Valle Nuevo

The Dominican Republic has been a surprise. When you think of a Caribbean island, your mind immediately goes to white sand beaches, coconuts, and turquoise water. You don't think of mountains, waterfalls, and cool temperatures. But this is just what we found in the beautiful Valle Nuevo National Park over the weekend.

We're nothing if not adventurous, so we decided very last minute to check out a small bit of the interior of the country. R made reservations at the Altocerros Villas in Constanza late Friday and we drove up on Saturday morning.

These rugs/blankets are made by local women and sold along the highway to Santiago.
They cost around $20 USD, and are made of recycled plastic-type products. 

It took about two hours to get to Constanza from Santo Domingo, and we arrived just at lunch time. It was starting to rain and we were hungry so we rather grumpily drove around, searching for a suitable restaurant on the smart phone. Our unknown friends on the Internet highly recommended Antojitos de Lauren so we made our way down a narrow street, backed up, turned around, drove around the block, drove the wrong way down a one-way street, double parked, and finally walked quickly down the street in the rain (of course we'd forgotten umbrellas), only to find the recommended Antojitos closed tighter than a schoolmarm's lips when she discovers that her beau has been seeing a soiled dove over in Dodge City. Grrrr. On we went to another recommended spot, La Esquina - this time wisely driving by before making a decision to venture in. Good thing, too, because the "Corner" looked like a cross between a biker bar and and flop house. Not that there's anything wrong with that! But there is a limit to our adventurous side, it seems.

Finally, we found Lorenzo's, and were understandably uncertain of what we'd find when we walked through the dark glass doors under the "Abierto" sign.

Lorenzo's offered an oasis to we two bedraggled, starving, grumpy adventurers. There were tablecloths and amazing onion soup. There was grilled chicken and french fries. An attentive waiter. Presidente beer. Clean bathrooms. A family reunion at the three tables next to us. And Pearl Harbor, the Ben Affleck movie, playing without sound on a screen within my view. I was ridiculously happy. We spent over an hour there and paid only about $24 for the entire experience (which included two beers a piece). In retrospect, I'm glad Antojitos and the dive bar were a no-go. :)

The real reason for heading to the mountains, though, was the weather (much cooler than beach towns). And of course, the view. It was too late to explore on Saturday, plus it was raining buckets, so we nestled in to our room at the Altocerros and played cribbage:

Our little living room. We were advised to call the front desk if we wanted wood for a fire.

This is a view of the little villas from the road. I think ours was 4th from the right.

The view from our balcony.

Another view from the balcony.

The grounds of Altocerro are beautiful!

R enjoying the view of the grounds.

There is a restaurant on site, so we rose early and ate a hearty breakfast (included in the price of the room) and then packed up and went in search of Salto Aguas Blancas, a waterfall in the Valle Nuevo.

The view from our balcony this morning.

Another view. 

Keep in mind that it had rained (a lot) the day before, and that the roads are dirt. And that they're nearly all one-lane. And that there are lots of rocks. More than once R turned to me and said, "I think we might have to turn back." The road was only about 7 miles, but it took nearly two hours to get to our destination.

This is a typical scene. And Saturday/Sunday in the DR, just as in my house, is laundry day!

Not your typical idea of a Caribbean island. Reminds me of Ireland a little.

So much agriculture in this valley! Lots of strawberries, especially.
We saw a farmer transferring potatoes to little Daihatsu trucks for delivery to the lower elevations.

The stairs to the falls.

R at the falls. The water probably appears dirty because of the runoff, not because it's polluted.

And me at the falls. Do you notice the jacket? What a delight to have to wear a jacket!

This photo doesn't really do the road justice, but you can kind of tell how wide our vehicle is compared to the road. If we had encountered another vehicle, I'm not sure what we would have done. Literally nowhere to pull over, and you just never knew how deep those puddles were. Yay, Rav4!

This is a barn of some sort. Beautiful.

Farmland. 

We were the only people at the falls. We drove through about four little villages to get there, and all the people we passed stared at us à la Invasion of the Body Snatchers: "Not one of us!" We had a few moments of uncertainty, but overall it was worth the hearts-in-our-throats moments.

The Dominican Republic is an extraordinary country!