From the armpits of the universe to 27 waterfalls
Out Of India
Birgitte and Ray Charmak
Fri 14 Dec 2007 18:19
Ray and I have come to the conclusion that there possibly is a worse place
than Bratislava, namely Punto Plata in the Dominican Republic. We thought
for a while it was Luperon (town, the lagoon is beautiful) where the boat
is still waiting for the tropical
storm, Olga, to blow by. But after returning from our outing, including
stepping on dead, hairless rats, Luperon seems quaint in comparison.
Ray is currently reading 34 knots of wind, and that is in the sheltered bay
of Luperon. Out there it is blowing 50 knots, with 18 ft seas we are told..
We have been here since Friday
and there has been the occasional outbreak of cabin fever...
Yesterday we thought we better get onto land to cool us down a bit. What
better than admiring the 27 water falls down the road. Off we go. Now being
experts in negotiating with the locals, we enjoyed having a "car" to
ourselves. The norm is to squeeze 4 in the back seats, and 2 on the seat
next to the driver.
We get to the falls. First time unlucky, the road was flooded and the
driver had to turn back. Second attempt we make it to the camp. I get a
little bit suspicious when I
was handed a crash helmet and life
jacket, but there was no paper to sign off, so it couldn't be that bad. We
cross the first river having to wade accross, and managed not to get knocked
over in the middle by
the strong current. Ray and I enjoy the brisk walk climbing upward the
hills. We picked up the sweetest passion fruit we ever have tasted and
started to walk upstream and watching the small water falls. After number 12
Ray asks whether I am really bothered walking up the next 15 on the
principle that have you seen one, you've seen them all. I wish I hadn't
encouraged him to continue......
When I pictured the 27 waterfalls, I certainly didn't picture jumping or
gliding them down! On top of things, the rain has been bucketing down here
for a few weeks, and it was rather torrential conditions. How I made it to
the end is me a mystery. Whilst Ray loved it, being a typical man, I started
to look for the easy route out. Easy.... joke. I tried to start climbing
around, but then the guide came running after me exclaiming that was
dangerous.... and sliding or jumping down the rapids wasn't? Our guide, the
mountain goat, made it all look simple rappelling down the slippery rocks.
For a first time rookie it wasn't. I hated it. Don't know which was worse.
Managed to bruise my elbow, but at least non of us got a great rock in our
forehead. As Ray said, "try and sue the Dominicans...., good luck."
Walking back to the camp, Ray was all smile wanting to do it again.... me,
couldn't get back to the boat quick enough. Managed to stop a taxi, and Ray
and I shared the front seat in true local style and finally made it back to
the boat and the arnica!