Puerto Plata, Part II

Monday, November 9 was Constitution Day in the Dominican Republic, and thus a national holiday. R and I decided to check out the "teleferico" in Puerto Plata - a cable car that takes visitors to the top of Pico Isabel de Torres, a flat-topped mountain near town. We were advised to go early, and we're really glad we did; not only was the view to the coast clear and gorgeous (it sometimes becomes foggy later in the day), there were very few people around at 9:00 a.m. on a holiday.

Once we had purchased our tickets (at a very reasonable $200 Dominican pesos, or about $4 USD), we went upstairs to wait for the cable car. A band of local musicians was playing for tips.

At the base, before we began the climb to Pico Isabel de Torres.

Yes, this is a replica of Rio de Janiero's Christ the Redeemer statue. The Puerto Plata version is much smaller than the original in Rio, and looks out onto the city far below.

...And this is the statue's view.

R in the botanical garden, located on top of Pico Isabel de Torres.

Gorgeous flowers abound.

Hiding behind a bunch of colorful leaves. We thought it was a flower at first.

Our friend, the Green Tree Snake. He was about two feet long and could slither with incredible speed.

Getting ready to go back down, watching the next group of site-seers ascend in the cable car.

The view, oh, the view.

On our way down. This is where the cable car came to an abrupt halt.

So, we were merrily making our way down the mountain in the cable car filled with people when it suddenly stopped. Another car going in the opposite direction (up the mountain) had just passed us on the other side. Bewildered, we looked to the cable car operator. He encouraged everyone to remain calm ("Tranquilo!" he said), and assured us that this kind of thing had happened before. Apparently the cables had gotten twisted because of the wind (...Or perhaps a power failure, I was a little unclear on this point. I know he said the wind was to blame, but I think I  heard something about a power failure, too. Perhaps it was a mixture of both.). For safety reasons, the cables had to be untangled before we could continue. Now, I'm all about safety, of course, so let the untangling begin. I can wait. The operator told us this could take 5 minutes or 10 minutes or half an hour. It turned out to be 20 minutes. Twenty minutes of the cable car gently (and nerve-rackingly) swaying in the breeze and during which we had to keep our minds occupied with thoughts other than plummeting to our deaths in the tree canopy hundreds of feet below.

I knelt down and engaged two little Dominican girls in conversation. "Me encanta sus zapatos," I said, and they said they liked my shoes, too. One little girl pointed at the veins on my foot and asked why I had them. (She pointed to her own 8-year-old feet that were beautifully smooth.) I said, "Es porque soy vieja, por supuesto." Because I'm old, of course. She and her friend weren't sure what to make of me. They were very patient when I said, "Si hablamos español juntos, yo puedo aprender mucho," ("If we speak Spanish together, I can learn a lot.") and we chatted about how old they were and if they went to school and what town they were from. I know that I learned a little bit from the conversation, but I'm afraid they may have just decided I was a crazy lady from god-knows-what alien planet, and it was best not to make any sudden movements or who knew what I might do.

Finally, we saw progress being made on our nemesis, the guilty, cable-tangling car:

Whatever this guy is earning, it isn't enough, IMHO.

Finally we were on our way, and as we got closer to good old terra firma, we got to glimpse a baseball game in progress.

R, living the beach life. After the experience on the cable car, I think he deserved it.

Did I mention there were free-roaming peacocks and pink flamingos on the resort grounds where we were staying? I was particularly struck by their beauty.

We really loved our stay on the North Coast and definitely plan to return. We'll probably even take the cable car again.