A tour of the DR – by Sally

Yesterday, we had a fun filled day of touring: Christopher Columbus’s first house in the Americas, a humongous fruit and animal plantation, beautiful beaches and friendly people, ending with a spectacular dinner with new friends. All of this fit into one amazing day.
We woke up at 7:00 am and met our tour guide, José, at 8:00 am and started our amazing day. Our first stop was at a “cow community” where we watched the cows getting hand milked. As we got in the car, a parade of cows came by followed by the farmer riding on a horse.
We continued on our adventure and stopped at the museum of Christopher Columbus in La Isabella. There was a ton of information— but of course we’re in the Dominican Republic and they speak Spanish— so all the writing was in Spanish! Luckily José knows Spanish and English so he translated for us. We then went to see Christopher Columbus’s house (or what was left of it)! We also went to a couple of cute little gift stores, where we bought a necklace, earrings, and a cool hand carved wood turtle. Everything there was homemade from local items.
We then hopped in the car and went back to Luperón to grab a quick lunch. We got the local plate of the day morro y pollo (rice and beans and chicken) delicious! We finished lunch, tearing Heidi away from a playful cat. José thought we would enjoy the next stop—the plantations! When we arrived, my mind was blown. There were thousands of coffee, cocoa, cherry, avocado, zappidillo, mango, sour sap, bread fruit, papaya, banana, plantain, paprika, cilantro, tobacco, and many more exotic plants and trees. As we neared the end, we came to the farm area where we were greeted by the honking geese! There is a cow that decided to lick me and Lucys entire arm! Then we neared the corner and saw ostriches, except Heidi who found another adorable little kitten to play with. José picked up a baby goat and handed it to me. It cuddled its head in my arm and nibbled my finger! I also finally got to hold the little kitten! We fed the ostriches some leaves from the nearby tree. We finally got Heidi away from the kitten and hopped back into the van.
Our next stop was Cambioso where there was a truly amazing view of the ocean. However, the road to get there was very bumpy, rocky, full of potholes, and at many points covered in water. You would never know how poor the people of Cambioso are if you didn’t turn the corner after arriving at the beach. Once you turn the corner, the peoples houses reminded me of an old shed in not very good shape. Some of the doors were boarded up. All of the people were outside sitting in chairs in the shade with little bits of drying laundry all around. We started giving toothbrushes out but soon realized that most of the kids were at school, so we only handed them out to the little guys. We were thinking of giving the toothbrushes to the parents, but José told us the toothbrushes wouldn’t get to the kids, and the parents would sell them and buy something for themselves. I felt horrible and instead of giving them to the parents we gave them to the kids as they walked home from school. We saw so many little kids ages 3 or 4, running home with the biggest smile on his/her face and hugging us. It made me feel so lucky to be where I am in this world. It only takes one little gift like a toothbrush to make someone’s day a whole lot brighter.
When we got home, back to our boat, I took a quick nap. In half an hour we headed up to meet the marina owner at his restaurant to have dinner together. When we got there, his family pulled up. Elena was 6 so we played together a lot. Although I speak English and she speaks Spanish, we both had a great time and we became great friends! In fact, we planned a get together of brownie making for the next day…
In one day, I learned a lot about Christopher Columbus, local plants and animals, met a lot more Dominican Republic people, and saw the beautiful Dominican Republic countryside and beaches. What an amazing experience!

Bye till I write again,
💕Sally💕