(posted by: Doug)
For my birthday, Stace and I took a trip with frequent travel collaborators Caitlin and JP (Who I unfortunately had to share my birthday with this year, what are the odds...) to Constanza. The four of us rented out a cabin for the weekend at Rancho Macojo (which I name if only for promotional purposes). It was nice to get away from so many cars/people, to smell pine trees and dusty hills, and to get more dirty than what a bit of prissy white sand can do. More than anything, it was nice to be cold without the use of a stupid air conditioner.
I loved Constanza; easily my favorite spot on the island thus far. This small mountain community is located near the geographic center of the island, and is further up the hill from previously blogged about Jarabacoa. In a lot of ways it reminds me of Idaho, especially around my family's cabin near Idaho city and the north. The beach is nice, don't get me wrong, but ultimately it's a rather passive experience compared to the more interactive approach that mountains, mud, forest and big scary bugs encourage.
JP and I got things started off right with a giant seesaw. I had no idea these things were so fun.
The lady who owns/operates Rancho Macojo was so nice she let us basically borrow her cat, "Eva", for the weekend. She (the cat) slept in our cabin and everything.
Shot of one of the other cabins. Oddly we never took one of ours.
Main lobby of Rancho Macojo. Good food lies here.
The "ranch" boasts several animals, and is something of a mini zoo (although I'll say I'm not crazy about seeing these guys locked up).
Cool photo by Stace.
Constanza countryside. Much garlic, potatoes, onions, flowers and strawberries and grown among these hills.
Pretty sweet.
We hired someone to take us up to this waterfall, which is a three-teared behemoth and the highest in the Greater Antilles. This is the lowest level. Also, you can see me being and idiot climbing down to the water over the railing and several slippery rocks. If I would have taken half a second to look there was a perfectly functional staircase which directly to the pool.
On the hike/climb up.
Stace and Caitlin. Sorry there's not many pictures of Stace on this blog, she takes a vast majority of the pictures so doesn't get in many of the shots:(
View from the top.
The upper falls. We were super muddy from the hike but pretty happy to be sitting here.
Cool shot of JP
Preparing to take a dip. Swimming here was invigorating to say the least and without a doubt the coldest I've been in a long time.
Stace and I found this charmer in our room as we were about to leave. Cute, huh?
Adios.
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