The adventure continues

After a long bus ride to go a relatively short distance -- one of those trips where I spent more time waiting in terminals than actually sitting on a bus, I arrived in Jarabacoa.

This area is at a higher altitude than the rest of the country, and surrounded by mountains. It´s quite a bit cooler, somewhat less humid, and, if it´s possible, is even more verdant. Evidently this is known as ¨The Dominican Alps,¨ and Jarabacoa as ¨The Switzerland of the Dominican Republic¨ -- a somewhat ridiculous designation, analogous to calling Freehold ¨the Paris of Western Monmouth County.¨ i.e. it was nice, but not that nice. Upon arriving at the bus stop, I had to take a taxi to the Ranch.

I was beginning to feel a bit anxious about staying at the ranch, when we had to turn down a rutted and bumpy dirt road to get there. The location was quite isolated, and the check-in was in a simple wooden building with a concrete floor and one light bulb in the ceiling. (Although they did have internet access, as well as those machines that communicate with the credit card companies, which was convenient. For them.) The word rustic came to mind, as did a few other words.

But I had nothing to worry about, since the accomodations were actually quite nice. No air conditioning -- not necessary at this altitude. No TV, either. But quiet, and lavishly landscaped.
There was a huge pool, across a bridge over a river. There was also a game room, a restaurant, and, of course, a bar. It was really a lovely spot.

Shortly after my arrival my guide for the excursion found me. His name was Joel, and he was young, energetic, and amicable with an wide smile. I immediately found him both likeable and trustworthy. Joel was wearing a sleeveless t-shirt, which revealed large ropes of muscle that extended from his shoulders to his wrists. So he was very strong and athletic -- which should have clued me in to the fact that this excursion was going to be very physically strenuous and demanding. However, as a friend of mine used to say ¨Other than gravity, denial is the strongest force in the universe.¨ So I allowed myself to think I was in for a lovely stroll in the mountains. More on how I was disabused of that idea in the next post.

Anyway, I had supper at the restaurant, sitting at the bar. And it struck me as very odd that there was no one else at the restaurant, or the bar. In fact, I had not seen anyone other than the Ranch staff since my arrival. I began to realize that I must have been the only guest in the entire resort -- kind of a spooky feeling. And for being the only guest, I didn´t think the service was all that attentive!! And the food was not too great.

The other staff members were watching the lone television on the campus. It was turned to a Spanish language movie channel, where, of all things, Dr. Doolittle 2 was playing. I had never seen it before, nor, I quickly decided, had I missed much. An inane movie about talking animals -- it seemed even more absurd that the animals were speaking Spanish. Everybody knows that if animals actually could talk they would be speaking English, right!

I turned in early -- both since I had to get up early and because the electricity went off as well. Not a planned blackout, but a frequent occurrence here.

The climb in the next post.