior’ and ‘The Cemetery’ suggest something terrifying, these rapids are classed as two and three.

We had three boats on the water

Even though there were 12 people signed up, I was put in my own boat along with a guide and a photographer who would jump out at random times and scale rocks to take photos.

My guide, who was...enthusiastic...

One particular highlight was an area my raft guide described as ‘the Dominican dishwasher’. It was funny seeing other boats be thrust into the plunge pool. I didn’t realise that my turn was coming…

Shoving me and the raft into the 'dishwasher'

Getting a view from the river is lovely but I was keen to get another perspective. An aerial one…

Looking west towards the Dominican Alps

About 11 minutes of wonder with this

I’ve done parasailing before but never flown this way over land. We started mid-morning due to the dew on the grass - remember, we are in ‘the Alps’. I was collected from ‘base’ and driven up a muddy, bumpy road for quite a long time before arriving at…well, nothing much…

Base camp

Setup on the hill before take-off

The instruction was simple: walk quickly, then sprint when I heard the word ‘run’. It all happened fairly quickly so I didn’t really have time to think about the fact that I was trying to run off a hill…

The town of Jarabacoa

The thrill of leaving the floor took my breath away. Such an exhilarating feeling. Such a ridiculous view.

The selfie stick was attached to the
harness so no risk of it falling!

Stunning views all round

This was a brilliant experience. Even though I seem to make some strange noises in the video below, the landing was enjoyable and smoother than I thought it would be. I’d equate the drops to being on a rollercoaster when your stomach seems to stay in position whilst the rest of your body moves along. Paragliding was amazing.

Pack-up at the end was surprisingly quick and easy

I had never heard of Jarabacoa before planning my route around the Dominican Republic. It has been the most pleasant surprise and offers something unique in the Caribbean. Definitely worth a visit if you have the chance.

My time in Jarabacoa: as sweet as a
churro filled with dulce de leche

Love you all,

Matt

Dominican Republic - Awash with Water Sports

December 30-January 1

Hello everyone!

If you think of the Caribbean, you probably think of this…

Kite Beach, Cabarete

Walking between Playa Encuentro and Playa Cabarete  

The Dominican Republic, or DR, is famed for its stunning beaches. Many people visit these, stay in an all-inclusive hotel and drink away their days without venturing outside the walls of their compound. Punta Cana, on the east coast, is the most renowned place for this, and prohibitively expensive at this time of year.

This is an example of a place in Punta Cana... 

...and this is the cost. In January. For one night.

Luckily, there are plenty of other beaches, with it being an island. Different places offer different elements: Las Terrenas, for example, is known for its cafe culture and significant number of French expats. I almost went there but instead plumped for the northern town of Cabarete.

A picture from my book of Playa Rincon

An internet picture of Las Terrenas, which is 150 km east of Cabarete

Considering it’s quite a popular place, it is a bit of a mission to get there from Santo Domingo. You take a bus through beautiful countryside and settlements such as Santiago and Puerto Plata to get to Sosua. From there, I then took a mildly terrifying 15 minute motoconcho ride to Cabarete. My bike driver pulled into a petrol station at one point, saying ‘gasolina’. He then slowly drove around the lot, leering the whole time at a blonde Westerner, before driving off. Without ‘gasolina’. I was glad when the ride ended, and took a minibus (called a guagua) on the return trip three days later.

Bright yellow buses which are incredible value

Until recently, Cabarete has been overshadowed by places such as Puerto Plata

A fruit market on the main street - check out those watermelons!

Cabarete is known as a watersports town. A common sight from the main beach is to look west and see a rainbow of kites fluttering above the water. It is apparently one of the best places in the world for kitesurfing. 

There are a lot out there but the distance makes them hard to photograph

That far area is known as Bozo beach, quite possibly
for the bozos who try to learn to kitesurf there and make a few mistakes!

This happens on the western side of the main beach. At Playa Encuentro, about four kilometres further west, another sport is more popular…

Much more swell here makes this Surf City

People of all ages were giving this a go

Whilst spending my first day of 2023 walking between the two, I also came across boogie boarders and the pretty impressive kitesurfer below.

What he balances on looks strange, as it looks
like a long tube comes out of the board 

I wasn’t overly bothered about trying any of these, content instead to watch better people do their thing whilst sipping a coffee and reading. Besides, I’d had my adrenaline jolt the day before…

Saltos de la Damajagua

A popular day trip from the north is to go inland to Damajagua, a forest reserve which contains 27 waterfalls. The idea is that you look at some, slide down others…and then occasionally follow the water by jumping into the natural pool below.

This first became a tourist attraction in the mid-1990s

This was the only thing I had booked before arriving in the DR. It was thus a bit disappointing to find that my adventure had been cancelled a week before. When I asked about this in Cabarete, from where some of the trips depart, they said it was due to a lack of rainfall. Fair enough - can’t be jumping 8 metres into a non-existent pool. Instead, I hopped on the regular trip which takes in seven waterfalls.

You hike for about 30 minutes to get high enough to start

Calling them waterfalls is technically accurate - water falls down from the rock in the same spot - but it wasn’t quite what I imagined. Nevertheless, it was cracking fun jumping…

…sliding…

…and getting splashed by other people’s fearless feats. 

We did two jumps - a four metre and six metre launch into oblivion. On the latter, I forgot to heed the advice of the guide who said to jump ‘like a pencil’. Instead, I had my arms out like wings. A little bit sore as a result. Always listen to your teachers, kids.

The waterfall behind is the final one, which you slide down 

Rock jumping was the undoubted highlight of my time in Cabarete, as well as people watching whilst sipping happy hour mojitos on the main beach.

Beach walking in glorious sunshine

My happy hour spot: 2 mojitos for less than $5 is quite cheap here

My strange hostel. On the first night I was the only
one. The following nights it was completely full.

It was an interesting place in which to spend the last days of 2022 (rain and not really caring about New Year’s Eve meant I didn’t blow all my pesos on staying out too late on the 31st) and testament to the beautiful beaches one dreams about when thinking of the Caribbean.

Feliz año nuevo!

Baseball on an eastern beach at dusk  

Cannonball!

Love you all,

Matt