Horses, Hills and El Limon

Ernani booked two excursions for us. Tuesday we got up early to ride horses to a waterfall and swim below it.

Amelia loves horses. She is obsessed with Spirit (okay, I like it too), and so this was something she was looking forward too. You know by the squeal and the high pitch intensity of it if she likes it. This one got the full-blown ear-splitting kind of squeal. She could not wait to ride a horse.

Our guide, Eduardo, and his driver picked us up in front of the resort. This was the first time we got to see in daylight the roads, towns, and people of the peninsula. We came in late on Saturday night or in the wee hours of Sunday morning, and I did see people hanging out and talking to each other, but I could not see the hills and houses behind them. We arrived at the resort in a haze of sleep and darkness.

Leaving the resort in the day felt in a way like an escape from the resort, which was set up with a colonial, English vibe, the ceiling fans, beautiful marble floors, pool, and wood huts on the sand for the guests. The path to the lobby and the restaurants felt like being at a resort at Disney World.  It felt like going back to the real world getting the car and driving through towns where people lived everyday lives: get up, go to work, go home, eat, repeat.

The road curved around the beaches as we left the resort. As we climbed up, they were windy and the sides full of green trees and red rock. As we passed houses and towns, chickens were everywhere. I had seen at the Iowa State Fair, many years ago, a marvelous display of chickens and roosters of every variety and I thought of those birds as I saw these birds. They were free range and beautiful here in the Dominican Republic. I know chickens aren't smart, but I never saw one of these go on to the road or dead on the road.  And they only had step over about 1 foot to end up in the road. Maybe those who did die on the road did not live to reproduce.

We talked to our guide and Ernani told him his name would be easy to remember since it was his Dad's and his oldest brothers name. We talked a bit about Brasil and soccer, about the elections there, the runoff election. Baseball is much more popular he said. On the way home and on the others days we traveled the area by car, I started seeing all the baseball fields and all the people playing in them. He also told us the area was known for its marble because of the limestone rocks and whales come down in February to breed  and summer there from northern waters.

We stopped at a restaurant where we would have lunch after our trip to the Falls. I was pleased that we got helmets. I had been riding in Arkansas before and we were not offered helmets. It was super scary since we went up and down hills, and this was the same kind of terrain.

As we left the restaurant to walk to the horses, we realized were in a village. 1 foot away from the restaurant, a two-level patio with the kitchen to the right, was the Catholic Church. 8 feet behind the restaurant was the school. Little kids in uniform were going to school. One little boy was clinging to his Mom and crying. Eduardo told us the little kid wanted to stay home and play all day. He had told us in the car he and his wife wanted children but did not think they could have them. We reminded him this is what you get with kids. All kids are the same. We laughed, but also it is worth it those kids.

The walk to the horses was downhill and we saw more chickens and more houses lining the dirt road as we walked down. Lots of houses had motorcycles. There was even a house for sale. Every house had a garden of flowers, even the ones decaying or whose paint was fading.

We meet the horses at a stump we used to mount them. Amelia and I got on a brown one named Princessa. Ernani got on a yellowish brown one name Mantequilla. I had not been on a horse since I was a Junior in college at the University of Arkansas when after exams we sold our books and went on a horseback ride. Before then, I had not ridden since Camp Ondessonk when I was a kid. So we were very much novices.

Sarah, who brought us the horses, was our guide. She led the horses as we rode past more houses continuing downhill as we rode to the river. Amelia was sliding a bit, and the man washing his clothes in the river, helped Sarah right her, and she was brave and still excited and happy about the ride. We rode down the river a bit and came up to a trail on the other side. We ride up that trail through the forest. Coffee trees, chocolate trees,  and palm trees lined the sides of the trail as we went up a hill. The flowers, plants, lizards were wonderful sights along the way. Then we came to the top and the view was amazing. Rain was coming in and lines of green hills rolled out in front of us. Green hills, low clouds, made a beautiful sight.

We made our way back into the forest and climbed another ridge to a shelter were we dismounted the horses and could see  El Limon Falls. We walked down a limestone staircase that switchbacked down to the river. There was a small set of Falls there and we waded across the river and climbed up to the dramatic El Limon Falls.

The water is fresh and the locals drink from it. It falls 130 feet into a pool and then falls down some rocks to the second, smaller falls and into the river. It was a beautiful sight as we craned our necks up to see the top. It was raining at this point, so Amelia was less happy and excited about this part of the trip than we were. Ernani and I took turns swimming in the pool under the falls. The water was cold but it was amazing to swim in the pool despite the rain coming down.

The stairs back were challenging, but we took our time and took more pictures at the top of them. The horse ride back was downhill and at one point scary for Amelia, but Sarah held her and walked her down the scary part until the horse and I were caught up with her. I keep telling Amelia the horses knew what they were doing. They were extremely calm and had done this trip many times. Plus, they had 4 legs and we only had two.

We got to the river. The river water felt good and our horse was tired. She took the deep route which was great. My feet needed the cold soak. We walked up into the village and to the stump to dismount. Our reward was walking back to the restaurant and eating lunch.

Finally, Dominican Food. Beans and rice. Fried Plantains. Pineapple. Coffee con leche. It was the perfect way to end the afternoon.

We got back to the resort around 3 and had a dinner scheduled at one of the restaurants. The food was good and the conversation all about the amazing day we had. We took a walk on the beach at sunset and ended the day playing with kittens.