My objective for quite some time now has been to camp in the mountains of the Dominican Republic?s central region (Cibao). I had heard much of the Juan B. P?rez Rancier National Park (Valle Nuevo) in the Central Mountain Range and decided to investigate a bit. I quickly realized there was not much information at all concerning camping in the DR, but the lack of info made the trip even more enticing. I mean, what?s independent traveling without doubts, wrong turns and things just flat out going wrong? It?s simply part of the adventure.
Day 1
On Saturday 2 August, we set out from Santo Domingo bright and early at 6 am towards Constanza. The weekend warriors were myself (TJ), my co-workers Lu and Ken, my two friends, Griselda and Mel and of course, my dog Blondie. The plan was to arrive in Constanza for an early lunch, head to the Aguas Blancas Waterfall and keep on the Constanza-San Jose de Ocoa Road to our main destination, Valle Nuevo. On Sunday we would keep on the road to San Jose de Ocoa, come through Bani in the south and back to Santo Domingo. In essence, completing a large circle to return.
Constanza was just how I had remembered it from my last trip this past January; a small quaint town high atop the mountains, far from the chaos of the capital. It?s almost refreshing just uttering the town?s name. If you?ve been there, you probably know what I mean. Constanza was a quick stop as we took a peak inside the farmer?s market in the center of town and then sat down at a small Dominican restaurant for some oven roasted chicken, fried plantains and mangu. Then, it was back to the car to head up into the mountains and onto the Constanza-San Jose de Ocoa Road, next stop...the Aguas Blancas Waterfall.
The views afforded between Constanza and Aguas Blancas are nothing short of spectacular with deep mountainous valleys of pine trees and cultivated terraces. I had already experienced these views from my last trip to Constanza and the waterfall, but the first time reaction of my friends helped me appreciate the beauty again and not take it for granted.
At 150 meters high, the Salto Aguas Blancas is a sight to see. It is an immense fall tucked into a remote mountain side with a constant stream of water thundering into the lagoon below. Unlike my last trip to the falls, where my ex-girlfriend and I were all alone to enjoy the scenery, this time we had to share the beauty with a large group of tourists who had been shipped in on a tour. No sweat though, we made the most of the experience with Blondie getting attention from strangers (which she loves), and the rest of us attempting to swim in the frigid water. Bottom line...this water was freezing! I mean the type of cold that numbs the body and causes major shrinkage (guys you know what I mean). After a lot of complaining and crying (literally), we all managed to get wet to at least say we got in. Now we were off to territory no one had ever been to; the Constanza-San Jose de Ocoa Road from Aguas Blancas to Valle Nuevo.
I honestly don?t know if you can consider this section of the Constanza-San Jose de Ocoa Road a road at all. To me, it was more like a section of the mountain side that a few cars had passed through. I drive a 2001 Toyota Rav 4 2wd and my car got beat up. It wasn?t so much that I needed 4wd, it more a question of clearance. Countless times, the bottom of my vehicle scraped against the rocks and dirt below, each time causing me to cringe in my seat. On several occasions, everyone had to get out of the car so I could maneuver through deep ditches and large rocks in the road. My advice for anyone who wishes to attempt traveling from Aguas Blancas to Valle Nuevo would be to have some type of SUV or truck with a good clearance from the ground, this way, you can save yourself from the stress of listening to your precious baby scrape against sheer rock.
The trip was just about 2 hours from Aguas Blancas to the park ranger station of Valle Nuevo. On the way, we passed the park?s official entrance, and just past that, a small ecolodge called Villa Pajon: Villa Pajon. We didn?t take a look inside but from the road this seemed like a beautiful option for those who want to escape to Valle Nuevo without roughing it with a tent. The park ranger station is about 45 minutes from Villa Pajon. The ranger station was a small area with about 8 green wooden homes. These consisted of nothing more than one room wooden shacks that are built specifically for campers. Some campers actually decide to set up their tent inside these shacks, as did a large group of motorists who made the trip from Santo Domingo. None of us understood this decision, but to each his own. There are also two outhouses and one of the shacks acts as a make-shift colmado (mini-market) which would safe our lives later that evening.
We spoke with the ranger and he said we could camp wherever we wanted throughout the park, but suggested that we stay close just in case we needed something. We decided to enter the forest a bit and set up camp close enough for comfort, but not close enough to feel like we weren?t roughing it. Unfortunately, the clouds began to rumble so we scrambled to get the tent together. Lu, Ken and myself attempted to begin the set up but the rain quickly started to drop. Lu and Ken stayed by the tent and covered themselves with the rain tarp while Blondie and I bolted for the car to wait with Griselda and Mel. When the rain began to subside, I made my way back to the campsite and was surprised to see the tent already up and looking good. Although I did not help, I did make it back for Lu and Ken?s proud pictures of their errorless tent set up. So, we called the girls and brought back the supplies from the car and were ready to spend the night in Valle Nuevo.
Making a fire isn?t easy, making a fire with wet wood is flat out difficult. This is the task we were left with after collecting a bunch of firewood from the nearby forest. Armed with only matches and our deep desire to eat flame cooked sausages, Lu, Ken and myself embarked upon an hour long crusade to try and get the fire going. We all tried, huffing and puffing and lighting match after match. The flames played with us, rising just enough to get us excited, before retreating back under the wood. With our eyes burning from the smoke and out of breathe, we decided to give it a rest. Feeling hungry, I asked Griselda to pass me the sausages I had brought with the other supplies, but they were nowhere to be found. I would later find out, upon returning to Santo Domingo, that I had left them in the refrigerator. Well, there we were; no fire and even worse, no meat. Blondie?s food was beginning to look good. I mean, no one was gonna starve but we were gonna have to cope with chips, cookies and chocolate on very empty stomachs. Welcome to independent traveling.
Bummed, Lu and I decided to head over to the colmado to see if there was any meat to be purchased. Thankfully, we lucked out big time, the make shift colmado had 3 products: bread, rum and sausage. You know, the staples. Any uneasiness I had about purchasing the sausage hanging from the ceiling was put to rest by the woman with several teeth cutting and eating her bread and sausage on the counter. She gave me a thumbs up and that?s all the convincing I needed. And so, we walked back to the camp with the meat in hand, feeling proud, as if we had killed the animal ourselves in the woods. As the tent came into sight, Lu and I began to jump for joy...the fire was lit! Ken, Mel and Griselda were still in the tent, oblivious to the flames now shooting high in the air. The embers we had produced from trying to light the fire had dried up the wood sufficiently to finally light. Now, the tables had turned, we had meat and fire. Welcome to independent traveling.
We spent the next hour cooking over the campfire, making sausage sandwiches with the buns I had purchased for the original sausages back in SD, along with chips and of course, s?mores. Bondie, who I never let eat from the table, even got to indulge in some sausage. She was on vacation too. Simply put, we were all fat and happy.
We sat around the fire shooting the breeze until the last embers burned themselves out. It was now about 9 pm and the cold could really be felt without the warmth of the fire. I would say it was about 45 degrees fahrenheit. That?s cold for August on a tropical island. We all crawled into the tent and squeezed into 3 blankets for the 5 of us as two of our weekend warriors did not bring a pillow or a blanket. I will not mention names. So we slept, as Griselda put it, ?in a big burrito?. I fell asleep right away as I did not sleep the night before. I had made it home that morning at 5 am, just enough time to pack my bag and head out for the trip. Nothing like being young in Santo Domingo. The others stayed up for quite awhile but since I was asleep and I?m the narrator, this is where day 1 ends.
Day 2
I woke up at about 6 am to notice Lu hunched over and freezing in the corner of the tent. I gave him my sweatshirt since Griselda had taken his because she was cold and did not bring one...women. Blondie and I went for a walk while the others were seemingly waking up. I decided to be adventurous and push a bit further into the forest to explore. Well, Blondie saw some animal and took off. By the time I caught up with her and started to walk, in what I thought was the right direction, I soon realized I was lost. After an hour of walking through heavy brush, I simply sat down with Blondie and was contemplating on whether I should just wait to be found. I figured my friends were already looking for me. Then, by chance, I heard a dog bark in the distance, I think the valley I was sitting in helped carry the sound. I started in that direction and after about a mile of hiking through the valley, I could see the park ranger station. I was hoping my friend?s hadn?t all left looking for us worried sick. Blondie and I arrived at the camp tired but happy to have found our way back. Everyone was truly worried sick, Lu, Ken and Mel were sound asleep and Griselda was doing Yoga about a 100 ft away.
We packed up, said goodbye to Valle Nuevo and got back on the Constanza-San Jose de Ocoa Road towards San Jose de Ocoa. This section of the road was a major improvement from the section between Aguas Blancas and Valle Nuevo. No one ever had to get out of the car and the ride was much smoother. We traveled for miles through deep alpine forests as we began to descend the mountain. We also made a quick stop at the Pyramid, a small four-sided stone pyramid built by Trujillo that marks the exact center of the Dominican Republic. The descent down to San Jose de Ocoa afforded memorable views of endless alpine valleys as we drove through the clouds, literally.
After about two hours, we arrived in San Jose de Ocoa and stopped at the Rancho Francisco at the town entrance to eat. I had been there before so I chose the rancho again mainly for its pool that is naturally fed by the river behind the ranch. We each paid RD$25 pesos admission and they even let Blondie in for free. The food was nothing spectacular, and after awhile the bachata got annoying, but the pool was refreshing.
The Constanza-San Jose de Ocoa Road let us off in Bani and we took the southern highway towards Santo Domingo. One hour after leaving San Jose de Ocoa, we were entering the outer limits of the capital, replete with traffic, horns and people.
Valle Nuevo is about as far as you can get from reality. Before the trip, it seemed a world away, but now that we?ve ben there, started a fire there, found meat there, cooked there, got lost there and enjoyed ourselves there, Valle Nuevo is not so far at all. I can go there whenever I want, in my mind or even in my car, just 3 and half hours from my door in the middle of Santo Domingo.
Pictures: Valle Nuevo - DR1 Media Gallery
Day 1
On Saturday 2 August, we set out from Santo Domingo bright and early at 6 am towards Constanza. The weekend warriors were myself (TJ), my co-workers Lu and Ken, my two friends, Griselda and Mel and of course, my dog Blondie. The plan was to arrive in Constanza for an early lunch, head to the Aguas Blancas Waterfall and keep on the Constanza-San Jose de Ocoa Road to our main destination, Valle Nuevo. On Sunday we would keep on the road to San Jose de Ocoa, come through Bani in the south and back to Santo Domingo. In essence, completing a large circle to return.
Constanza was just how I had remembered it from my last trip this past January; a small quaint town high atop the mountains, far from the chaos of the capital. It?s almost refreshing just uttering the town?s name. If you?ve been there, you probably know what I mean. Constanza was a quick stop as we took a peak inside the farmer?s market in the center of town and then sat down at a small Dominican restaurant for some oven roasted chicken, fried plantains and mangu. Then, it was back to the car to head up into the mountains and onto the Constanza-San Jose de Ocoa Road, next stop...the Aguas Blancas Waterfall.
The views afforded between Constanza and Aguas Blancas are nothing short of spectacular with deep mountainous valleys of pine trees and cultivated terraces. I had already experienced these views from my last trip to Constanza and the waterfall, but the first time reaction of my friends helped me appreciate the beauty again and not take it for granted.
At 150 meters high, the Salto Aguas Blancas is a sight to see. It is an immense fall tucked into a remote mountain side with a constant stream of water thundering into the lagoon below. Unlike my last trip to the falls, where my ex-girlfriend and I were all alone to enjoy the scenery, this time we had to share the beauty with a large group of tourists who had been shipped in on a tour. No sweat though, we made the most of the experience with Blondie getting attention from strangers (which she loves), and the rest of us attempting to swim in the frigid water. Bottom line...this water was freezing! I mean the type of cold that numbs the body and causes major shrinkage (guys you know what I mean). After a lot of complaining and crying (literally), we all managed to get wet to at least say we got in. Now we were off to territory no one had ever been to; the Constanza-San Jose de Ocoa Road from Aguas Blancas to Valle Nuevo.
I honestly don?t know if you can consider this section of the Constanza-San Jose de Ocoa Road a road at all. To me, it was more like a section of the mountain side that a few cars had passed through. I drive a 2001 Toyota Rav 4 2wd and my car got beat up. It wasn?t so much that I needed 4wd, it more a question of clearance. Countless times, the bottom of my vehicle scraped against the rocks and dirt below, each time causing me to cringe in my seat. On several occasions, everyone had to get out of the car so I could maneuver through deep ditches and large rocks in the road. My advice for anyone who wishes to attempt traveling from Aguas Blancas to Valle Nuevo would be to have some type of SUV or truck with a good clearance from the ground, this way, you can save yourself from the stress of listening to your precious baby scrape against sheer rock.
The trip was just about 2 hours from Aguas Blancas to the park ranger station of Valle Nuevo. On the way, we passed the park?s official entrance, and just past that, a small ecolodge called Villa Pajon: Villa Pajon. We didn?t take a look inside but from the road this seemed like a beautiful option for those who want to escape to Valle Nuevo without roughing it with a tent. The park ranger station is about 45 minutes from Villa Pajon. The ranger station was a small area with about 8 green wooden homes. These consisted of nothing more than one room wooden shacks that are built specifically for campers. Some campers actually decide to set up their tent inside these shacks, as did a large group of motorists who made the trip from Santo Domingo. None of us understood this decision, but to each his own. There are also two outhouses and one of the shacks acts as a make-shift colmado (mini-market) which would safe our lives later that evening.
We spoke with the ranger and he said we could camp wherever we wanted throughout the park, but suggested that we stay close just in case we needed something. We decided to enter the forest a bit and set up camp close enough for comfort, but not close enough to feel like we weren?t roughing it. Unfortunately, the clouds began to rumble so we scrambled to get the tent together. Lu, Ken and myself attempted to begin the set up but the rain quickly started to drop. Lu and Ken stayed by the tent and covered themselves with the rain tarp while Blondie and I bolted for the car to wait with Griselda and Mel. When the rain began to subside, I made my way back to the campsite and was surprised to see the tent already up and looking good. Although I did not help, I did make it back for Lu and Ken?s proud pictures of their errorless tent set up. So, we called the girls and brought back the supplies from the car and were ready to spend the night in Valle Nuevo.
Making a fire isn?t easy, making a fire with wet wood is flat out difficult. This is the task we were left with after collecting a bunch of firewood from the nearby forest. Armed with only matches and our deep desire to eat flame cooked sausages, Lu, Ken and myself embarked upon an hour long crusade to try and get the fire going. We all tried, huffing and puffing and lighting match after match. The flames played with us, rising just enough to get us excited, before retreating back under the wood. With our eyes burning from the smoke and out of breathe, we decided to give it a rest. Feeling hungry, I asked Griselda to pass me the sausages I had brought with the other supplies, but they were nowhere to be found. I would later find out, upon returning to Santo Domingo, that I had left them in the refrigerator. Well, there we were; no fire and even worse, no meat. Blondie?s food was beginning to look good. I mean, no one was gonna starve but we were gonna have to cope with chips, cookies and chocolate on very empty stomachs. Welcome to independent traveling.
Bummed, Lu and I decided to head over to the colmado to see if there was any meat to be purchased. Thankfully, we lucked out big time, the make shift colmado had 3 products: bread, rum and sausage. You know, the staples. Any uneasiness I had about purchasing the sausage hanging from the ceiling was put to rest by the woman with several teeth cutting and eating her bread and sausage on the counter. She gave me a thumbs up and that?s all the convincing I needed. And so, we walked back to the camp with the meat in hand, feeling proud, as if we had killed the animal ourselves in the woods. As the tent came into sight, Lu and I began to jump for joy...the fire was lit! Ken, Mel and Griselda were still in the tent, oblivious to the flames now shooting high in the air. The embers we had produced from trying to light the fire had dried up the wood sufficiently to finally light. Now, the tables had turned, we had meat and fire. Welcome to independent traveling.
We spent the next hour cooking over the campfire, making sausage sandwiches with the buns I had purchased for the original sausages back in SD, along with chips and of course, s?mores. Bondie, who I never let eat from the table, even got to indulge in some sausage. She was on vacation too. Simply put, we were all fat and happy.
We sat around the fire shooting the breeze until the last embers burned themselves out. It was now about 9 pm and the cold could really be felt without the warmth of the fire. I would say it was about 45 degrees fahrenheit. That?s cold for August on a tropical island. We all crawled into the tent and squeezed into 3 blankets for the 5 of us as two of our weekend warriors did not bring a pillow or a blanket. I will not mention names. So we slept, as Griselda put it, ?in a big burrito?. I fell asleep right away as I did not sleep the night before. I had made it home that morning at 5 am, just enough time to pack my bag and head out for the trip. Nothing like being young in Santo Domingo. The others stayed up for quite awhile but since I was asleep and I?m the narrator, this is where day 1 ends.
Day 2
I woke up at about 6 am to notice Lu hunched over and freezing in the corner of the tent. I gave him my sweatshirt since Griselda had taken his because she was cold and did not bring one...women. Blondie and I went for a walk while the others were seemingly waking up. I decided to be adventurous and push a bit further into the forest to explore. Well, Blondie saw some animal and took off. By the time I caught up with her and started to walk, in what I thought was the right direction, I soon realized I was lost. After an hour of walking through heavy brush, I simply sat down with Blondie and was contemplating on whether I should just wait to be found. I figured my friends were already looking for me. Then, by chance, I heard a dog bark in the distance, I think the valley I was sitting in helped carry the sound. I started in that direction and after about a mile of hiking through the valley, I could see the park ranger station. I was hoping my friend?s hadn?t all left looking for us worried sick. Blondie and I arrived at the camp tired but happy to have found our way back. Everyone was truly worried sick, Lu, Ken and Mel were sound asleep and Griselda was doing Yoga about a 100 ft away.
We packed up, said goodbye to Valle Nuevo and got back on the Constanza-San Jose de Ocoa Road towards San Jose de Ocoa. This section of the road was a major improvement from the section between Aguas Blancas and Valle Nuevo. No one ever had to get out of the car and the ride was much smoother. We traveled for miles through deep alpine forests as we began to descend the mountain. We also made a quick stop at the Pyramid, a small four-sided stone pyramid built by Trujillo that marks the exact center of the Dominican Republic. The descent down to San Jose de Ocoa afforded memorable views of endless alpine valleys as we drove through the clouds, literally.
After about two hours, we arrived in San Jose de Ocoa and stopped at the Rancho Francisco at the town entrance to eat. I had been there before so I chose the rancho again mainly for its pool that is naturally fed by the river behind the ranch. We each paid RD$25 pesos admission and they even let Blondie in for free. The food was nothing spectacular, and after awhile the bachata got annoying, but the pool was refreshing.
The Constanza-San Jose de Ocoa Road let us off in Bani and we took the southern highway towards Santo Domingo. One hour after leaving San Jose de Ocoa, we were entering the outer limits of the capital, replete with traffic, horns and people.
Valle Nuevo is about as far as you can get from reality. Before the trip, it seemed a world away, but now that we?ve ben there, started a fire there, found meat there, cooked there, got lost there and enjoyed ourselves there, Valle Nuevo is not so far at all. I can go there whenever I want, in my mind or even in my car, just 3 and half hours from my door in the middle of Santo Domingo.
Pictures: Valle Nuevo - DR1 Media Gallery