Last Friday, May 7th, Brooke, Matt, David and I went on a tour to Monte Cristi National Park. We were the first to be picked up at 6:30 AM and made our way west toward Puerto Plata picking up other people along the way. I really don’t quite know where we were in the province of Monte Cristi, which boarders Haiti, but it was a long 3 1/2 hour ride. As you can see by the picture, it was well worth it and totally beautiful.

There were about 25 people in all, from all parts of the world, on this tour. At journey’s end, we got dropped off on the beach where we got in boats to go to Paradise Island. As you can see, Paradise island is a little bit more than a sandbar! Thank goodness for the cabanas as there were no trees of any sort for shade. On the island, they had all the Dominican rum, soda and fruit that you wanted. Plus, we went snorkeling around the nearby coral reef. It was wonderful. One of the guides gave me a piece of bread and these beautiful blue and yellow fish swam to my hand to eat it. Later, David and I went back in the water and saw a school of iridescent blue fish swimming. It was great!

After staying on the island for about 2 1/2 hours, a tad longer than I liked, we had a fun boat ride to the mangrove, which are trees and shrubs that grown along the saltwater coast. These plants can tolerate saltwater. The boat ride over was more fun than any Disney or fair ride! Oh my gosh, was it fun!

The end of the day, we were treated to a Dominican meal of rice and beans, spaghetti, fried chicken and salad. It was a long 3 hour ride back but I was able to pass the time by talking with a recent college graduate who lived between Montreal and Israel. Imagine, me, talking to strangers!!!

We are looking forward to experiencing many more adventures while here in the DR!!!