Republica Dominicana: Outback Jungle Safari
On Sunday it rained all day, but in the morning, we had the "cruise director"-eqivalent tell us about tours and things we could do on the island. The Outback Jungle Safari Jeep Tour was highly-recommended. And so on Monday, we took it and would recommend it to anyone else who visited the island. They have a web site and I have a geeky tshirt with their web address on it!
Zeke was our guide. He was the best! He was two months away from moving to the States to become a Texas Ranger (baseball for the non-Americans among you) when he was injured. He told us all about the flora, fauna, politics, history, people, customs, etc. of the Domincan Republic. In this picture, though you can't see it, he's taken a nut, broken it open and smeared the red pigment on his lips. This is the same nut that nutmeg comes from.
This is a typical scene from our tour. The island is very hilly - only the central plain is really good arable land. Most of the land is forested or used for grazing.
This is fairly typical of the poorest homes you see in the rural areas. We went in a home, somewhat sturdier than this one. Most rural homes have no electricity.
This is a stove/oven that's typical of the types you see in the rural homes. The far side had hot coals smoldering and that's where the cooking was done. Soon they'll move to the near side and repair the far side for later use when the near side decays due to the heat generated by cooking. I felt a little uncomfortable taking photos in this home (the family was there). They get paid a small sum by the Outback Safari tour company for opening their home for 15 minutes per day. Thus, they could afford more than most in their situation. They had two bedrooms, a living/dining room and this separate kitchen. Clothes were hung over the beds, but they could afford a solar panel to provide them with several hours of power every day.
We bought some rum and coffee here.
The rural people love this tour company because some small percentage of their profits go toward the rural schools. This is an example of such a school. Very young children would run out from their homes to meet the jeep and wave (if they were shy) or shake everyone's hand (if they weren't).
Part of our tour was a trip down a river to the sea. This is identical to the boat we took.
The guide sitting down was Zeke, our guide. The one standing up was Sammy, who was very funny and liked to tease Zeke. He nearly got beaned on the head by a branch on the large tree in the background as we went under.
Another view of the river, where the land opens up a bit near the sea.
The last stop on the tour was Cabarete Beach, somewhere I wouldn't mind going back to. They provided us all with "Boogie Boards" and set up a small bar for about an hour on this beach in the late afternoon. It was a very nice way to end the trip.
Alan's just come in on a wave.