Los Saltos de Jimenoa--Uno y Dos

Los Saltos de Jimenoa--Uno y Dos
Darrel L. Hammon

Part of the Spanish class: Elderes Hammon and Larsen, los Haws, los Leavitt, los Rucker, and los Despain

Our Spanish class decided to take a day and go on a field trip to see los Saltos de Jimena Uno y Dos (Jimenoa Waterfalls, One and Two), located near Jarabacoa, a fairly nice city about two hours northwest of Santo Domingo, a bit south of Santiago.

The day dawned beautiful like most days in the DR. We met at the Casa around 7:00 a.m. and left. Those who decided to go: Elder Larsen, los Haws, los Rucker, los Despain, and I. We loaded up into two cars: Hammon and Rucker. 

It took us about 1.5 hours to get to the Jarabacoa turn off. We stopped at the gas station, went to the bathroom, and talked to the security guard about where we were going. He gave us some decent directions and then tried to sell us some real estate. I think if I were going to buy real estate, I would probably buy some up in Jarabacoa. It is just a beautiful place. It’s hard to believe the DR is an island when you drive toward Jarabacoa and beyond. 

We followed the windy road toward Jarabacoa. Soon, we came to the sign that point us in the right direction to go to the Salto de Jimenoa. We drove down this road that had enormous potholes. Thus, we didn’t speed. Rather, we drove rather cautiously, trying to dodge all of the holes and the washed out places. The surroundings were beautiful.

The homes along the way butt right up to the road. Since it was a holiday, many people were just coming out of their homes, setting up their chairs to watch the day go by and the cars shuffle pass. We all commented how close the homes were built by the roads. Soon, we came to the parking lot. Only one car dotted the big lot. We parked under a shade tree, climbed out, and stretched our legs.

We walked toward a little shack, located just to the side of the parking lot. A young woman pointed us down the road to pay. We sauntered down the road and stopped to look out over the small valley. A medium-size nursery lay before us, beautifully marked and green.

Bonifasia Alcántara Varga y Elder Hammon

Soon, we arrived at the gate. There we met Bonifasia Alcántara Varga, an 85-year-old woman who ws waiting for her family. We paid our 50 pesos and headed up, carefully walking across the suspension bridges. They swayed a bit. The hand rails on some of the bridges were a broken and falling off.  When Elder Haws, an engineer, looked at them, he said, “Only a matter of time.” That didn’t make me feel any safer for sure. 

The Salto was pretty. Lots of big boulders shaded other little pools. I suspect when the rains come, these boulders become mere rocks sticking out of the water. The falls wasn’t that high, about 40 meters. There were a couple of spots for good pictures. The problem was the sun. Since it was around 10:00 a.m., the sun shone directly in our eyes as it hovered over the falls, thereby not allowing us to get a really good picture of the falls.

We walked back to the front where we stopped and talked to met Bonifasia Alcántara Varga again. Her family was just coming down the path. We had our picture taken with her. She was so delightful, so positive, so beautiful. I loved her attitude about life and about growing old. You just have to keep going, she said, and she have your family around you. Gotta love that kind of attitude. Then, her daughters came, and we took more pictures.

We alked up to the parking lot and headed to the Salto de Jimenoa Uno. We followed the road into Jarabacoa, always going “derecho” (straight), through town and then out of town about seven kilometers. There was a small sign by a small shack. The road headed down over a cliff, it seemed. We decided not to try it; so, we parked in someone’s driveway, with his permission, of course. 

We paid our 50 pesos instead of the $100 pesos because we live in Santo Domingo, therefore not considered foreigners. Included in the 50 pesos was bottle of water. How wonderful was that? You get to go to see an incredible site for $1.25 and get a water thrown in. Too good! 

We started our way down the path with a guide who told us about some of the trees we saw like limón de vaca, guineo, mango, and others. Then, she pointed down the trail and said, “Allí.” And allí we went. The trail was a bit steeper and longer than we anticipated. Pretty soon Sisters Leavitt and Rucker decided this might not be the best thing for them to do and headed back.

The family along the trail

The rest of us carried on, stopping frequently to rest as we walked down a windy path that was merely a series of switchbacks off a very steep mountainside. In some places, it was quite steep and slippery because of the leaves and the loose rocks. We met a cute little family who had been down in the aqua fria (cold water). Soon, thought, we could hear the falls, crashing down. We peeked through the bushes, and we could see parts of of the Salto.

El Salto de Jimenoa Dos

Finally, we broke into a clearing where huge boulders jutted out from the beach, and there it was, Salto de Jimenoa Uno, crashing down from 70 meters to a beautiful blue pool. Two streams of water fell from the top. The one of the left pasted by a large opening. I wondered if it were a cave. The other stream fell headlong into the pool below. Together they resembled two streams gliding gracefully through the open air until they crashed solidly into the pool below.  I just stood there, admiring the falls and taking lots of pictures. It seemed I couldn’t get enough of this beautiful Salto.

El Salto de Jimena Dos, left side only

According to some of the tourist books, one of the scenes in Jurassic Park was filmed there. I’ll have to go back and look. We spend a bit of time here. I took a lot of pictures from different angles. I marveled at the site. For one thing, I like waterfalls, and this one fascinated me. I would love to be there after a good long rain and see the water come flying over the edge. Apparently, the water comes from a hidden lake above it.

Soon, it was time to leave and climb back up to where we parked the cars. Going up was a little bit more time consuming. But with frequent stops, a few “hey, it’s just around the corner” comments, we made it to the top. We found the two sisters who didn’t go  all the way down with us, sitting beneath one of the mango trees, just having a good time chatting. We talked about the salto and how beautiful it was. Then off we went. 

La Turca

I wanted to stop at the restaurant where ADR took me. I couldn’t find it. We drove around the block a couple of times. Still nothing. So, we headed out. Finally, we were a bit desperate because the nice looking restaurants along the water were jammed packed. We ended up in front of Laturca. No one was there. A nice little lady came out and introduced herself as La Turca. We decided to order the plato del día. While we washed up in their personal home bathrooms, they cooked lunch in their little cocina in the back.

La Turca's family

 The food came quickly—a huge plate of rice for everyone, bowls of habichuelas (beans), a platter or two of chicken, a platter of tostones (deep-fat fried, a big plate of sliced aguacates (avocados), and salad. Of course, the salad was off limits to me. Some had some, but I didn’t want to eat it. It looked absolutely delicious, though. We chomped down on all of the food. It was quite good and plentiful. I think we were all full when we left. I especially like the way they cook the habichuelas in this country.

As we were finishing, la Turca came and sat down and tried to tell us how to make the pan or harina de maiz or called here in the DR Arepa. She gave a little sample. It tastes like a sticky corn bread but definitely not as good as Joanne’s. As we drove through this little village, there we dozens of little stores with the same looking round Arepa. We took pictures of the family, paid, and said good bye. Ten people ate for $1,500 (less than $40). That included a drink and a tour of the house. Just behind the house was a river full of people swimming and lounging in the shade.

We had a delightful day in a beautiful place--Jarabacoa y los Saltos de Jimenoa.