El Limon

El Limon hike -- 2004 Feb. Got a ride on motoconchos from LasT. Walked from the highway -- the main one from Samana to LasT. Had a guide -- a young lad we picked up in town at a restaurant -- he was recommended by the motoconchistas. Walked through a nice small collection of domincano huts and houses to the river. Had to enter the river ankle deep and turn (right I think, but could be wrong) for a few hundred yards.

Out of the river and almost immediately on the track up hill. The night before there had been heavy rain. It was quite muddy and the mud was mixed with horse manure. The trek took about an hour up to the bar/gift shack -- thence down to the falls only a few minutes of course.

On the way back I hired a horse for my partner. It went well most of the way. I beat the horse and a pair of German(?) hikers down the hill. (Their ages added up to about the same as mine so I was trying to make a point.)

The horse stumbled in the big stones in the river and fell down on top of Susan who seemed no worse for wear afterwards but wouldn't getback on the horse. We went to the restaurant on the motos and washed the mud and horse manure off ourselves; squeezed the river water out of our socks; and got back to LasT to haggle with the motoconchistas -- they tried to renegotiate because we took so long on the hike. I added 250 RDP, gave them a can of beer and a cigar each and we called it quits.

In May my girlfriend and me went to Salto del Limon not on foot but on mules. We opted not for one of the ranches close to the village of El Limon (the Las Terrenas side) but go on on the road to Samana and take one of the ranches closer to Samana. There the road is a lot closer to the falls than near the village of El Limon. 'Ranch' was a bit too big a word, just a small farm with a couple of mules, one of the many along the road between El Limon and Samana. ours was called parada Franklin, but I don't think there is much of a difference between them. It took about 45 minutes by mule each way (plus about a 5 minute hike down to the waterfall), but judging on the walking pace of the guide it could be done in a good half hour each way in brisk hiking pace. The track passes through hilly terrain with lits of interesting vegetation, but no very wide vistas until you get to the falls.
Here is a map of the area with the location of the falls relative to the road: http://www.saltolimon.de/Maps/index.html
I think we went off from about what is Rancho Espanol on the map. A pro of this route I think is that it's a bit shorter, as the landscape is not too spectacular (like the sanchez-las terrenas road for instance) and you'll have to return the same route as you came. A con might be that you don't have the spectacular view of the falls from the top of the last hills as with another route.

I have always been told to avoid El Limon if the previous day it has been raining.
It's good advice. I have repeated it several times on DR1 and other travel sites -- since I was there (after the rain) in 2004.

el limon

Me_again said:

I have always been told to avoid El Limon if the previous day it has been raining.
It's good advice. I have repeated it several times on DR1 and other travel sites -- since I was there (after the rain) in 2004.

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That would be next to impossible...It rains just about every day in el limon....as I have a small house there,believe me when I say...lots of mud....
bob