Wednesday - 2.21.24

I planned this trip with four goals. Goal #1 is to learn about the Dominican Republic. This place is rich with history and has so much information to offer. It is important for the students to explore the country and get to know it, and not just from a resort perspective. The second goal is to create a cultural exchange between our students and the students from the Dominican Republic. Many tourists travel to incredible places, but never get the opportunity to share with the people who are from those places. While the students will remember exploring the cities and seeing monuments, the most memorable moments will be the ones in which they form relationships with other teenagers their age, from the DR. The third goal of the trip is adrenaline. The DR has beautiful beaches, but many people never get to experience the mountains and rivers. Today, we will fulfill goal #3.

We started our adventure today at the 27 waterfalls of Damajagua, a small mountain town in between Santiago and Puerto Plata. This excursion is unique and one that brings everyone together in moments of excitement, fear, and most importantly, encouragement. With our group, we geared up with helmets and life jackets and continued on to hike up a mountain for about 45 minutes. Instead of hiking back down, we jumped and slid! There were natural slides and jumps that led to deep pools of water in the Damajagua River. Although nerves were high, EVERY SINGLE STUDENT who was on the hike wound up doing the jumps! Seeing all of the students cheering each other on was really special and I think that it brought everyone closer once we finished.

After our waterfall adventure, we ate a hearty lunch, got back on the bus and headed over to our second adventure of the day, the zip line ranch! Everyone was pumped to strap on a harness, climb up into the trees and experience nature from above. We all had a blast flying through the trees, taking in the sights and breathing some fresh air. I think it is safe to say that goal #3 was easily achieved today.

Goal #4 in my planing process is simple. RELAX. After a big adrenaline dump once we finished zip lining through the mountains, all of the fatigued students (and chaperones) got back on the bus and closed our eyes for a bit. Our next and last stop of the trip will provide what everyone is longing for, some nice relaxing time on the beach and in the pool at an all-inclusive resort!