Dominican Traveling

I had a uniquely Dominican experience today:

I spent the last 2 days in Monte Plata (about 4 hours from Jarabacoa) because I took boys from El Callejon to Summer's Best Two Weeks DR. SB2W has a special place in my heart. My first time in the DR was in 2005 when I came with my small group to help build this camp. Now 6 years later I'm sending 15 campers. More on this in another post.

I awoke this morning to the sound of rain pounding down on the tin roof over my head. It was a pleasant for sleeping but a problem for my morning departure back to Jarabacoa. The heavy rains raised the river about 4 ft and made the gravel road to the camp unpassable...for a car.

So, my journey back to Jarabacoa began with me crossing a fast moving 4 ft deep river on a horse. I rode the horse about 20 minutes out to the highway that happened to pass right by the camp. I dismounted and began walking down the highway waiting for someone to respond to my thumb, which only took about 30 minutes. (check hitch-hiking on my life's todo list).

I rode standing on the last step of the entrance of a bus for about an hour back to Santo Domingo. From there I hopped into a concho along with 7 other people on my way to the bus station. What's a concho? Have you ever wandered what happened to all the Toyota Corollas from the 90's? Answer: they're used as public transportation (conchos) in the DR.

I waited about 2 hours for the next bus to Jarabacoa, where I arrived and then walked about 15 minutes to my house.