These are two of the boys from the catechism class, wearing the 'salvation' pendants that they made. Most of the youngsters wore their pendants to church on Sunday.
















The view from the balcony of the hotel where I stayed Friday evening in the town of Jarabacoa. The mountains in the background are known as the Cordillera Central. Lots of Dominicans own vacation homes there, since the elevation means the temperature is generally about ten degrees cooler than in the rest of the country and the humidity is more bearable.

This is the map of the trail from La Cienaga to the top of the Pico Duarte. This map is very misleading -- it does indicate that some of the inclines are steep, but leaves out the part about the switchbacks, the rocky terrain, the lower levels of oxygen higher up, etc. etc.

This is the guide, Joel, and his assistant, the cook and the mule driver Rocelio. This picture was taken at lunchtime on Friday, at the parada known as La Cotorra, a word which refers to the wild parrots in the woods there. Notice the size of the knife that Rocelio has in his hand -- in most cases, being in an isolated location with someone wielding a weapon of that size would make me feel somewhat uncomfortable. But the three of us had a great time, and shared a lot of laughs, as well as the hard work of the climb. These two know the mountain like most folks know their back yard.