Dominican Republic 2016 (Day 1 & 2)

Shane and I saved up our pennies for the last couple of years and were lucky enough to visit the beautiful island country of Dominican Republic.  It was an absolute paradise.  The beaches were beautiful and practically empty for miles going each way.  We took our friends Jake and Alayna Weston and Bryce and Erin Moyes.  They were the best traveling companions and we had a blast together.  It was relaxing, romantic and just a wonderful experience.  

Shane and I love to buy things from people peddling on the beach and one day a man came by with CocoRico bread.  It was delicious.  Shane also made me this awesome headband out of the palm leaves that I sported a few times during the week.

We went on a hike to El Limon one day.  The temperatures were perfect and the tour guide climbed many trees getting us some different fruits to try.  The hike was through some land and some river and some of the paths were muddy and others were dry.  The Dominicans said it had been unseasonably rainy, although it seemed perfect for us.  Just a bit of rain each day, just enough to cool us off.  But when we got to the waterfall we knew why they said that, it was gushing way more than usual and very rapidly.  I was hesitant as to weather I should get in the water but decided to take the freezing cold leap and it was totally worth it!  I loved experiencing that crazy sensation of being at the bottom of the waterfall, but I did get a bit panicky when I went under the falls because I couldn't touch the bottom where I thought there would be a ledge.  It was a great memory and I am glad I decided to join Shane on his always willing to jump right in adventure.

Just a picture of the streets.  There aren't many cars there--just tourist cars mostly.  Everyone drives mopeds or motorcycles.  They also drive very fast and go out and around on both sides of our vehicle. It made us very nervous at first, but it is funny how fast we can get used to the crazy driving.  Shane did all the driving and I was sure glad that he did.  He handled it like a champion.