Voyage to Dispatch Channel (Part 3) – La Cantina, Dominican Republic

Now time for Part Three of this adventure and keep in mind that this is all in the same day. Next up, load on this rickety converted farm truck for a short ride to a little ranch and horse ride to a waterfall. That seems simple enough and nobody but me seemed concerned. Well, we proceeded to roll though small villages and up and down steep and long hills. Did I mention the narrow roads with huge exposure? How about the constant smell of Mary Jane? Who is driving this thing and when was the last time it was properly serviced? Meanwhile, everyone else was having a joyous time seemingly oblivious to any danger.

After about 45 minutes we arrived at this cute little ranch house for a Dominican Buffet…… What could go wrong here? When Jill signed us up for the tour it indicated there was a breakfast….. There wasn’t! Since we had left our hotel long before any restaurant opened and it was now about 2:00 pm, I was getting pretty hungry. My head was saying do not eat that food but my belly was saying “FEED ME”.

Time for that previously mentioned horse ride. As a youth, I spent plenty of time around ranches and even a few horses. One message that always stuck with me, never ride a horse in flip flops…. AND most everyone was wearing a swim suit…… Certainly it must be a short easy ride to the waterfall.

I was only able to shoot pictures of the couple of flat sections and not the steep hills as I was hanging on!

Give me a yeeeeeee hawwww!

After about 45 minutes we parked the horses and started hiking. I see why we left the horses, it was way too long and steep for them it was clearly much better for us to hike this section in our flip flops.

Definitely a cool water fall.

As evening approaches, we find our way back to Santa Barbra. My belly is now rumbling from presumably the lunch, now it is time to make our way back the hotel. One hour boat ride then 3 hour NASCAR ride.

Cool bridge.

As we make our way back across the bay and to our hotel van, the sun sets. The remainder of the trip will be in the dark. Ultimately we arrive safe and sound back at the hotel. I kissed the ground and reflect on all the promises I made with my maker.